ENGL300-1: Jacob Collins for 5 pts. extra credit
ENGL300-2: Arlicia Ketchum
The text for reading is HERE.
Arlicia Ketchum
The article Teaching and Learning online with wikis written by Naomi Augar, Ruth Raitman and Wanlei Zhou basically shows its readers how to use Wiki. A wiki is website that is fully editable by the public. Wikis were given their names by Ward Cunniham after the Hawaiian word meaning “quick”. One of the most famous wiki websites is Wikipedia, an online collaborative encyclopedia. Wiki’s can also be used to assist in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL). CSCL was first created in the 1990’s in an attempt to develop a public and educational collaboration by the means of technology in order to change the style of education and the research surrounding it. Students can use Wikis to share their common knowledge with other students in their class.
According to the authors, wikis have two different modes. The first mode is the document mode. In this mode, contributors to the wiki create different documents written in the third person. Eventually other users will come and edit the document by adding additional information to the documents topic. The second mode is called thread mode. Thread mode is basically like a blog. User share an opinion and other users come and respond to those opinion with an opinion or facts of their own. Along with the two modes, Wiki also has two states: read state and edit state. These two states are self explanatory; however, in the read state users only see the wiki as a normal internet web page and in the edit state users are allowed to edit the information on the webpage.
Each Wiki has a very unique feature. These features can make it easier for an e-learning environment. The authors give an example of an experiment done on the students at Deakin University, in Victoria Australia. Students who attend this university in The School of Information Technology are required to an entire subject online through the Deakin University wiki entitled Deakin Studies Online (DSO). The DSO was created by the wiki syntax WebCT Vista. The DSO provides bullet boards, chat rooms, whiteboards, communication and collaboration for the students. In the experiment the professors at the university created a wiki type icebreaker, giving the students a two week time limit and goal. The results were that the students took very well to the wiki and quickly completed the icebreaker creating a sense of student to student collaboration and an e-learning environment. The article ends by stating that even though the students in this experiment used a wiki under specific circumstances, wikis are not specific to anything. They are social sites used to elaborate knowledge and share knowledge from user to user.
Ward Cunningham created the internet site, Wikipedia, in 1994. The word Wikipedia can be translated into quick encyclopedia. It is a fully editable website, to the delight of some internet enthusiasts and to the dismay of some critics. Although it is not recommended for use in most educational settings, Wiki is becoming an excellent tool for collaboration in the internet community. It is also an initial search inquiry site for most students. Although its credibility can be debated about, there is definitely knowledge to be gained from Wiki. I think Wiki should be and is a first stop in researching a topic. It should not be the” end all be all” source of your information, but it could be a good starting place for quick information.
ReplyDelete'Wiki' is 'quick' in Hawaiian, implying the speed by which the public internet community or a classroom could edit an article. What is great about Wikis--and the article notes this--is that Wikis can really be used for any activity in the classroom. It could be a classroom project, group projects, an ice breaker, a final project, etc. I think Wikis are great at building a classroom community, and I have had the opportunity to learn how to make one at Wikispaces! (Thanks, Dr. Voss!)
ReplyDeleteMy first impression of a “Wiki” is something that is educationally taboo. I think this is because one of my professors from the community college I went to said “not to trust anything you read on Wikipedia, because information on Wikipedia is always changing; there’s no way of trusting the information that people can edit”. While this is true, I think that Wikis can be a good starting point for research. Instead of reading only what is on the Wiki page, you should go to the outside resources that are listed, to test the credibility of the information. I didn’t realize that there are multiple Wikis or that they are employed by major universities for student collaboration. Overall, I think Wikis are helpful educationally, as long as students test the information that they are receiving.
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of wikis, they might not always be correct, but for the most part they are a great place for information. I use Wikipedia almost everyday, mostly just for random trivial purposes, but it is a great place for starting research on a topic. Most of the time I use Wikipedia I do some background check to make sure the information is legitimate. Although, I have been known to change a page or two of random athletes with a friend!
ReplyDeleteA lot of my past teachers have strongly discouraged using wikipedia and wikis; this does make sense to an extent. The fact that anyone can comment on a wiki makes the information less credible. However, I have found that wikis are useful for certain things. I have used wikis when researching topics of interest or trying to find out how to do, or fix, something; they have been very helpful with those things. You should definitely not cite wikipedia websites, but they are great for some fun research.
ReplyDeleteThis article was informative yet interesting because i used Wikipedia sometimes for certain thing i have to look up. The information is very helpful though, although i don't understand why teachers are so against us using this information. I guess they are convinced that the information is false or something.
ReplyDeleteThough I understand that wikis are not always credible, I find them to be very useful tools. I use wikis for different reasons almost everyday, and I find it to be fast and helpful. Wikipedia for example is a great source to look up information for personal use such as information on the "pistol formation" which you would not be able to find most places. While I would never cite Wikipedia in a formal work for school, I would not discourage someone to use it to find information.
ReplyDeleteI think that Wikipedia is a good place for quick information about info that a person does not want to put a lot of time of researching. Using Wikipedia for school research paper is not a bad place to get quick information about a topic, most of the articles on there have have cited from other places and are on the bottom of the page. A person can start there to see if the other websites are credible.
ReplyDeleteThis article didn't teach me anything that I didn't already know about wiki's or Wikipedia. I was aware that they could be edited by anyone on a web browser, making them unreliable for research sources, but sometimes helpful for fast information. Wiki's are fast and helpful websites for people to use, and interesting because they allow anyone to edit them. I find wiki's helpful for quick definitions and fast information.
ReplyDelete“Wiki” is something that is educationally taboo, however i believe that much of the information that can be found there has some credibility. I think that one should consult a variety of sources befor in addition when doing any type of research on any subject.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia is not a reliable source for information about anything. I have always known that "wiki" has the capability of allowing anyone to edit the information, and have seen inputs from people in which they completely ruin the facts of a particular subject. I never use Wikipedia when writing research papers because the information just cannot be creditable. This article did not teach me anything I didn't already know.
ReplyDeleteI have never found anything reliable on a wiki site, especially Wikipedia. I was told in high school that any information that is entered in the website can be altered by anyone in the world, so we were told never to use or trust it. I did not really learn anything different considering what my teachers had taught me in class, but I did not know the differences between the two of the postings.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school I started hearing “Wikipedia is not a valid source” or “Wikipedia is the devil.” We could not use it on anything because my classmates and I were told that people could change the information freely. When I arrived to college, my second English course had a class just for Wikipedia which continued the message of Wikipedia is bad. If I have trouble finding some information, I go on Wikipedia and read what it has to say for searchable factors. I also go to the bottom of the page where it contains the references to continue the search and see how valid it really is. I agree that some of the information cannot be trusted, but I believe it can be a start or a shove in the right direction when it comes to researching information.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading wiki's because they supply me with general information,about a topic, that is fairly easy to read. The use of Wikipedia in an academic setting is frowned upon by educators. Wikipedia's information can be factual however it might not come from an credited source. Educators' stress the fact that using uncredited information is not helpful to students academic writing. Scholarly articles and books are credible and reliable sources to uses in an academic setting.
ReplyDeleteAll throughout high school and college I been told not to use Wikipedia because the information can be edited by anyone. However, I often use wiki's because they are easy to access, and are put into simple terms. For a research paper it is better to use academic sources, such as online journals or articles; but, if the reader is wanting fast information I don't see the problem with using wiki's. The researcher just has to be aware that the information may not be factual.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say whether wikis are a good thing or bad. Anyone can edit a wiki which might not give the right information. It makes me think whether they are usefull or not. However, they do give you somewhat an accurate brief explanation. They are also at times more interesting to read than educational or proven articles.Wikis are not proven facts but they are a great way to start research and get an idea of what you are trying to find.
ReplyDeleteWikis are a useful tool on the internet. I feel that they give useful and quick information like the article explained. I personally use the site Wikipedia alot and it has helped me greatly. There is so much information about everything I can't help but use it. Though I like it and I am sure many other students do as well, many teachers disagree that these sites are useful. The reason for that is because anyone can go on the sites and edit the information. I feel if you use the information and due further research on the topic you will be fine. Wikipedia has not steered me wrong yet.
ReplyDeleteI use wikipedia almost everyday of my life. It is very usefull to learn about anything you could think of. Even if you do not believe them to be "accurate", on the bottome of the page are the cites that wikipedia uses, so then you can go directly to the source. Popular articles on wikipedia are accurate and are not easy to change.
ReplyDeleteNaomi Auger, Ruth Raitman, and Wanlei Zou all contributed to creating "Teaching and Learning Online with Wiki." The word "Wiki" comes the Hawaiian word for quick. Unlike most educational topics, this articles promotes using different wiki websites. I think using wiki websites is great. Websites like Wikipedia are an excellent gateway for finding sources. The majority of information put up on the websites are normally very accurate because if it isn't it gets taken down. Also many times you can do research on the author to see their credentials.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Wikipedia is not at all a citable, trustful source when researching for a paper. It is simply a quick and easy way for someone to get, at the very least, general information about a topic. I will say, however, that I have used Wikipedia countless times. For casual use, it is great. As much as people demonize it, it is a good starting place for your research and then take it from there for more academic references.
ReplyDeleteWiki is one word; wrong. I rarely look up any information on wiki. If anyone can place information and call it fact is scary. I have never used Wiki or research, but for little issues with friends, or family sure. It doesn't matter with those types of conversations, but as far as turning in assignments, it's a no.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia has been off limits ever since I was in high school. When i was at this place in my education, I thought that this was a dumb concept. Although, now my mind has changed completely. Wikipedia is a fast, inaccurate way to get a quick answer to something; however, it is just that, not accurate. Anyone can put anything on a Wikipedia page at any point, and this doesn't consitute it as an advantage to finding correct information.
ReplyDeleteThe article, "Teaching and Learning Online with Wikis" by Naomi Augar, Ruth Raitman, and Wanlei Zhou is an article that explains how to use wikis. I think that wikis are very informational because I often find good information on Wikipedia. I didn't know however that Wikis have two modes. Wikis has document mode and thread mode. Wikis document mode is written in the third person and the thread mode is like a blog.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that "Wiki" comes from the Hawaiian word meaning "quick." I also didn't know that there were more Wiki's then just Wikipedia. Even though I know that you aren't supposed to use Wikipedia on any type of academic work, I often use it to quick knowledge on a subject before I get into my real academic research. I often use the Bibliography at the end of the articles to go back and find my own information.
ReplyDeleteThis article shows a good way to use Wiki in the classroom. Most of the time teachers forbid students to use Wikipedia because of the ease of editing. I like how the teachers a this school found a way to use them effectively in the classroom. Wikis can be useful if used properly and I think it is more important to teach students that, than the normal "Wikipedia is awful and terrible" speech.
ReplyDeleteI feel that wikipedia and wiki pages can be useful to a certain extent. I am not really sure that I have a solid opinion of them. I have always been told not to use them in school but then I do use them quite a bit for personal use. I think that if used in a specific way in the school setting then it could be okay.
ReplyDelete