Wiki Discussion Experience
This week’s discussion within a wiki environment was a little different than our usual discussions that we hold within the Vista course shell. The wiki space felt like we were flying without a net because the whole process seemed a little more self (or group) directed. One of the group members immediately created a new space within the wiki that seemed a little more user friendly for the group and the discussion took off from there. I found that the wiki discussion almost felt like we were talking outside of the class. I realize that we were still under the umbrella of the course but it felt a little less formal.
I think the advantages to this type of discussion environment is first of all, the easily editable (not edible) nature of the platform. It’s less structured and more fluid in it’s use. Another advantage I see is that there is a greater sense of student ownership of the discussion because you are creating the discussion. In a way it reminded me of collaboratively editing a document in Google docs or sharing ideas on a whiteboard in an Elluminate room.
I can see some challenges to this format as opposed to the threaded discussion forums that we usually use in Vista. It is a little easier to follow the discussion in a threaded format, particularly when the discussion takes off in different directions. You can follow each of these tangents individually through the discussion thread rather than scrolling through a linear discussion that may jump around with the topic. I also found it a little difficult navigating to the wiki space every time because I’d have to go into the module instructions ( I guess I could have bookmarked it but that would have made far too much sense). Overall, though I enjoyed the experience.
Cheers,
Ken