Sue M’s UBC MET E-Portfolio

Class Wiki for Collaboration – Personal Reflection

As I have not spent a great deal of time exploring social media or other related social-networking platforms useful for enhancing e-learning, I found this week’s readings and tasks to be extremely fascinating!

These address my quest to design and facilitate enhanced e-learning environments and opportunities for Adult Learners. The aspects of social media related to the shifting of power and authority of the printed word fascinates me, as does the new area of e-learning 2.0.

Impressions of this week’s experiences exploring one social media tool in particular, a class wiki…

1. How the group collaboration and discussion within the wiki space differed from a standard threaded discussion space:
   • Using the discussion page that is connected to the wiki page, I didn’t really feel like I “entered into conversation” with my peers about the kind of issues and trends that were evident in the sightings posted.
   • I actually found posting my “discussion” contribution to be more like a blog entry – felt more like an individual reflection / expression than an interactive exchange.
   • I found the discussion to be very linear in the wiki, as posts were added chronologically, instead of “attached to” a particular aspect of a previous posting. I much prefer the back and forth exchange of ideas in a threaded discussion forum.
   • Don’t think there was as much “discussing” in a wiki as there is in the threaded discussion forums (could be due to familiarity with this tool for discussion)
2. Kinds of advantages in using wikis for group collaboration:
   • Good tool for collaborating on the creation of a document (5 Suggestion, 5 Challenges)
   • Being able to edit another group member’s posting in order to expand on an idea started or to add related ideas, additional content and/or references was a helpful feature.
   • We could add, edit, and expand creatively in context. This approach for generating a collaborative document seemed more productive than posting a series of discussion postings that would have to be recapped at the end to generate an organized summary of contributions about a particular point(s).
3. Some of the challenges of working with others in a collaborative wiki space:

• • Being able to edit another person’s posting seemed kind of dangerous (someone was asking where the “undo” button was ;>)
  • At one point I returned to our “collaborative” document only to find some content that had previously been there was gone – perhaps inadvertently deleted or purposefully removed !?! As there was no posting in the discussions to indicate who had decided to do this, who had discussed this action, who had agreed upon this action (at least not that I could find)….I found that rather disturbing at first.
  • First discussing group process and reaching consensus regarding roles, responsibilities and approaches to the task, would have been a good starting point. Without these, editing / deleting other postings can cause the group to lose good contributions, for discussion to break down, for individuals to lose interest and defer the completion of the task to others.

Why Social Media? Some Lessons Learned!

According to Iverson (2005), in E-Learning Games: Interactive Learning Strategies for Digital Delivery, “we must actively engage our participants if we are to keep them motivated and involved in the learning process.” Learning happens through interaction and collaboration and is a dynamic, creative process that involves the true exchange of ideas, not simply the accumulation of facts.

In order for learning like this to become a reality in fully online courses, new types of technologies and practices had to develop to enable enhanced interactions, sharing and communications. “Those applications defined as ‘Web 2.0‘ hold the most promise because they are strictly Web-based and typically free, support collaboration and interaction, and are responsive to the user. These applications have great potential to be used in a way that is learner-centered, affordable, and accessible for teaching and learning purposes” (Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs! Oh What Is A Faculty Member Supposed to Do? 2007). This article also states that “…emerging technologies are designed to assist learners in becoming active, engaged learners and information evaluators as opposed to passive learners who merely reflect their instructor’s knowledge. In this new environment learners rely on and interact more with other learners, further building and constructing each other’s knowledge.”

Downes (2005) in E-Learning 2.0, explains how over the last few years the web has been “shifting from being a medium, in which information was transmitted and consumed, into being a platform, in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along.” He states that social media is about enabling and encouraging participation through open applications and services – “socially open, with rights granted to use the content in new and exciting contexts.”

Social media is increasingly being used for educational purposes and is available in many different forms including blogs, wikis, podcasts, photo sharing, instant messaging, social bookmarking and social networking, to name just a few. Wikipedia describes social media as, “online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies…a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It’s a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers.”

In 7 Things You Should Know About Blogs (Educause August 2005), blogging is seen as a way for learners to generate, share and keep up with timely and topical class information, when social media activities are tied to the learning outcomes and course concepts. Learners “form rich connections with one another and the content and – because of the reflection and sharing – find great relevance in the material.”

Siemens (2002), in The Art of Blogging – Part 1. Overview, Definitions, Uses, and Implications, stresses that educational blogs breaks down barriers. “They allow ideas to be based on merit, rather than origin, and ideas that are of quality filter across the internet ‘viral-like’ across the blogosphere.”

According to Frand (2000), moving learners “from ‘interacting on the Net’ to ‘critical thinking’ is not necessarily a simple or easy leap. Yet it is a necessary one.” Using social media for the collaborative construction of knowledge can challenge learners to think creatively and critically.

Downes (2004), in Educational Blogging, stresses that for social media in education to be successful – building of community must first be “embraced and encouraged”. It is essential to develop a learning community built on trust, interdependency and a desire for collaboration and meaningfully engagement that “connects people through shared interest in information” (Alexander, B. 2006).

References Related to Social Media & Electronic Literacies

• 7 Things You Should Know About Blogs (ID: ELI7006). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7006.pdf
• 7 Things You Should Know About Twitter (ID: ELI7027). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7027.pdf
• Alexander, B. (2006). Web 2.0: A New Wave Of Innovation For Teaching And Learning? EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2), 34-44. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0621.pdf
• Bolter, J. D. (2001), Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print (2^nd Ed). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Downes, S. (2004). Educational Blogging. EDUCAUSE Review, 39 (5, September/October), 14-26. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/EducationalBlogging/157920
• Downes, S. (2005). E-Learning 2.0. eLearn Magazine (October 16, 2005). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=29-1
• Faculty Development for the Net Generation. EDUCAUSE Review, Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.educause.edu/FacultyDevelopmentfortheNetGeneration/6071
• Frand, H (2005). The Information-Age Mindset. Changes in Students and Implications for Higher Education. EDUCAUSE Review, 25 (5 , September/October), pp. 15-24. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0051.pdf
• Iverson, K. (2005). E-Learning Games: Interactive Learning Strategies for Digital Delivery. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
• Mcgee, P. & Diaz, V. (2007). Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs! Oh, My! What Is a Faculty Member Supposed to Do? EDUCAUSE Review, 42 (September/October 2007), 28-41. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume42/WikisandPodcastsandBlogsOhMyWh/161907
• Oblinger, D. & Oblinger, J. (Eds.). Educating the Net Generation. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/pub7101a.pdf
• Richardson, W. (2004). Metablognition. Weblogg-Ed (April 2, 2004). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://weblogg-ed.com/2004/04/
• Siemens, G. (2002). The Art of Blogging – Part 1. Overview, Definitions, Uses, and Implications. Elearnspace (December 2002). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/blogging_part_1.htm
• Warschauer M. (1999). Electronic Literacies. Language, Culture, and Power in Online Education. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Wesch, M. (2007) A Vision of Students Today (& What Teachers Must Do). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/10/a-vision-of-students-today-what-teachers-must-do/
• Wikipedia – Social Media. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media
• Wilson, C. & Heard, B. (2008). The Benefit of Blogs. Educational Blogging – Design. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://design.test.olt.ubc.ca/Educational_Blogging