Wiki reflections

After you have completed the wiki activity, take a few minutes to consider how the group collaboration and discussion within the wiki space differed from what you are accustomed to in an LMS standard threaded discussion space (like the one we’ve been using throughout the course in WebCT Vista).  What kinds of advantages do you see in using wikis for group collaboration?  What are some of the challenges of working with others in a collaborative wiki space?

I’ve actually been left somewhat unsatisfied after this week’s wiki activity, and I’m still trying to explore why that is. Let me explain:

Throughout this course, the most interesting and useful parts for me have been the discussions held between my classmates. The ideas, theories, and information shared between us during the asynchronous discussion forums have been highly valuable, and I find myself copying and pasting ideas into an “important: read this when you’re struggling” folder on my desktop. I’m often inspired by my colleagues for their inquisitive spirit and their wealth of knowledge, most of which comes from years and years of experience. So…why isn’t that coming through in the wiki? Well, it is, in a way. People are sharing key moments in their teaching practice which relate to a particular topic – and they’re then extrapolating on that moment to identify key issues and and strategies to resolve those issues. This is all very valuable, so I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t think the wiki format is useful.

However, I am a conversational learner by nature. That is, I need to ask questions, and then follow-up questions, and then more in-context questions, and then I’m  able to learn what I need to in a way that I’ll never forget. The wiki format in some ways eliminates the “question” from the final text – this is great if you’re just looking for the answer, and great if you include a version of the question in the final draft (as we’ve done here with the issues and challenges), but for me, I prefer to have the “authentic” question on the record. I like to see the “I really don’t get this” part of the question, because it helps me to understand the solution all that much better.

This week, I found myself wanting to really “discuss” the readings and the issues they raised, and feeling as though the format was not quite appropriate to do so. It’s quite possible that I just wasn’t confident/capable enough in the given format to contribute in the way that I’d hoped, however. I can understand that.
In my own thinking about social learning processes this week, I encountered a few core ideas which I’d like to keep in mind when engaging my students:

1) Students will always play the “getting by game.” For me, it’s important to remember not to “blame” the students for doing this – instead, I intend to work towards creating an environment in which the activities necessary to “get by” in the course are those which are most important, and which will equip my students best for the challenges and problems they will be facing in the future. (Welsch, 2007)

2) Aligning the problems of the classroom and the problems given to students in the world of academia is essential. (Welsch, 2007)

3) Social media is not the enemy. Rather, it is a powerful tool which, if harnessed appropriately, can help my students to thrive. It’s an important part of their lives, whether I choose to recognise it or not. If I work to find effective ways to incorporate it into their learning activities, everybody wins 🙂  (Welsch, 2007)

4) Social media is powerful not only as a way to communicate with others, but as a way to acquire and spread important information. (Alexander, 2006)

5) The rapidly-changing spaces of Web 2.0 require constant monitoring, and there are tools available to help understand and anticipate trends which will impact the lives of my students and the ways in which information is dispersed and shared (Alexander, 2006).

6) Web 2.0 is extremely powerful, and it’s far better to incorporate it into the learning process than to baricade students from accessing it (me ^^ )

I’ve still got a lot to learn. The articles I’ve encountered this week have been eye-opening for me, and it seems that they have been for my peers as well.