I imagine the Tulane Wiki as a sort of preliminary experience for us. It made me think to the driving lessons one takes before getting the driving license: during the first semester we got familiar with the Wiki-world; we get familiar with collective writing; we learnt how to edit other's pages and we slowly accepted other's contributions in our pages; we learnt how to organize our ideas according to the typical Wiki structure, we learnt how to quote and write references, etc.
In brief, during last semester we've been training to cope with a pubblic Wiki!
I must say that it hasn't been easy for me to add and modify information on the page I chose to edit together with Tania (Informal Learning).
First of all Edutech Wiki is no longer the "protected place" where only people from our language course could directly intervene. On the contrary, there are experts and very competent people who contribute with their knowledge.
EduTech Wiki is a very reliable source - it has been created by people working at the University of Geneva - and if you contribute, what you write has to be of some utility, besides being supported by factual evidence (references).
You can write your own opinion as well, but I suppose that this is a prominent personalities' privilege. I felt ridiculous when I wrote "According to Elena Birolo.." . I wanted to add a personal touch to the page but I think it didn't work as a classmate suggested me to remove that sentence!!!:-)
While editing on Edutech Wiki I had the impression that its official character makes you feel a bit uncomfortable about your own contributions but also more responsible for what you add, modify, or delete. Even references and language used are chosen more carefully because you want to be on the equal footing with all those experts!
In our Wiki there were few people (us) contributing and what's more, we personally knew each other. To a certain extent the context was familiar, while Edutech Wiki is much more formal. Although we had to be impartial and objective also in our Wiki, last semester I wrote for us and for our peers in New Orleans, here I add my contribution for anybody will need to find out something about Informal Learning!
(photo from Flickr)
In brief, during last semester we've been training to cope with a pubblic Wiki!
I must say that it hasn't been easy for me to add and modify information on the page I chose to edit together with Tania (Informal Learning).
First of all Edutech Wiki is no longer the "protected place" where only people from our language course could directly intervene. On the contrary, there are experts and very competent people who contribute with their knowledge.
EduTech Wiki is a very reliable source - it has been created by people working at the University of Geneva - and if you contribute, what you write has to be of some utility, besides being supported by factual evidence (references).
You can write your own opinion as well, but I suppose that this is a prominent personalities' privilege. I felt ridiculous when I wrote "According to Elena Birolo.." . I wanted to add a personal touch to the page but I think it didn't work as a classmate suggested me to remove that sentence!!!:-)
While editing on Edutech Wiki I had the impression that its official character makes you feel a bit uncomfortable about your own contributions but also more responsible for what you add, modify, or delete. Even references and language used are chosen more carefully because you want to be on the equal footing with all those experts!
In our Wiki there were few people (us) contributing and what's more, we personally knew each other. To a certain extent the context was familiar, while Edutech Wiki is much more formal. Although we had to be impartial and objective also in our Wiki, last semester I wrote for us and for our peers in New Orleans, here I add my contribution for anybody will need to find out something about Informal Learning!
(photo from Flickr)
1 comment:
I understand what you mean, Elena... I didn't want to write something like "Alessandra Peron thinks..." because it felt so ridiculous! I think that "adding a personal touch" could mean making a nice, clearly-structured page, even though there isn't a direct reference to you on the page (but there is one on the "history"!).
See you in class,
Alessandra
Post a Comment