innovate
wikis
When I began ETEC 510, I had the perspective that wikis, and more specifically Wikipedia, were not writing spaces that should be associated with academia. I had been viewing such spaces as popular culture that does not have the accuracy or depth of published books or journal articles.
Reflection:
Participating in this wiki had an effect on my pedagogy. Prior to this experience, I did not have a very positive perspective concerning Wikipedia. I realized that it is a very significant online environment that connects people from around the globe. Although it is criticized for its openness in that anyone can become a contributor who authors or edits content mainly because of the concern that someone would change content to be inaccurate; however, there are numerous contributors who are responsible for moderating pages and are monitoring content changes. There is an ongoing conversation about what content should be there, so althought there could be mild inaccuracies, the content is constantly under revision to improve accuracy. Second, I realized that it would be a great experience for students to experience the wiki phenomenon through participation in a wiki. Such an experience fosters several 21st Century skills
Artifact: Wiki Contribution
The experience of being a wiki co-author with my MET peers changed my thinking regarding wikis and their place in education. The video below provides a commentary on the ETEC 510: Design Wiki and my contributions (Twitter, Microblogging in the Classroom).
(Binkley et. al, 2012). They must collaborate and communicate regarding the content, think critically about what content and sources to include, be creative in their presentation of the content by creating their own visuals to support the content, develop informational and IT literacy which is implicitly built into the process, and, finanlly, experience questions of personal and social responsibility on a local or global level.
How does embracing different modalities assist learners in developing 21st Century Skills?