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=Reflection and Analysis on Wikispaces=

I started my whole Wiki experience by creating a thread about Google. For Google I explained the basics and what great features they offered currently. Looking back now it has really shown me how much information can come when everyone contributes a little. There is now a full and detailed description of Google and all their services.

Next I noticed how everyone was coming together for the test, it was like one massive study group and most of the definitions and ideas were already taken and posted. All I had to do was copy it from Wikispaces and print it. I added social polarization because no one had covered that idea and it was one of the few uncompleted definitions left.

I had a little bit of problems finding an interesting topic to write my 2-3 pages on, when I stumbled upon “How the Semantic Web Works” at howstuffworks.com. I read through it, loved the ideas and concepts, then went to Wikispaces to see if anyone had covered, and no one had in the table on contents. I did the write up and then when I went to publish it, Wikispaces said that someone else already had it posted, but only a paragraph on the topic, so I just added my content. Since the Semantic Web wasn’t an original addition, I also added Internet Radio.

My first reaction to Wikispaces was that everything was well laid out and simple to understand. The most difficult part of the process was learning how to add a table of contents and even that was not difficult. I really enjoyed the easy of use and the fact that technology didn’t get in the way of what was trying to be accomplished. I really liked that I was able to add things and see that other people were going through it and adding their own ideas and content. Overall the experience has really changed what I thought about Wiki’s. I had used Wikipedia before for school projects and just for self-learning but always thought that the technology’s usefulness ended there. Through this project I could really see how many advantages there are to having a wiki available for everyone to use. It was a lot easier to complete thing when everyone plays a part and just adds their two cents.

There are really basic things that I think would really improve the whole idea of Wiki’s and that is to make them much more visually appealing. Compared to other content on the Internet Wikispaces looks like Windows 3.0. They should give users the option of choosing their own themes for customization, or just change the general theme to something a little more modern. Other changes they should make are an automatic general table of contents that automatically updates as topics are added. Other than that, the general objective is to be able to collaborate to spread knowledge, and it does the job well. Since individuals already have to log in, Wikispace programmers should move along like Gmail, and include instant chatting capabilities within Wikispaces.