Analysis+and+Reflections+-+selliott

Steven Elliott Professor Michael Jones CCT205H5 28 February 2006

When I first began editing the CCT205 Wikispace, I found it to focus more on class related information such as assignments and test information. I took the liberty of typing out the study summaries I made for chapters 17-22, with the appropriate referencing included. I thought the reading summaries could be valuable to the other students, and useful to me if they could insert any missing information. I soon realized that the Wikispace was incredibly easy to use. I began reading through all of the information that my classmates had posted, making small changes such as linking to other Wiki sites or outside links where necessary. I also created a page with information on the impact of the media. Every time I saw an opportunity to improve the aesthetics of the website, I jumped at it. In my opinion, the more professional that the Wikispace looks, the more likely that people will feel as though they must input professional quality information. As the Wikispace began to evolve, in began to branch off and include information regarding anything to do with the communication technologies. This gave me an opportunity to include content regarding Learning Management Systems such as WebCT, and write about some of the issues regarding web accessibility. I would make a point to come on the site as often as I could, making changes where I felt necessary. I then wrote a few more pages of content regarding the many issues and loads features that eBay (the worlds largest online auction site) offers to both its sellers and the buyers. By this time the test had passed and I was curious what people thought of it. I started a test feedback site (accessible via the navigation bar on the left) and got an understanding of what people thought of the test. At this point I have over 160 page edits and will continue to edit until the Wikispace is closed.
 * Analysis and Reflection

I thought that this Wikispace gave students a certain amount of responsibility. We are responsible for maintaining the whole site, putting up relevant, quality information and referencing it properly. Everyone seemed to do a great job with this. People were coming up with loads of information, which made it more difficult for me to read through it all. There were a few people who were not doing anything with the site, and a few who may have used bad etiquette and improper referencing, but in general I think the whole experience was definitely positive. I was surprised at how much time it took just adding compiled content to the web space. It was not just a matter of cutting and pasting, you then have to change the headings, input any anchors you may want, add a table of contents, search for any appropriate internal/external links and then go through other pages and link them to your page.

I would suggest to future students that you make sure that the information you post is properly referenced and not just copied from Wikipedia (or anwhere else for that matter). There’s nothing more frustrating then working hard at gathering your information and seeing someone else just copy and paste it while reaping all the benefits. We are all smart students and have a lot to offer to these types of spaces. The information gathering and referencing is great practice for future research projects that we may have for our CCIT classes. Wikis seem to be growing in popularity and are something that I think everyone should try. Until you actually sit down and edit/maintain a Wikispace, it is hard to fully understand what is meant by a collaborative web space. I hope all of the other students feel the same as I do.