Ramdath


 * Reflections**

I found that Wikispaces proved to be a valuable and enjoyable collaborative tool. It provided users with the experience of sharing information by others as well as giving them the opportunity to edit that information. What was interesting was the growth of a community from a few users and few pages to hundreds. Wikispaces created an atmosphere where users felt welcome to offer information for free as they received a wealth of knowledge in return. Wikispaces also offered the ability for students to edit and contribute other’s work. Wikispaces allowed students to design and manipulate a space any which way they desired. I believe for the most part Wikispaces was user friendly with minor glitches such as time zones. Its navigation was seemless and layout was aesthetically pleasing. I found that Wikispaces gave students the power to participate in a higher learning community beyond the blogs and chat rooms. Although with any collaborative community, there are drawbacks and one such drawback would be the validity of this information being offered. Another would be the idea of pertinent information being erased as well as problems arising with community members. Overall I found the entire experience quite enjoyable as it gave me particularly, the opportunity to integrate my opinions, ideas and knowledge in becoming an active participant in the online community


 * Contributions**

Throughout my participation in Wikispaces, I contributed by adding 5 page posts and numerous edits. I contributed by acting as a participative user and some administrative work. My contributions towards Wikispaces are as follows;

· Adding a page on the rise, development and impact of Narrowcasting · Adding a page on the advantages and uses of Virtual Reality · Editing and adding several paragraphs on ICTs. · Editing the “Surveillance” page and adding several paragraphs on Types of Surveillance · Editing the “Spam” page and adding paragraphs on What are software companies doing about Spam. · Creating the page titled File sharing and its Impacts. · Creating the page titled Technology and Communication Networks · Linking any misplaced pages to the Table of contents · Some administrative work to the home page. · Adding to Wiki feedback section · Adding my alias and Analysis and Reflection page

The Future**

I would recommend to future //CCIT’ers// that they start early on this project as it is very difficult to become an active participant in editing when there is no information to edit. Whenever you are creating a new page, make sure to type and save it in word as the wikispace editor is unreliable. It is quite helpful to look at the tools one can use in designing the layout of a page. Placing yourself as a pioneer is very important, therefore be creative and choose topics that will spark an interest throughout the community. Most importantly I would encourage students to participate in this online community as it can offer you a multitude of unknown knowledge. “You think you know, you have no idea.”