Assignment+analysis+and+reflection


 * By: Maryam Rana



Summary of Contributions:**

The purpose of this assignment was to give the CCT 205 students a web space on which they could contribute and engage in topics of personal interest relevant to CCIT. This assignment also gave the student to collaborate with other students and their work by actively adding and editing their work. My two major contributions to wikispaces were on the topic of Network society and Hybrid Technology. My piece on network society is a brief summary on the concept as to what the network society is according to Manuel Castell. According to Castell, the network society is part of the modern society which is defined by technological, cultural, economical and political factors. My essay topic for this assignment was on the introduction and development of Hybrid technology and the use of hybrid energy in the automobile industry. Hybrid technology is the combination of two or more types of technologies, which produce similar results. A hybrid vehicle is a combination of both electric and gasoline run motors. In this essay I have focused on the different types of features a hybrid car has, the types of different hybrid systems, component of a hybrid car, safety features and advantages of hybrid technology. For me this topic was of particular interest as it dealt with new forms of environmental friendly energy, which can be used as substitutes for traditional energy providing sources such as oil and coal which have proven to be very harmful for our planet and atmosphere.

Reflection**

My initial reaction towards this assignment was not very positive, and I was very hesitant towards it. I found myself very confused in the beginning as it was my first time interacting with wikispaces and wikipedia. However as I got more and more involved with wikispaces, collaborating with other students, and making my own contributions, I started to develop a more positive view about wikispaces in general. One of the most interesting and fun quality of this assignment and wikispaces was that it gave the students the opportunity to get really involved in collaborate work and actively participate and interact with other students work pieces. Wikispaces allows student to share their work with their peers. Overall wikispaces is a good way for students to express their views on CCIT related topics as well as introduce their peers to new fields of CCIT. One problem that I would like to point out with this assignment is that its very time consuming, and managing to stay constantly active with other students and their work can be difficult as there are other courses as well that need to be looked after. Overall, though I would say that wikispaces was a fun assignment, which allowed students to get involved with each other and their work and was a great learning experience.

Other then the issue of time management with this assignment, I would say that this is a very interesting assignment and should be given to students in the future, however, I would suggest that the weight-age of this assignment should not be that high and students should be given over the entire course period to work with wikispaces.
 * Suggestions**