anna

=Anna Piejka //993275488//= //...wikispace username: **anna2662** //

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My Contributions
The personal pages I've created myself are: Some of the basic uses of formatting I've incorporated to the course wikispace included properly linking both pages to the CCIT205 Table of Contents page through the editor in Firefox. I've placed the most effort into the Digitally Mediated Communication page since it has greater pertinence to the content of the course CCT205. Also, I found it more relatable to the content of other student's pages. Once all my content was written I browsed the Table of Contents page for topics that share similar components of information with my two pages. The links of the pages I found were inserted into key words or concepts within my pages, leading the user to expandable information. For example, in the Digitally Mediated Communication page, I've created links to concepts such as accessibility and adaptive technology that I have touched on in my paper and that a fellow classmate has touched on in their own page.
 * //Digitally Mediated Communication//
 * //Tort Law on the Internet//

To ensure consistency within my pages, I've placed formatting standards that are similar to the page structure of other pages on the CCT205 wikispace. This includes a sidebar of a Table of Contents specific to the main topics of information addressed in each page on the top right corner providing easier access for the user (once a topic of interest is clicked on in the Table of Contents bar, the page automatically scrolls to that particular concept). Furthermore, all headings are separated from body text with a bolded heading 1-3 format. I ensured a sense of organization in the content of my pages, displaying the most basic information for the user first, followed by more specific and elaborated content separated by headings. Horizontal rules separate the main page title from the body text, and is again applied at the reference heading to lead the eye to important parts of the content. I wanted to ensure a visual flow of information as well by incorporating images into the pages that were relevant to the text. For example in the Digitally Mediated Communication page I included information on various keyboards that exist for the user followed by a table of photos displaying examples.

//Miscellaneous Contributions//
 * Added name into Aliases link
 * Edited the FAQ’s page. In one question a fellow student wrote that Safari can be used for editing wiki pages. Personally speaking I use a Mac laptop and Safari does not allow for or show edits in the visual editor. Mozilla works best. Thus I eliminated Safari from the page inquiry. (However I believe someone changed it back to how they answered it)
 * Reduced the number of question numbers in the FAQ's page in order to reduce the page size and simplify the space to avoid disrupting the visual flow of content
 * Added a Table of Contents sidebar in some of my fellow student's pages to add organization and consistency throughout the wikispace. Furthermore, I've corrected spelling mistakes, altered necessary spacing, changed the formatting of headlines and added horizontal rules to these pages including the Jurisdiction page and Theories of Media Impacts pages
 * Added various links to main Table of Contents page
 * Added links to key words related to other people’s pages in 205 wikispaces
 * Inserted photos corresponding to the content

Reflection
At first this concept of online collaboration for a wikispace seemed too challenging of a task. For the amount of people enrolled in the course, it seemed like a difficult thing to ask for people to respect each other's pages. The Internet is known to us as a place where we can freely express our ideas and we can write anything we wish. But with time I've witnessed this come together gracefully. With establishing the Wiki Netiquette, all of the users of this space were aware of what is to be expected of us.

Initially I believed this space would lack organization. But once the main pages were set it was easy for people to navigate through the site, create their own pages, and link them to the main pages such as the Table of Contents and Student Aliases. In a way this concept of sharing and exchanging information and assisting one another to create pages resembles that of [|WebCT]. In fact I've actually noticed that course information was transferred to this space and issues or questions that would otherwise be raised in the discussion forum on WebCT were now posted as the FAQ's. This convenience is great.

The ease at which pages can be created stunned me. Although this function limits the user to using only certain browsers and eliminating Safari, the number one web browser for Macintosh users like myself, it is a very simple task. One of the neatest things about these wikispaces is the ease of creating numerous pages and linking of information. In any sentence a key word or key concept can be highlighted and linked to another wikispace page or source on the Internet that provides easy and quick expandable information for the user. This provides convenience since linked information is set apart from body text and highlighted in blue. It prevents the user from opening a new window, choosing a search engine and inquiring on a particular topic. Rather all that extra effort is eliminated for the user; the information is already highlighted for the user and expandable further information the user may choose to inquire on is readily available at the click of a button.

Suggestions
What I had trouble with was the fact that someone else had made changes to my own page settings I was already content with. One user altered my headlines which then affected the appearance of my page as well as the Table of Contents sidebar. I found this to be a consistent problem and an annoyance.

Maybe what should be incorporated into this type of space, specifically for the use of class spaces and a bigger shared workspace such as this one containing pages and pages of information is a sense of consistency. For example, the majority of students incorporated Table of Contents sidebars in their individual page interface. But there were however some that didn't even contrast the format to separate important headings from regular body text. This lack of consistency is disturbing to the user and disrupts the visual flow of content from page to page.

Although the creation of pages and editing them in the visual editor is easy, there should be more settings options. For example if a table or image is inserted into a page, it is left-justified on the page. There should be an option in the toolbar that allows the movement of an image to be centered for example. Keeping the font option to one font is great since if there was a variety it would interrupt consistency and possibly influence legibility.