Monday, 18 March 2013

Wiki's and Pintrest

During this weeks e-learning session we looked at forms of tech that allow social interaction, commentary and author rights.

There was distinction split between these areas and it is right to point out that a wiki allows author capabilities, by this it means that the content that is on the page can be editied by people. In its most raw and absic form this means ultimate collaboration as anyone can edit it, however that is one potential pitfall. Anyone can log in or create an account and edit the information, regardless of whether this information is correct or not. This leads to the other barrier which is verification, when things can be edited by anyone then how can you verify that all of the information is true. Do you rely on the credentials of the author in terms of them being an expert in their field or having some respected opinions that others will consider and trust, or do you moderate it yourself and leave it open to criticism from others that the wiki is subjective to your your perceptions and opinions/knowledge. In order to combat these issues then rights need to be issued, comments should be allowed by external users but they should not be allowed editing rights, some say that this could nullify the use of wiki's however when you are trying to use this in an education setting moderation is good in order to preserve the wikis integrity and allow a specific set of students to comment.

Thw wiki I have created is a basic wiki for the academies that we operate in our department and college, it allows edits to be made by certain staff members and coaches, whilst allowing comments from those involved with the academies.

I can see the benefit of wiki's as it allows mass collaboration on a number of topics and if the learners identify themselves then it allows a form of assessment. However, with it being web based it is hard to ascertain what being posted is actually a students work/opinions so a degree of caution would need to be adapted if it was to be used as an assessment method. However as a area for ideas to be bounced around it is excellent and in informal assessment methods or recaps it would work well. It is accessible as it allows a learner to put in as much as they want or are comfortable with, it allows those who are of a higher ability to stretch themselves and demonstrate their knowledge, on the flip side it allows learners who need additional support to be identified and support put in place. It is inclusive as all learners can access it as long as their is wifi access, they can place their own opinons in which does not leave any learner out. It also allows learners to work at their own pace and feel comfortable with what they are going to add to it. They can also see what others are putting whioch helps generate ideas for them to consider in their own editing.

Below is an example of the wikispace that has been created, it is only brief but gives an idea of the concept. https://ehwlcsports.wikispaces.com/


Pintrest was another tool we looked at, I was very sceptical at first as I was not sure how it could be made relevant to my teaching and subject area. One negative is it is very fiddly and not the easiest to navigate round, so interms of accessibility and inclusivity it may not allow learners to add stuff to the board without a tutorial before hand. However, if it used as online resource list guiding learners to certain areas to find information they can use in assignments or during tasks then I can see some use for it there. However, setting up a board is time consuming, it requires an element of planning first in order to have ideas of what you want on the board. I am still unsure about the relevance in terms of student contribution but as a guided learning tool it may be useful but this will require more investigation first.

Below is my pintrest board.


No comments:

Post a Comment