As I consider the latest wiki assignment for EDCI 546, I can't help but feel a little whacky. I am a planner. I have to-do lists for my to-do lists (I wish this was an exaggeration). So, the thought of building a wiki page with a group of six other people without first developing a plan, leaves me feeling a bit out of sorts. I have no doubt that we will be able to develop a wonderful page full of lesson plans, but the way in which we will do it is outside of my comfort zone. But, then I have done a lot of things outside of my comfort zone since I started this program.
I am still getting used to the idea of wikis. How can numerous people sharing the management of one wiki make a cohesive, informative site without chaos taking over? I suppose this is what I will discover as we begin to work on the wiki this week. Sometimes, I am better off not asking too many questions. I just need to dive in.
Ha! I love this entry. It was the same thing I was thinking about. Living in a virtual world is one thing, but being graded on it is another.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we will all be fine.
You crap me up, to do lists for your to do lists. If someone could take half of me and half of you then they would probably have a pretty normal person in terms of planning and being spontaneous.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! With everything we've been taught about writing and we teach about writing, including the very important planning stage, I agree that it is unnerving to have to create a cohesive site without planning per se. But, as we saw in class, everyone's pages seemed to fit together well. I do wonder though, how something like this would work in a classroom with students who don't always engage in as much forethought as we would like. It would be interesting to have students use wikis as an experiment to see if they would just write anything that pops into their mind, or if they would be more careful knowing that their fellow students, parents, and teachers would be reading the wiki. There certainly are many advantages to having students use and create wikis so I would love to try it in my classroom one day.
ReplyDeleteHa! Becky said "You crap me up." I know, I'm juvenile, but that's hysterical and brings me right to my response about Wikis. I agree with you about Wiki's 100%. I think that Wikis are a certain kind of organized chaos and quite frankly, I like my chaos organized with a side of anal retentiveness. In which case, "you crap me up" sort of fits. Ok, all kidding aside though, things like spelling errors of that sort are not only a possibility, but most likely a probability on websites created by groups of people. The good thing about Wikis is that there are plenty of people to correct your mistakes. That's your side of anal retentiveness right there! On the flip side, a blog comment cannot be edited by anyone except for the owner of the text. In this case, Becky will just have to live with my mockery because I am the only one who can edit my response. Muah, ha, ha. Unless you decide to delete it Nicole. I rescind my muah, ha, ha. Were this a Wiki, Becky would be protected from my ribbing by the other 20-some brilliant minds pouring over the details of our creation like Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. Therein lies the beauty of a wiki..."IT'S ALIVE!!" While I too feel a certain degree of anxiety when I think about chaos of a wiki, I also feel protected from silly cohort members who still laugh at bathroom humor. Seriously, grow up silly cohort members, and don't worry, I'll have your back wikitysplit. ;)
ReplyDeleteP.S. Sorry I had to pick on you Becky, but it was just too enticing. Love to love ya! :)