Wiki as a textbook?
By Jonathan. Filed in discussion, reading |
Referring to the Computer World article, it mentions that the world moves too fast now for a text book, which takes a year to write and distribute (at the minimum). Rather, the wiki, as an open format, allows educated users to create and constantly update a textbook that always keeps pace with the rapid progress of modern society. While I applaud Professor Kane’s bold use of new technology and his readiness to adapt his teaching style to accommodate technological advances, I think relying on any single method of teaching, no matter the circumstance, limits the class in many ways. I think one of the main benefits of technology is that is allows us many options for how we learn. Using these varying options in conjunction with one another, similar to the way we’re doing so in this class, is the best way to utilize technology. It also helps to diminish one huge flaw of online content and of the wiki in particular. How valid is the information? How trusted are the sources? When we have “the masses” creating textbooks, is it a sacrifice of speed for quality? Or, in these fast moving times, is speed a function of quality.
Monday, July 6th 2009 at 1:20 pm |
I think that you pose some very interesting questions, and this is a discussion that I have had with several individuals, although not on the topic of wikis as textbooks per se — my conversations have been more in line with argument of whether or not public wikis are reliable sources of information. I think that in a classroom setting, a limited-access wiki like the one that we utilize for the class syllabus can be a reliable source of information as long as the professor (who should in this circumstance be acting as a “guide” rather than a lecturer) acts as an efficient and rigorous moderator of the information posted by students. I agree with Havenstein that a wiki is “collaborative and dynamic”, two elements and attributes that can enhance the learning experience for the contemporary student who, as a bi-product of the digital age, has become used to multitasking. The information and sources should in the end be accurate and trustworthy, and most students will not post information that they think is inaccurate, but it is still important that the professor acts as a moderator. Using this model, a classroom can still be somewhat of a participatory culture (much like Jenkins discusses), yet it still maintains this element of bureaucracy that should always be at least minimally present in a classroom setting. Some hierarchy of information and instructional responsibilities must be maintained, or it isn’t really a classroom any more and more of a free-for-all. And even though public wikis have an air of freedom, the bureaucracy on these sites indeed resides within the editors who maintain the site, editors whose job it is to make sure information is accurate to the best of their abilities and knowledge. So even in these public communities such as wikis, there is still an element of control, which I don’t think should be seen as totally negative. It’s not censorship, it’s just regulation. Actually, a classroom wiki might be even more trusted as a source of information than a public one…
Monday, July 6th 2009 at 5:33 pm |
I was in an online class a few semesters ago and our final project was to create a class wiki (Information Technologies) based on our readings, insight, news and collaboration within subjects we discussed on a weekly basis. It was a very useful reference tool and interesting because everyone could update it as the class progressed and the viewpoint was from each of my classmates so it had a wealth of knowledge that 1 person could not have (unless they were a walking encyclopedia and a worldy perspective). It was interesting to watch the wiki morph into a viable resource that you could reflect back on past topics and link new topics while the class changed to subjects that were linked. The professor did regulate the entries and corrected or added information to keep us on the right path but I found it very refreshing to have ONE place for everything related to the class with multiple people working on it to create an interesting synergy and to broaden our scope during a limited time to review so much material available about Media.
I also had a class (collaboration in Networked Environments) where our task was to create a wikipedia entry and see if it remained on the site. This was a challenge and an interesting excercise for anyone who doesn’t believe that the wiki task force does not regulate the site like greyhounds – this was my favorite thing that happened during the class – the announcement of Sarah Palin and to watch a wikipedia entry on steroids – http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10044085-38.html
The power of the wiki!