Collaboration Using Wikis Social Networking

Social Networking: Collaboration Using Wikis

Collaboration Using Wikis: Social Networking

Progress Report on wiki Contributions and Collaboration with Others

I would describe my engagement with the class wiki this week as positive for two major reasons. The first is that I have been able to increase my skill in the use of wikis, posting contributions, making edits, and providing links to pages. Interacting with the wiki at first was a challenge because the term was new to me, and I lacked the basic skills needed to make postings and edit information. With time, however, I was able to perfect my skill, and it became increasingly easy to make contributions and edits as necessary. I am now able to perform a number of actions, including changing the style of text, correcting spelling mistakes, modifying existing links, deleting links and information, rewording information, and adding links to existing sets of listed links.

The second reason for my appreciation of the class wiki is that it has fostered my ability to collaborate with others in the learning process. Collaboration can be defined as the action of working with others to accomplish a task collectivelly (Keyes, 2013). In the wiki assignment, one is not just a passive recipient of information; rather, they are allowed to become actively involved by making contributions and reviews, as well as editing, and adding to the documents already in existence (Neumann & Hood, 2009). The wiki supports collaboration among participants as it allows them to work actively together, sharing ideas, revising each other's writings, and constructing knowledge (Neumann & Hood, 2009). This kind of collaboration allows the student to become cognitively-involved in the subject matter and in the overall learning process. As Neumann and Hood (2009) point out, learning is enhanced when students are actively engaged in what they are doing, and when they are able to discuss with others, and obtain formative figures regularly.

Compared to physical assignments, wikis foster collaboration among participants by providing a means through which individuals' contributions can be assessed. This, in my view, is one of the most interesting aspects about the wiki. The history function makes it possible to review the contribution of individual participants to the wiki. Participants working in a group setting are inclined to give their all, which is often not the case in physical group work. While appreciating the significance of the history function in gauging how actively an individual engages with others on the wiki, I recognize that it may not be the most effective indicator of participation and engagement. It is likely that people will judge a participant's level of engagement on the wiki based on the frequency of their contribution. In my view, however, the frequency of one's contribution, as evidenced by the history function, ought not to be taken as the measurement for their participation and collaboration in the wiki. The value of that contribution should also be considered when assessing how actively one participates in the wiki, and how effectively they collaborate with others.