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Wiki Reflection Blog

First Time Using the Wiki:

I have set up wikis in courses for my job multiple times, but I have only interacted with them once in a previous class. Even then, the experience was more for publishing purposes rather than collaboration as the group updated a GoogleDoc with the information as needed. I found the setup of the wiki pages to be similar to the GoogleDoc as it tracked changes for easy comparability. As with the GoogleDoc, formatting was a bit of a pain within the wiki. The team corresponded by email to compose the proposal and the formatting was not retained once pasted into the wiki. In fact, I had to copy the contents of the outline, paste it into WordPad, and then reformat the spacing within the Wiki. I was unable to format the references due to the lack of formatting options as well. There were components of the proposal that were certainly not in alignment with APA because of this. I was unaware of the option to insert files into the Wiki at the time and wished I had tried this function initially. I am sure that uploading a Word file would have alleviated some of the difficulty and allowed for proper APA formatting throughout.

While Using the Wiki:

For the literature review, each team member was assigned a portion of the outline to cover in approximately four pages. The team members emailed the portions to me and I compiled them into a Word document, adding the title page, abstract, and other components of APA. I edited the paper lightly and ensured that references were consistently cited and formatted. Once the paper was peer-reviewed, I made changes to the document initially and sent remaining questions to team members to address via email. This did not prove promising as there were issues opening and viewing the comments in the Word document. As such, I moved the contents to the Wiki for team members to review. While all were able to view the comments, only one could edit the contents at a time. This caused a bit of a waiting game. One would try to save edits only to be prompted to cancel because saving the edits would overwrite the work of another classmate that was making changes to the Wiki at the same time. The utilization of the Wiki enable team members to access the information, but I do not think it enhanced collaboration due to the inability to work on it and save changes at the same time. 

Last Time Using the Wiki:

As with my initial experience, the Wiki served as a means to publish content rather than interact or collaborate. It was beneficial as team members were able to add assortments of materials. For example, members added images and videos in addition to the required text. The widgets made the integration of different media types easy as well. However, the managing of the pages did not prove as effective. The team member that set up the Wiki ensured that all members were able to edit the material, but this did not prove to be the case. I tried to delete pages within the wiki but was unable to. I could add pages easily, but the creator had to remove the unnecessary pages for me. While the project was successful and the Wiki experience proved beneficial to one who works with educational technology, I do not think the Wiki is the best technology to utilize for a literature review compilation. It slowed the collaborative process collaboration and served as a showcasing forum. The forum would be better suited for an e-portfolio or an assignment that allows the students to work in separate pages (i.e., a glossary compilation or platform for chapter summaries). The wiki did not serve as a means to foster community or interaction with material as expected.