Myaad+Ahmed

=Analysis and Reflection: Due Nov 14 5%=

Contributions

 * Made Social Network page (Major Entry 500-700 words)
 * Added significant amount of RFID technology info in SWOT analysis page
 * Added paragraph in Pay Pal page
 * Added paragraph in Facebook page
 * Added another paragraph in Copyright page
 * Added beginning information on the Feedback page
 * Added information on expert system on Artificial Intelligence page
 * Added a screen shot and information on feedback for Limewire page
 * Also added a screen shot and a list of competitors to the Myspace page
 * Did minor changes here and there with clean up of table of contents, spelling etc.


 * 1. When first encountering wiki at the beginning of the course**
 * What do you think/feel about this collaborative learning environment?
 * What are your expectations for yourself ?
 * If you have previously used wiki in another course, then describe what you have previously learned and how you want expand your understanding.
 * What can you contribute as an experienced participant?

Being a third year student in DEM I have come across the wiki concept before in CCT205 and for the most it is a useful website to gather and add information on particular topics. I feel it’s particularly useful during exams or test periods because there are usually chapter summaries and study guides posted up. The good thing about wiki's is that you can contribute to the information and add whatever it is that you feel is necessary. Websites are a one way chain of gathering information, the user and the maker of the site are disconnected and Wiki's allow people to feel connected to the work they put up. In this course I have pretty high expectations of this particular assignment because again I have done this concept before so I am defiantly not new to this way of interacting. I also have a similar course in cct 300 which should make me an expert. When I took cct205 last year there was a Sheridan strike which did not allow me to get any valuable feedback from the Prof or TA on the actual assignment but one thing I did learn is that you should never leave it to the last day. I am defiantly the type of person that works the best under pressure so finishing the assignment was not difficult it’s just a matter of doing a little here and there. I would like to contribute more to the space by doing a lot more editing than I had a chance to before because I was new to the whole idea. I know a couple people in the course that have not dealt with Wiki's before and are used to things such as WebCT or courseware for course related information so I've tried to lend a helping hand to make the website useful to them. The thing I can say I don't like about the Wiki's is that there is so much information, it can be a little overwhelming in terms of navigation and information overload, just something you have to deal with, it comes with the territory.


 * 2. Think about the following and answer to the best of your ability:**


 * How do you choose which postings to contribute or change?
 * What are your thoughts on adding, editing or re-arranging other people's work?
 * Do you regularly check your own postings for alterations? Has anyone changed your work and how have you felt about it?

Well I usually try and find pages that don’t have much content to them so that I can do some research and add a majority of the information on the page. I also try and look at things that were discussed within the page and try and look at different areas to branch off too (i.e. if it was a wiki about intranets I would make sure to include information on extranets and the history of internet and how they interconnect). I mainly try and focus on broad topics that can I can obtain lots of information from so that it is easier to write about and also easy for other students to find information to contribute to the page. I think another easy way of contributing is spell checking, it is amazing how many errors people make because of simple laziness to do a spell check on word. Maintenance is another thing that helps with contributions, simply having a clean space and fixing the table of contents and navigation bars are worth something that enhances the environment for all the users using the space. I feel that if you have significant information to contribute, (no BS, excuse me French) than I am completely up for the idea of other people adding and editing my page to make it better than it was before. Nothing is wrong with enhancing a page because it is for the overall benefit of everyone using this interface. Although it is difficult to tell what one person think is significant but as University students we should get the drift of good academic work. I often go to recent pages and see what people have contributed to my page and see if the changes were drastic or just simple things, like I said it doesn't bother me I actually enjoy having someone help me with the work.

· Being that this is my second year using Wikispaces for both 333 and 300, I still feel that this is a good way of interacting with the interface and being an active user rather than passive like many other sites. It provides useful information and it is an amazing study guide and information portal for all students. As I mentioned before I am the last minute time of person and I feel I contributed a significant amount of information to the site and helped it progress. The only suggestion I would have is to have a person who controls the deletion of posts because anyone can delete information and I don’t think it’s fair because who is to say what’s deemed as valuable information or not. I also would hope that the site would automatically save information rather than having the “discard previous draft” message. One more improvement I would think of is having a list of possible topics to choose from rather than the students thinking of it and once a topic is taken it is than crossed off as the main portion of the students entry and from there anyone who is adding to that page is simply making contributions and cant take full credit for the page. I think that this site is very useful for community building and it gives a sense of team work because the study notes are not a “have to” requirement but students know this would benefit others so they put it up for sharing of information which is exactly what Wiki is, sharing. I think this site allows productivity because it starts off as nothing and slowly you see the site growing and you can see the progress you have made. I think Wiki’s are essentially useful and should be used for future semesters.
 * 3. As a final reflection on your experience with the CCT333 wiki, look back and read your first entry.**