Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

From UMassWiki

Wiki Quiz Results

Why Carey?

Why did Steph pick the quote by James Carey to introduce you to the proposed course wiki?

• “…summarizes how this course is going to be taught.”
• “…she wants us as writers to think deeper, ‘outside of the box’”
• “…thought is not always a private thing…”
• “ to emphasize the matter of ‘thought’ and ‘content”
• “...to explain the difference between simply thinking to oneself and putting ideas on paper in a public manner.”
• “…it caught the reader’s eye of attention”
• “The wiki is used to share thought and information.”
• “Because there is a misconception that thought is private and [Carey] disproves it.”
• “… it’s one of her favorites.”
• “…thought is not private, but public and is expressed through various forms of writing….might be to make us more public with our writings and opinions.”
• “…thought is publicly created… This is crucial to this class, as our work will be shared amongst each other in effect to create a group result.”
• “…it enforces her belief that writing is for the sake of communicating ideas.”
• “To demonstrate the purpose of what should be taken from a college writing class.”
• “To show that writing can show a way of thinking; try to show students that their writing can and should be able to show their thoughts and ideas.”

Wiki Possibilities

What impressed you the most about the possibilities of a course wiki?

• “… you can find more information there instead of going throught other resources like google to find thousands of them with lots to choose from.”
• “The accessibility by students and teachers to constantly changing course material.”
• “The accessibility of other students work, as well as seeing their individual progress throughout the semester. – Class assignments and the professor’s thoughts on group progress.”
• “It is concise, and easy to use…useful…”
• “Everyone has a computer so it is very easy to share information.”
• “I like that the course wiki wasn’t as influenced by the administration as other UMass/UMass department sites.”
• “…you could read info from other sessions of this class, I also liked the ‘blog’ section with the teacher’s thoughts.”
• “Seemed like a very easy way for students to access course assignments if they ever got behind or missed a class. Also an excellent place to show student’s work.”
• “…the endless vault of knowledge… “
• “enables you to look at the course outline whenever you need to (i.e. logistics of how grades will be accounted for, etc.)
• “The amount of information shared.”
• “easy access to useful information. “
• “…it tells you all the information about how the class runs.”
• “…the possibilities are endless.”
• “…two things…students can participate and get feedback not only from their teacher but also their peers. The other thing that I really liked and appreciated was the background about the teacher.”

Wiki Drawbacks

• “ ? ”
• “lack of class participation”
• “Requires a lot of work…”
• “Not everyone will take the wiki seriously. Also, some might be hesitant on sharing their works online with the rest of the class. “
• “A lot of people are not good with computers.”
• “People have to be comfortable posting ideas online. It is very difficult to get people to open up.”
• “…much harder than learning from a teacher.”
• “…words from the spoken mouth are much stronger.”
• “…two drawbacks…not an ‘official’ program …so technical problems might be harder to fix….[and] not everybody has access to the site in the same way.”
• “I really can’t think of any.“
• “…could be misuse of the site or too many people editing the site with opposing viewpoints.”
• “Students might think they could look at the wiki instead of going to class, it also may be unreliable as all websites need maintenance or shut down occasionally.”
• “Some aspects of the site were members only and I couldn’t figure out how to create an account for this class.”
• “…not always as clear as would be made if the course was in real life.”
• “…anyone and everyone can access or add stuff to it.”

Contributing to the Wiki

• “…a good proposal, and also very useful.”
• “Don’t really know, it could only help.”
• “I would write on a course wiki and would give my feedback but I think it would take awhile to get used to.”
• “lack of commitment”
• “I think that a wiki, overall, is a good idea for the class because it’s easy to use and get opinions from others about your work. I wouldn’t mind it at all.”
• “I personally don’t like the idea; I’d much rather write for an actual class, discuss my writing, and then create the magazine we talked about. However it is a good idea considering how little the class meets.”
• “Contributing to a wiki could be beneficial. It’s a good way for students to share ideas or opinions on a widespread basis.”
• “If I feel like I’ve done a good job or something I would be glad to put it on the class wiki.”
• “I am nervous and don’t know what to expect because I’ve never done that before.”
• “I feel that contributing my work to the course wiki would be fun and would offer people a chance to publically see my viewpoint.”
• “I’m somewhat hesitant in sharing my work. I don’t usually enjoy receiving peer critiques or posting personal information.”
• “It would be cool for students to contribute, especially examples of good work, and input on the course to help future students.”
• “This class seems like it has some outgoing people who wouldn’t be afraid of others opinions. If they can get the ball rolling it could go well. I am willing to try it.”
• “I like the idea of a wiki course. We would be able to see how the teacher writes, and give our comments.”
• “Blog would be great and a Q&A section for students who didn’t understand assignments so that other students (if willing) could help them.”