Well, we did it. The wiki is finished. I had to miss the penultimate Skype chat as I had grand-mother duties. Nigel was not able to attend as well. The other 5 had a very productive chat, deciding on what needed to be done and dividing up work. They actually went well beyond the hour discussing things.L had set up screen sharing, so everyone could see the wiki together and discuss what needed to be done. I read the chat and caught up with what needed to be done. I was able to work solidly Mon-Weds on the wiki. Everyone is working hard. I added quite a bit on the Wiki Creation page - documenting our collective progress and using quotes from Skype and the DB to substantiate. The others liked this and a few added some bits to it. People are still producing new pages - particularly N and T - although we had agreed not to. S and T are also developing bits on pages they had previously started. There is a good team going between SH, N and S in pulling together the bibliography. In the end, there were seven separate pages for the biblio. L did a fantastic job adding navigation links. I finished adding linking sentences to structure the narrative in the support section. Our Skype chat on the last Saturday was much more relaxed. We were joking with each other - emoticons all over the place. We all commented on the difference in that we were relaxed. We could see we would finish by the Sunday midnight deadline.
Over the weekend, we kept the Skype chat open while we worked. That proved really productive, we could double check with people on gaps we found. And also we could joke with one another while we worked. It really felt we were working together by having the chat open - instead of being alone on our computers. We all commented on how the Skype chat really brought us together as a team. That we felt a team using it - rather than working asynchronously.
The final product looks good. A few weeks ago, I wasn't sure we could have produced such a fine wiki. I think it provides a cohesive narrative. And it is a great resource. I think A really drove it and while I may have liked a more creative way of organizing the wiki, I hadn't a clear vision in the start to push that idea. In the end, we all pulled together to produce a good wiki.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Course Collaboration - Weeks 10 & 11
Did some more work on my pages, adding more critique. And I decided I really needed to create a new page about more educational applications. N is starting to do more work on his pages. In fact, I was amazed at how much writing he has been able to produce these past two weeks. But ii seems to be still a bit on a tangent. Everyone is writing now.
I reviewed the pages that were 'in review'. People have confirmed which papers they were going to develop, which to drop. But there are also new pages appearing.
I think one problem is that we really needed to appoint on an editor. A from the start has been working and has had a big impact on the shape of things. I worry about her trying to write the whole thing, maybe because she doesn't trust us to do so. I have coordinated some things - informal chair of Skype but there has been no discussion or agreement on a 'leader' or 'editor'. It may be that until we started skyping we didn't have a sense of each other. Or at least I didn't.
There was more open tension during the last Skype meeting. N had put on the DB the day before that he thought our tutor should be more involved. He quoted from the course handbook that he was to be intensely involved but he hasn't to date. At the Skype meeting he suggested that our tutor have a look at the wiki. I was surprised at the vehemence that A immediately said NO. She said it is our wiki. Others were more careful in their response. L suggested that we may get a better mark because he has not been involved. But A remained completely against him looking at the wiki. Is it because she wants to maintain control?
N continued the discussion on the DB over the weekend. I didn't see the thread until Monday as I was busy all weekend. In the end our tutor said he would have a look. He gave some good feedback and basically said we were on track.
This week we have been editing each other's sections. I had to finish the new page I created which I did. Then I reviewed the section A had been mostly writing. I quite enjoy editing and she responded positively to my suggestions. She did mention in the DB that she was surprised that others were not adding links as they write. I replied that it had to do with different styles and others agreed. She seemed surprised by this. I think she is a bit rigid in there being one best way to write. I have started to go through the editing S has done in my section - very helpful. I am also starting to add the links. I noticed A has started to add more to the meta pages. I do think she is doing too much and dominating. Yet she has added good material. But I don't know if we will have time to edit all this down. The narrative is emerging though.
I reviewed the pages that were 'in review'. People have confirmed which papers they were going to develop, which to drop. But there are also new pages appearing.
I think one problem is that we really needed to appoint on an editor. A from the start has been working and has had a big impact on the shape of things. I worry about her trying to write the whole thing, maybe because she doesn't trust us to do so. I have coordinated some things - informal chair of Skype but there has been no discussion or agreement on a 'leader' or 'editor'. It may be that until we started skyping we didn't have a sense of each other. Or at least I didn't.
There was more open tension during the last Skype meeting. N had put on the DB the day before that he thought our tutor should be more involved. He quoted from the course handbook that he was to be intensely involved but he hasn't to date. At the Skype meeting he suggested that our tutor have a look at the wiki. I was surprised at the vehemence that A immediately said NO. She said it is our wiki. Others were more careful in their response. L suggested that we may get a better mark because he has not been involved. But A remained completely against him looking at the wiki. Is it because she wants to maintain control?
N continued the discussion on the DB over the weekend. I didn't see the thread until Monday as I was busy all weekend. In the end our tutor said he would have a look. He gave some good feedback and basically said we were on track.
This week we have been editing each other's sections. I had to finish the new page I created which I did. Then I reviewed the section A had been mostly writing. I quite enjoy editing and she responded positively to my suggestions. She did mention in the DB that she was surprised that others were not adding links as they write. I replied that it had to do with different styles and others agreed. She seemed surprised by this. I think she is a bit rigid in there being one best way to write. I have started to go through the editing S has done in my section - very helpful. I am also starting to add the links. I noticed A has started to add more to the meta pages. I do think she is doing too much and dominating. Yet she has added good material. But I don't know if we will have time to edit all this down. The narrative is emerging though.
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