- Almost as important as writing your own wiki is reading the other pages. The wikis were supposed to be a source of information for every aspect of the time period we would need to know. By focusing all of our attention on our own pages, we missed a vast majority of the necessary information, which is one reason that many felt less prepared and didn't do as well on the test.
- The Job of Editors: According to Mr. Stewart, many groups waited until it was too late to edit.
- Communication vs. Confrontation: Many groups felt uncomfortable talking to the groups whose pages they were editing. For instance, if the group did not have anything up on their page, the editors didn't want to ask when they would, because they didn't want to seem condescending or confrontational. However, the ability for communication between writer and editor needs to be one where discussions can take place freely.
- Make sure every question is answered. Many groups made their wikis to show information, but didn't always make sure that they were answering every part of each question. Apparently the part that most groups left undone was connecting their topic to larger, complex historical themes.
- Talk to Mr. Stewart: Like your editors, Mr. Stewart won't bite (usually). If you have a problem, technical or content-based, go to him, explain it to him, and odds are, he'll try to help you out.
- Make it look good. Add pictures. Add graphs. Add links to other pages, both inside and outside the project. Not only does it make your page look better, but when you go back to use the wikis to review for tests/finals/AP exams, it'll make it easier to use and understand.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Week 7 Day 1 (places for improvement on the wikis)
In class today we discussed the wiki project that we did last week. There were a few kinks that needed to be worked out, and here are some of the ones we discussed:
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Hey, Josh! Thanks so much for posting these notes from Mr. Stewart’s tips for the wikis. He mentioned (quite a few times) that we will be doing another wiki in the near future. I really like what you said about communication (with fellow students as well as the teacher) because that’s something that is important in not only when making wikis but in all group projects.
ReplyDeleteJosh, this was a really good summary of everything Mr. Stewart said. I'll definitely be checking back here when it's time for our next wiki project!
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I would add to the Communication vs. Confrontation section is it's important to communicate with your partner on what needs to be done by what time. Lots of us are busy with extracurriculars and challenging classes, so it's sometimes difficult to coordinate with partners. Making it very explicit what the group has to be done with by what time and who will do what part will make the process much smoother. That way, individuals in the group have more flexibility in working around their schedule to do their share of the project within the time frame and also have a clear idea of what they should have done.
Continuing on with communicating with group partners, I know that personally unless I'm pushed, it's difficult for me to do what I have to do, and I know I'm not the only person that's like this. Being firm with group partners about meeting deadlines not only makes it so that the project follows the scheduled timeline, but that everyone is at least pressured into doing their fair share because people tend to care a lot about what their peers think and say. In my case, if I'm firm with someone, then I feel obligated to fulfill my part or else be considered a hypocrite, so it creates an incentive for me to work.