The implications of using Wiki's for teaching and learning purposes?

When I first started working with my assignment this week, I was not sure if I was going to like working with Wikis or not, but I quickly changed my mind. Wikis are one of the easiest and most effective Web-based collaboration tools that I have ever used. Their inherent simplicity provides students such as myself, with direct access to the site’s content, which is crucial in group editing or collaborative on group projects. A wiki’s capability can show the development thought processes as students interact with the site and its contents. These collaborative projects help promote “pride of authorship” and ownership in the team’s activities. In addition, wikis are being used as e-portfolios that illustrate their value as a tool for collection and reflection. Collaboration using a wiki is not limited to students. Faculty can use wikis to collaborate on projects, whether editing a textbook, preparing a journal article, or assembling a syllabus or reading list.

Wikis might also prove to be an ideal vehicle for soliciting ongoing input for research or projects where community input can help inform and direct subsequent investigation. The possibilities for using wikis as this platform for collaborative projects are limited only by one’s imagination and time. Wiki enabled group projects that can provided various levels of site access and control to team members, offering a fine-tuning element that enhances the teaching and learning experience. In beginning this group project, I have had some ups and downs, but I believe that this will be some of my best works before I graduated from ECU.

Up's and Down's of your Networking Site

In today society social networking sites have become increasingly popular among today’s students. Chatting, texting, blogging and spending times on sites like Facebook, My Space and Friendster are part of everyday life for millions of students.

Most of the information that we post on our blogs are about ourselves and how our friends can stay in touch with us. We upload everything from photos, video and basic information on our lives but how safe is this? When we think of our site being private and for our friends only, when in reality, many of them can be seen by friends, employers, university officials, and even our parents. Our information is out there for the world to see. So how can we protect ourselves from individuals that could harm us?

So here is some suggesting on how we can protect our privacy:

• Before you join a site and post your profile, find out if you can join a closed network, where only those with an email address from your school can register for example. Find out if the site allows others to see your profile without your consent.

• Never expect absolute privacy. Know what you’re getting into by reading the privacy statement and policies. Many sites allow all registered users to view all the information you post on your site with no exceptions.

• Choose the highest and most restrictive security setting available and do not give out information like your birthday, full name, phone number, social security number or address.

• Take a second to think about what you’re posting about yourself and your friends. Remember that what you post could be online forever.

So before you post, think about what you want to said, remember it could be online forever & ever.

What is your most favorite blogging site? Week 2

This week I am going to compare some of the social network site that is most commonly uses. There are many ways for a blogger to promote their blog. One of the easiest ways is using their social networking site such as Facebook, Twitter or Friendster. Each one of these site caters to various groups which has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Friendster
Friendster is one of the leading social websites within the Philippines and it still boasts of thousands of active Filipino users. From my research it indicates that many of its veteran members have shifted to Facebook, and very few bloggers use Friendster as a blogging tool.

FaceBook
Facebook is more blogger friendly because it is easy to post links that lead to your blogs. You can use the network blogs that automatically pull your blog post and is ready to be posted on Facebook.


Twitter
Twitter is almost similar to Facebook do to the fact that the posting system is similar to the way Facebook does theirs. The main difference between both is that you are limited to 140 characters in your post in Twitter and Facebook over 300 characters.

In comparison of all three social sites the list of the most effective site is:

Friendster: 17% preferred
Twitter: 33% preferred
Facebook: 50% preferred

From my research the better social media optimization sites as both Facebook and Twitter. These two websites somehow cooperated with one another. And the statistics show that Friendster is not a good platform for social media optimization (blogging). It is always good to get your feet wet in new platform; it is a trial and error stage in technology. Since I have always used Facebook, I think that I will stick with it, have you ever hear the phrase “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it”, but I am willing to try.

Welcome to the world of Web 2.0 - Week 1

This is a new topic for me and I know that I have a lot to learn about this subject, but I am ready to learn. In regards to the research that I have done on this topic I have basically found out that I am surrounding by Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is one of the most powerful forces on the web today; it is a force that replies purely on innovation that invention and a force that growing every single second. One of my favorite things of Web 2.0 is Google docs. I love being able to share my excel spreadsheets with other co-workers thought the web; it has made my life a little easier at work and home.

So I look forward to working with all of my classmates during this semester in BITE 5389 as we all discover a little more about Web 2.0. Talk with you all next week.