Reflection for module 3

1. Jennifer Chang Wathall
Date: 23rd January 2017
Reflection for Module 3
Wikis? Still not out of date!
I have used wikis in the past but this week’s module reminded me of how
useful they can be in teaching and learning. The best function about wikis is that
you invite members to become part of the group so you can keep your group
private. I know Google Classroom does the same thing but not everyone uses
Google Apps for the Classroom (GAFE). I deliver professional development
workshops and use Wikispaces. In China all Google Apps are blocked so I have to
look at different platforms to use when I travel there. Wikispaces.com also
provides nicer looking themes compared with Google classroom. You also have
three options for Wikispaces:
1) a classic wiki
2) a basic wiki which looks like a website but functions as a wiki
3) a classroom which includes news feeds and engagement tracking features.
Wikispaces.com is extremely user friendly and I don't think I have ever
had any technical issues when creating and designing a wiki. Someone once told
me that WIKI stood for “ What I Know Is”. Wikis are an online platform that a
community of people are able to contribute to. I understand that is why
Wikipedia is called so, as there are many contributors who are able to edit and
comment on Wikipedia. I think Wikispaces.om promotes a sense of community
and the simple design structure makes it very easy to navigate; even for first
time users. I am glad we will have a class wiki for this module. I think Blackboard
is good but I think this is subscription only. Wikispaces.com is free J.
One new word I did learn about this week was Webliography. I found this
so useful and I want to create one for mathematics websites. I tried to research
math Webliographys and there was not much out there! Here is one I found
which has some math websites.
http://www.auburn.edu/~aldriar/Webliography/webliography_aldridge.htm
I like how in a Webliography there is a description of the website and I
would like to include a section where educators have to write down why they
recommend and like a particular website. This will be an excellent resource to
math educators as this will save people a lot of time.