Showing posts with label H800. Show all posts
Showing posts with label H800. Show all posts

Monday, September 21, 2009

Final ECA!!!

I can't believe this is the end of the MAODE and my last ECA. It's been two years but feels a lot less. It's not been easy but I've loved every minute of it. Studying at Masters level has been way better than studying at BSc level.
So now the last hurdle has to be jumped! 6000 words by next Monday....yikes! I have actually started and I'm looking at Blogs and Elluminate. My activity (part C) will be related to blogs rather than elluminate which was my initial choice. This is because my learners would likely to be overwhelmed by elluminate but more likely to see that blogging can be related to their learning and practice.
I think I've finally got my head around Part B (thanks Alan!!) and none of my recommendations will be high otherwise OU would likely to have already implemented them.
Part D seems fairly straightforward.....until I actually start writing it of course! Initial feeling is there will always be a need for both individual and collaborative learning.
As this is the last ECA I seem to be almost savouring it...there's no panic yet and I actually quite like the content. I am dreading no more study as I know I'm pretty addicted to it...so I've made sure I have lots to do to fill the void. Decorating son's bedroom, whole bunch of new E124 learners starting in October, arranging elluminate sessions for OU AL's in October, got a trip to Ontario at the end of October to look for a house, putting this house on the market, collecting and sending documents off to the Canadian High Commission by November..oh and Xmas shopping!!
Not too sure what happens to this blog though once H800 finishes and do I still tweet as I won't have anything to contribute to elearning? No point in worrying about that now..... best get this ECA written!!!

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Week 24

Activity 7
Well this week didn't fair much better. Very slow start so decided to jump in and attend the Tuesday night Elluminate.....well I didn't really have much choice as I wasn't available for this mornings! We discussed Thorpe (2009) ‘It is through practices with technology, rather than the direct effect of the tools themselves, that we create learning contexts.’ exploring what it means and the implications for practitioners. There were only 3 students and the tutor but the session seemed to go pretty well though sometimes I'm not sure what the objective of the session is or what outcome if any has been achieved by the end of it.
So after bouncing to activity 7 I'm now having to work through the rest of week 24. It all seems rushed at the moment because TMA04 and the ECA are looming and I can't seem to grasp the point of the last couple of weeks in relation to the two assessments...fells like I'm meant to be swimming Olympic style but all I can muster is the doggy paddle:( Think I'm lacking the adrenaline buzz..too lethargic!!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Weeks 21/22/23

I take one week off from study in the last 2 years and its a disaster!! Took me ages to get back into the swing of studying again, not helped by having the kids at home all day. Weeks 21 and 22 were combined over a 2 week period but that was no help to me. So after reading and looking at all 3 weeks I don't feel very far forward.
Weller and Sclater don't seem to see eye to eye...its as if Weller is the son that wants all the new top of the range toys to play with and Sclater is his dad who reckons they're far to expensive and by the time Weller gets round to playing with them a whole batch of new ones will be in the shops. Also Sclater feels that some of the toys Weller wants will alienate his friends as they won't know how to play with them as they're too advanced. I agree with Sclater...not because I'm a mum but because I can see that if a Uni implements lots of new technologies then apart from the expense there is the likelihood of alienating some learners and tutors due to their lack of confidence in technologies.
Activity 1 in Week 23 required collaboration in the wiki. Problem was when I work within a wiki I need a purpose...I couldn't fathom out what we were trying to achieve. There was no chair person, no time limit, no stated outcome.
The rest of week 23 looked at metaphors......research papers discussed birdwatching and fungus what??? Still have no idea what it was all about. Tried posting to the forum but there's no one about not even the tutor.....perhaps they're all on holiday?! I know from Twitter that many couldn't fathom out Week 23 and so moved on to start on TMA 04. My concern is if they are all using preferred technologies such as Twitter or blogs to communicate by how will I find the time to track them all down and if I can't then the tutor probably can't either. Whilst ownership of learning is a great thing surely there also needs to be some facilitating of that learning? For me personally I need peers and a tutor to succeed.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Week 19

Activity 5 cont

In reading the chapter in Activity 4, and doing the searching in Activity 5,
  • what evidence have you found that mobile practices are blurring the distinction between formal and informal learning? I think the previous post demonstrates this in a small way but I think it will depend on how reliant the courses are on the mobile technology (ies) to support the learning. I'll wait until the Elluminate tutorial tomorrow and see what others in the group post about it.
  • Is the ‘ownership’ of learning changing? Yes, students can access information anytime, anyplace, anywhere through mobile technologies.

Week 19

Activity 5
So this week the focus is mobile technologies. Have to say that when I first started reading into this I was dubious. I already mentioned in the last post, I don't really use any. My students are unlikely to use any either. I then found this piece which In used for the tutorial...

......In 2007, students were given T-Mobile MDA Varios for mobile learning and assessments during work placements. Tutors were able to upload assessments to the device for students to fill in while they were taking part in work placements. Each assessment could be customised to individuals, so that they were relevant to course and learning style. Using T-Mobile’s Web’n’walk service, students could also use the mobile to access learning resources from a central virtual learning repository and reflect on their work experience on a blog built into the assessment programme. Assessors used the system to log in to a secure area, connected to the university’s virtual learning environment teaching and business systems, to record and store the student’s assessment. This is possibly the next step on from using eportfolio's in NVQ assessments. In H808 I had looked at Health and Social Care students using eportfolio's as part of assessment. This still needed Internet access, not always easily available in care homes etc, as well as a lap top. Using a mobile phone would make the assessment far more accessible to students and assessors as wella as examining boards.
Success will depend upon mobile phones fitting the purpose, care being taken not to overwhelm students/tutors and meeting the needs of the student. Awareness of the devices limitations is desirable. Students need to know how to use the mobile and access the support on offer.....can’t be assumed. However as more students are likely to own a mobile over any other technology they are likely to have more awareness of how to use it. Many schools and Colleges/Uni’s already use SMS (short message service) for sending information e.g. exam results to students.
Armatas, Holt and Rice (ascilite 2005)

Williams (2007)
http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2192952/apls-mobile-learning

I can see now how mobile phone alerts to my students would be really beneficial. OU could send them to let students know TMA hand in dates, tutorial reminders etc. The majority of my students have mobile phones so would probably welcome these alerts.
I discussed this in a recent Elluminate session with my tutor and one other student attending. This session worked well for me....probably due to the small number of people which made it more relaxed. Tried to paste the above info on mobile technologies to the white board but it was having none of it. Obviously I was doing something wrong but there was no time to fathom it out....still have no idea how to paste to the damn board lol!! Any way I managed to paste the URL into Chat so everyone was able to access the site. The sound had problems this time too....feedback if more than one microphone on at a time and I pretty sure when the others were speaking their voices got higher almost like they were inhaling helium!!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Weeks 17 to 18

Blimey I am sooo far behind and we're now starting week 19!!!
Have just spent the last couple of weeks marking and verifying over 100 ECA's...first time marking so took a while to get into the swing.
Had a quick look through week 18...definitely need to go back and do some reading. But I have looked at Google Reader......hmm......may use it may not.....not sure yet.
There are not enough minutes left in my day to start using Twitter.....its a bit frustrating that you just get a snippet...don't think this ones for me at all. Mind you I do say this about most technologies and then I seem to love them lol!!
In terms of social networking I've used social networking via the University of Manitoba which has worked well but I have to admit that I still tend to visit the blogs and websites and not rely on RSS feeds/Google Reader or Twitter.
In terms of personal use as I'm moving to Ontario I've used two social networking sites for research
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=33 and
http://www.mymuchmor.com/home.php .....I'm 'Northernlass1'on both.

Have had a look at TMA 03 and the ECA....have a few ideas which are waiting to be ok'd by my tutor.
Off to check through the course work and make sure I can catch up this week.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Week 16

After the busiest week I managed to submit TMA 02 early, changing one of the activities at the last minute which is pretty normal for me!! Then it was off to Milton Keynes for an ECA markers meeting. Spent the lovely sunny weekend in the car on the M1 and then in the OU building...but the food was good. Also the overnight stay at the Hilton was clean, no kids, tv to myself, peace and quiet...bliss!!
I've had a look at week 16 activities/quiz. As far as changes to TMA 02 are concerned I would have suggested doing part 1 as a collaborative activity within small groups. I'm now looking at TMA03 and the ECA. Have an idea about what I'd like to do but need to run it by my tutor. About to start some work on Elluminate for OU in the North with a view to exploring its uses for tutors who have European learners so may use this.
Have just received 104 ECA's to mark over the next 2 weeks so it will be busy but at least there's no big TMA to write for H800. Have also been asked to do some work for an Early Years project but will have to turn it down as I've too much on.
I've added a new gadget...a countdown to ECA submission. As this is my final course on the MAODE its great to see that I'm really near completion. However I have no idea how I'll cope without anything to study as its been my life for the last 2 years!!!!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Week 15 TMA 02

After chopping and changing my mind I think I've finally settled on my 4 activites for the TMA:
  • Week 10a Activity 5 Blogs
  • Week 11 Activity 1f Debate
  • Week 12 Activity 5 Elluminate
  • Week 13/14 Activity 3b Wiki's
Also wanted to use Week 4 Activity 12 Richardson (online vs f2f) and may still exchange it for the Debate but at the moment thinking of using Richardson for Part 2 of the TMA as well as LEX (JISC) etc. Blogs/wiki's and now Elluminate are the tools I definitely use as a student but also would like to use as a tutor in the future. I also liked the idea of using an online debate with students. In the past with FE students I have got them to debate smacking. As early years workers its illegal for them to smack in the UK so it's important they understand the consequences of smacking for both themselves and the children in their care. Its easy in a traditional classroom setting but online would be more tricky. Hopefully the online debate could meet that need. It opens he doors for many debates in Early Years.
Trying to complete the TMA by the end of this week (no chance!!) as it's half term next week and family are staying, then I'm at OU in Milton Keynes for an ECA marking. Have just finished 4 weeks of marking and now its that student panic time when they have to sbmit their ECA next week.....my email box is on the verge of collapse and my telephone has resorted to cowering in the corner afraid of its own ring!!

Weeks 13 and 14

Activity 3b

Read Minocha and Thomas (2007) ‘Collaborative learning in a wiki environment: experiences from a software engineering course’.
Reading through the article should take you about an hour and a half. It provides a very good example of planned and systematic course evaluation, where the focus is on the intentions behind the design of a course using a wiki as a key tool, and on the evaluation of the evidence about the students’ response. As you read the article make notes in answer to each of these questions:


  • What was the rationale for the use of a wiki, in terms of real world practice and in terms of the learning outcomes for the course? The wiki allowed collaberation by different students in different geographical locations, different time zones and between different prganisations. It also allowed for ideas and opinions to be expressed. The wiki could also be edited at any time by any one of the stduents involved.
    'The wiki activities involve a group of students contributing requirements to the groupwiki, discussing the requirements, identifying conflicts and ambiguities within the requirements, and resolving the conflicts through discussions from the perspectives of different stakeholders, to produce an unambiguous requirements specification'. (Minocha and Thomas, 2007)
  • Which areas of learning theory do the authors draw upon specifically? Salmon (2002) 5 stage model, Keirnon et al (2003) role of e-moderators and Tuckman and Jenson (1977) model of team working
  • In what ways did the course designers seek to persuade students to view the wiki positively? Introductory paper on wiki's to read and analyse, provided with guidelines on hoe to use the wiki, ice breaker session to use the wiki and to get to know each other as a group.
  • How effectively did the wiki function in relation to key features of the learning requirements; e.g. the need to track individual contributions, to publish written contributions, to edit a single, collaborative text and to discuss and collaborate? On the whole it was effective but there was a pressure on time when decisions needed to be made so the group could move on or when discussions need to take place. Some students also negatively criticsed others contributions
  • What role did the assignments play in shaping the students’ use of the wiki? The wiki was integrated into the TMA's.
    'The wiki activities involve collaborative development of the requirements specification for the case study in the TMAs'. (Minocha and Thomas, 2007)
  • What conclusions do the authors come to in relation to:
    a. the ways in which the wiki worked well? Enabled collaberation, develped communication skils and team work
    b. the main disadvantages of the wiki?There needed to be additional discussion fromats available eg forums, telephone tutorials etc
    c. the software changes that would improve the wiki for this purpose? The window was too small, there was poor navigation, alerts needed for when someone has contributed, absence of a locking mechansim

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Weeks 13 and 14

Activity 1 YouTube.
As you watch the video consider and make notes on how it relates to the more general findings from the broader research literature discussed earlier.
Also consider the following questions:
Is the message being presented in this visual way any different from the primarily text-based presentation of findings used so far this week? This was a really good interactive way to get info across to other learners. It's also likely to have given learners ownership. However for me it was a disaster. The camera wobbled so much I felt sick. By the time the words came in to focus I either didn't have time to read them or couldn't read the handwriting. It was too distracting to focus on the topic at times...great for some learners but for those with a disabiltiy it could be a disaster. Anyway I've taken so long to do this activity I've forgotten what the earlier research is!!
How important is the medium and the technologies themselves in terms of conveying messages about this research area?
What are the implications for your own practice?

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Week 12

Activity 5

Identify a form of technology used in an educational context.
I'm choosing Elluminate
Then make notes in your blog about the following issues:


  • What do you think is the likely impact of this technology on the students’ perceptions of the quality of their courses, their approaches to studying and their academic performance? I feel now that Elluminate can enhance the learning experience, the quality of their course and that this could have a positive effect on their academic performance. However having said that Elluminate won't suit all level of students, all tutors and all courses. It is just a tool of choice
  • What do you think is the likely impact of this technology on the teachers’ perceptions of their teaching context and their approaches to teaching? Could well scare the life out of many teacher's and make them defensive. Others may embrace Elluminate and incorporate it into their teaching
  • Do you think this technology embodies particular assumptions about the nature of teaching and learning in higher education? It doesn't to me but may do to others. I suppose it could be assumed that HE is advancing due to the use of technologies, enabling enabling more diversity but think I may be waffling here for the sake of answering the question!
  • Are these assumptions likely to promote more positive perceptions, more desirable approaches to studying and better performance on the part of the students? It may to some students but not to all
Activity 4
As an example of a study that found few differences between students’ experiences of face-to-face and online tuition, read the article by Richardson (2009), ‘Face-to-face versus online tutoring support in humanities courses in distance education’. It is concerned with the use of online tuition in distance-learning courses in the arts and humanities.

Bearing in mind what I said earlier about the role of rhetoric in reports of educational research, do you find my conclusion – that institutions can feel confident about exploring the use of online forms of tutorial support – a convincing one? Yes, provided there is appropriate guidance and training available.
How do the accounts given in these two papers fit with your own experience of online tutorial support in H800? Mine has been trial and error. As a student starting the MAODE I had never really participated in online forums or emailed a tutor for help. I have done a BSc with OU but I had f2f tutorials and telephoned a tutor when stuck. However the nature of the courses (MAODE) meant that I was aware from the start that I would have to participate online and that I would be tutored online. I started tentatively, mainly lurking online and then posting messages. I now send queries out to the group and not just my tutor as they often give great advice and there's nearly always a student online whereas the tutors time can be limited. Tips/advice/guidance on online tutorials would, in hindsight, have been beneficial from the start.
I see new students to this course (H800) often unsure about participating. I'm not 100% sure making participation carry 10% of the TMA marks is really necessary either.


Week 12

Activity 3
Read the
article by Price et al. (2007), ‘Face-to-face versus online tutoring support in distance education’.
Make some notes in your blog on whether the evidence regarding online tuition in Price et al.’s paper fits your own experience of online communication in general and your own experience of online tuition on H800. With my own students I provide both telephone, email, conferencing and f2f tutorials. There is low participation in all of these but I would imagine if they had taken part in this study their responses would be the same. I think it may come down to personal expectations that students have about their tutor and how they feel tutorials should be carried out. For many their only experience is of years of traditional classroom learning whilst at school.

As a online student myself I prefer online tutoring to f2f and the discussion forums are a connection to my fellow students which is important for me.

Then check what other students in your tutor group have written.
Do you agree with Price et al. that online tuition is a pastoral activity and not a purely academic activity? I think it is both. Tutors facilitate the learning online by also supporting the student...they go hand in hand.
Do you agree that the absence of what the authors call ‘paralinguistic cues’ in an online environment can limit the effectiveness of online tuition? It can....I wonder what, if any, difference it would have made to the study if the online students were given a photo of their tutor at the start of the course? Perhaps they need to feel a visual connection to that tutor. My students will often say that its nice to put a face to the person on the end of the email or the telephone.

Week 12

Activity 2
Read the article by Richardson (2005), ‘Students’ approaches to learning and teachers’ approaches to teaching in higher education’.
I didn't find anything new in this paper. I did however have problems with the terminology...what is it about people insisting papers are written in academic language that alienates half the readers....so unnecessary. What the heck does...'effects of contextual factors'.... actually mean?
As for using questionnaires there is no mention of how many actually filled them in comparison to the number of participants in the study. As an AL my students are asked to fill in a questionnaire towards the end of each course regarding their learning experience. Out of approx 20 students 5 usually oblige!!
Who were the students taking part in the research.....gender, age, demographics, reasons for studying, new learners etc???
Who were the tutors taking part....gender, age, new to teaching, first time teaching the course etc???
I would agree that the 3 predominant approaches used by a student are likely to vary during the course depending on the course demands.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Week 11

Activity 3b
Almost all of the studies cited in the previous section measured impact, or the lack of it, according to marks obtained on standardised tests. Daniel’s criticism is also based on such findings. However, advocates of elearning would probably say that it conveys many other learning advantages, especially in the field of open and distance learning, which should also be taken into consideration.
These advantages could be grouped under the following headings:


  • Access to more/better sources of information
  • Greater flexibility in how/where/when one learns
  • More collaborative learning
  • New/better ways of learning using Web 2.0 tools
  • Better/more tutoring
  • Better assessment methods
Spend a few minutes considering your own professional situation.
Are these possibilities mentioned above being realised? I think most of these possibilities are in the process of being realised. Not sure you could claim that they are already being realised as all of these advantages are constantly changing and evolving.I
Do you think that open and distance learning is the main beneficiary? I'm a bit confused as to what this question is actually asking. If its that open and distance learning is the main beneficiary of these advantages then no. I've worked in FE using traditional f2f tutoring/facilitating and these advantages were in the process of being realised there. But maybe I've misunderstood the question.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Week 11

Activity 1a and 1b
Quite often in these types of debate a vote is taken before the discussion. This did not happen here but I would like you to:
1. spend about ten minutes considering the
proposition, given your current knowledge and beliefs
2. take notes on how you would vote and why.
I can actually see both sides of the arguement and feel they are both valid. My feeling has always been technology cannot increase the quality of education alone but that some technologies do work wonders. I think boh speakers did actually agree on this.

However reading the propostions Daniels was written well and I could relate to it. Kozma's was written in 'computer' language...what the heck was he on about.....he lost me in a sea of studies!! Therefore because of this I may be swayed to vote for Daniel......new technologies add little quality to education..however I believe that the right technologies used in the right way at the right time can add quality and so will vote for Kozma!!!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Week 10b

Activity 6
The ‘OER Roadmap’ publication (Geser, 2007) is an essential information guide about OERs for individuals and institutions interested in providing or using open content. You might just want to take notes for yourself at this point.

Read the introduction to the OLCOS report on pages 12 and 13.


Read sections 3.0–3.2 (pages 20–24) and think of the ways in which OERs could be useful for different types of users.


Read the section ‘Creative Commons licensing is firmly established and increasingly used’ on pages 58 and 59 and reflect upon the advantages of using an open licence to provide and share content.

Ok not really sure why I put this in here as I'm not going to add anything to it at the moment...won't delete it as I may come back later!

Loving Week 10!!

After what I would say has been a bit off a rocky start to Block 2 (Block 1 wasn't exactly a bed of roses either!) I am loving Week 10. This is probably due to less activities so there's more time to concentrate and work on them. Also I've discoverd Delicious...how sad am I that I've been studying MAODE since Sept 2007 and only just fathomed out its use!!! Really like OpenLearn http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/home.php ...as an AL I'm sure the OU will have directed me to this but I either didn't have time to look or didn't understand its use. There are actually resources for the courses that I teach....as far as I'm aware they've never been recommended in the AL discussion forums. Not much use now as the courses are ending this July and amalgamating into one starting this October.
Anyway I've atually jumped forward in the activities so I need to go back to Week 10b Activity 6 and read through the OER Roadmap. I'm aware that my time will be limited over the next few weeks as I have TMA's to mark for two courses, tutorials, CPD day (on Elluminate!!!) and ECA markers day at Milton Keynes!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Week 10a

Activity 5

Read the paper from which the quote above was taken. It is ‘Characterising the different blogging behaviours of students on an online distance learning course’. Allow up to an hour to study it and to make notes in response to the following questions, before moving on to the second part of the activity.
1. What if anything surprises you about the findings from Kerawalla and her colleagues? Have to say that there were no real surprises as I have studied on the course in question and feel that the findings were as expected. I found the OU blog difficult to use and personalise. I now use Blogger as I can make it more personal in the same way a diary would be. I also have ownership of my blog! Half the fun of blogging has been creating and enhancing the blog!


2. Of the purposes for blogging identified in the paper, which purpose is most likely to encourage you to blog if you don’t already?
And, if you already blog, which of those purposes is most important to you? Or do you do it for some other reason? I mainly fit into the category of 'self sufficient' blogger. I do follow other bloggers though not many. I use the blog to carry out activities as this was compulsory on course H810 and still suits me. I'm not necessarily looking for comments nor do I really need an audience. I also use the blog to help with reflection.

3. If you work with learners who blog, how do their motivations compare (as far as you can tell) with those of the students in this paper? None of my students blog. It has been considered but where would I find the time to check 40+ blogs!

4. Based on the recommendations in the paper, or your own experience of blogging, how would you design activities to encourage learners to blog and to read and comment on each other’s blogs? As the paper stated students have different reasons for blogging...they can't be made to blog successfully, for some blogging is a very personal experience, you can't make students share either. I'll need to think some more on this question.

When you’re considering this, you may like to think back to the papers from Kennedy et al. that you read – one in
Week 1, and one in Weeks 13–14. You may recall that in their research of first-year students at three Australian universities, the authors found that relatively few kept a blog, even though there are claims that this generation has an appetite for blogging. The authors argue that:
there is a real danger that such commentary will create a vague but pervasive feeling among tertiary educators that every student who enters the higher education system is a blogger.
(Kennedy et al., 2007, p.522)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Week 10a

Activity 2
This activity asks you to find out the following by doing some online searching via Google, GoogleScholar, Wikipedia, Citizendium or other tools:

  • What do their different editorial policies imply about differing approaches to authority and to the role of the ‘expert’? Comparing Wikipedia with Citizendium.....Wikipedia is open to anyone to post and they do this anonymously. There is vanadlism and a trend that posters post for their own personal gain. Moderators are not always experts. Citizendium uses posters (authors) actual names and has actual experts who moderate. It appears to be an enhancement of Wikipedia, it has built upon the idea of Wikipedia but does not claim to be better then it.
  • What are the most important differences between Citizendium and Wikipedia in terms of their editorial policies? As stated earlier......unlike Wikipedia Citizendium uses actual names of people posting, they must agree to a set of terms, there is policing of bad behaviour and it encourages respectability.
  • How far is Citizendium meeting its goals, as far as you can tell from recent reports?
    These reports may come from Citizendium (what it says about itself) and from commentators.

Week 10a

Activity 1
Please read Baker’s How I fell in love with Wikipedia. As you do so, consider the following:
  • Is there anything new for you in the article? There was nothinbg that I didn't already know but I liked the way the article shared thew experiences of using Wikipedia how obsessive a person can become when contibuting to it.
  • Does it make you more or less likely to consult Wikipedia, or does it make no difference? I'll continue as I did before. I've always taken what is in the Wikipedia as being an 'open to discussion' forum, even being based on hearsay so I don't rely heavily on it even though I know its moderated. I don't usually reference from the Wikipedia.
  • If you have used Wikipedia in the past few weeks – whether for H800 or for other reasons – review your use of it. Its given interesting info which I take with a pinch of salt!
  • Where have you found it most and least valuable? I've found it more valuable when searching for general info that would be found in the public domain as its quick and concise and can lead me to more detailed info. I find it least valuable as a reliable tool for academic research.
  • Are there certain types of topic that you feel happy looking up in Wikipedia? For example, do you consult it for factual information such as names and dates, and/or explanations of technologies, and/or insights into broad topics such as ‘learning’? Tend to use it for personal use rather than for work or study.
  • Why is a Wikipedia entry not generally regarded as acceptable as a reference in an academic journal? For one view on this, you could search on ‘citing Wikipedia’ within Wikipedia itself! Although moderated it unlikely the moderator is an expert in that field.
  • And if you are involved in supporting learners in some capacity – interpreting ‘support’ very broadly to include professional and personal contexts – what advice would you give them about how they could use Wikipedia? It gives a good overview but it may be based on hearsay or personal opinion rather than on fact or research. No harm in using it but keep an open mind.
  • How does your use of Wikipedia compare with, say, your use of Google or GoogleScholar? You may like to think back to your tutor group discussion of the graph in Week 1a Activity 4.
    And if you haven’t used Wikipedia recently, think about why that is. Are you using other online sources, or books, or…? I use it far less than google or books etc. This may just be because of habit or I'm more comfortable in the way I research at the minute.