Learning4Content/Workshops/eL4C48/Thoughts on quality

Use the "insert signature" button in your toolbar to sign your post. (You may want to open a copy of these questions in a new window or tab, to avoid scrolling up and down while typing your answers. Remember to hit the save button.)

Example:

=== Vishal Jhotty when we talk of quality it must meet certain standards. we cannot accept all educational information or resources. Reliability is an important factor. we teachers must be choosy in our materials and resources. we must choose what fits best our students. some resources can be used for a category of students but unsuitable for another.

then enter your thoughts here

--Drjeannie 04:31, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

My thoughts: This is a debate that has validity on both sides. My first thoughts are: how can we ensure quality of resources if there's no standard, no gateposting? As an educator I know that ineffective and misleading educational resources can do quite a lot of damage, so it would seem obvious that quality needs to be maintained. I suppose the response to that statement could be: By whom? Who decides what's quality or not?

I'd have to say that I also do think that open authoring does contribute to high quality learning materials; after all, it's the tossing around of ideas, and the critical feedback and reflection, that produces those great resources. So, yes, open authoring certainly contributes; but it isn't quality control, is it? This leads to the 3rd point (I think I answered the 2nd one) and it seems to me that the best mechanism is active participation by critical masses of participants, if that makes sense. The more people engaged in the negotiation, the more critical development takes place - this has to refine the product, surely. Jeannie.

Vishal Jhotty when we talk of quality it must meet certain standards. we cannot accept all educational information or resources. Reliability is an important factor. we teachers must be choosy in our materials and resources. we must choose what fits best our students. some resources can be used for a category of students but unsuitable for another.

--Vishal jhotty 18:53, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

Melanie Webber
While I do have concerns about the quality of educational resources developed using an open authoring approach, I think that these concerns can be best be addressed by involving myself. If I am uncertain of the quality I am able to do something about it rather than leaving dubious information floating unquestioned as might be the case in a closed authoring situation. You can't leave a big sticky note on someone's incorrect website, but you can fix it or query it here.

When developing learning resources for education I like the idea of collaborative open-authoring, but I also like to mull over a problem myself sometimes without input. In this way open-authoring frightens me a bit - I like to make sure things are 'right' before publishing them, but I need to let go of this impossible idea of perfectionism.

I certainly agree though that open source resources are the way to go - for every teacher to be continually reinventing the wheel just seems daft. To be locking that wheel away so that only 'your' students can benefit from it just seems wrong.

Ensuring quality is always going to be tricky and relies, I suppose, on an active and educated community. Certainly I think the requirement of registration in order to edit content is good bottom line. --Melanie Webber 09:52, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

It can be seen from two angles...it will imply more freedom to anyone to publish anything. On the other hand, it implies that anyone can use such information whose quality will to a large extent be questionable. Hansa2706

David Okey
When asked for an opinion after reading the wikis that we were directed to it is interesting to add a quote from Douglas Adams "The difference between something that can go wrong and something that can't possibly go wrong is that when something that can't possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." from Mostly Harmless.

When we look at wikis we need to look for the things that can go right and not get to hung up on the things that can go wrong. For a forum such as WikiEducators the requirement to register provides some security by way of continuity of membership. Besides that teachers love to offer helpful advice to any who make misleading posts, therefor providing a degree of quality control.

Emmanuel Nalumenya
Yes, I have concerns about the quality of educational resources developed using an open authoring approach. Not all the web pages may be edited by the Wiki neighbours. There is need to standardise the educational resources developed to enhance their quality. In my opinion, open authoring approach should be used in the development of learning resources for use in education because of its advantages over the closed authoring approach.For example, through the open authoring approach there is collaboration and free sharing of knowledge and experiences during the development of educational resources which leads to improved quality. It also leads to development of skills among the participants and the confidence of the learners is boosted. There is need to put in place a mechanism of standardisation to ensure quality of educational content developed in wiki environment. Thus, guidelines should be put in place to act as parameters within which different wiki projects are undertaken.



standardisation is good but it also implies that we will never challenge the status quo. Is this good for a dynamic, ever-changing world?
Bold text Hansa 2706

Aboubacar Fode CAMARA
I haven't concern about the quality of educational resources developed using an open authoring approach. My position is justified by the following illustrations:


 * The success of free and open software
 * The success of the search engine google

By making open the code source of software, there is a vast communinaute of developers and users who contribute daily to  improvement the software. Development approaches of learning resources must open to justify my point of view, take the example of science and technology. The evolution of science and technologiue is through sharing, collaboration and cooperation between scientists and inventories.

To improve the quality of educational content developed in the wiki environment, much effort must be undertaken in the technology field in order to provide interactivity between teachers and learners.

Tero Toivanen

 * With Wikipedia, I've noticed that the quality of articles has much variation in terms of quality. There are high quality articles, but also articles with lower quality. I think it's important that we should support the creators of articles in all open source resources to get high quality resources for all mankind.
 * Yes, because some of the material, may risk the students' security. For example Wikispaces have good options to make different kind of learning resources.
 * I think the important thing is the activity of experts and cooperation in supporting the creators of learning resources. --Teromakotero 21:09, 23 December 2010 (UTC)