EL4C27 - Discussions

Learning4Content (eL4C27) Online Course: June 1-12, 2009

Building Capacity for Open Education Together

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Please add your name and respond to the discussion questions.

• Please add your Username and/or your wiki-signature to your entry. For instructions on how to add or personalize your wiki-signature see help page Signature.

• Here is a helpful slide presentation for the participants of the workshop.

Please click on this link to see enlarged version of the presentation.

<flash>file=EL4C27 Gita Mathur WikiEducator-2009_Reference_Cards.swf|width=700|height=500|quality=best</flash>

Start-up Questions

1. How easy or difficult was the start-up for you?
2. What are your suggestions for improving the instructions?

Creating an Account

How was the experience of creating an account?(please sign up your post)

• It wasn't difficult for me to access the wiki. I think the instructions are ok no need to add momentarily, mm
• It was easy for me to understand your instructions, Richard D. Solomon, Ph.D. Thank you!--Rds 13:29, 31 May 2009 (UTC)
• I found it a bit of a challenge especially as i logged on on the day 1 of the workshop. However the second email by Gita gave me the links. I was so excited as the commands were easy to follow. I still find the time of the workshop not easy to tell.

• I've created the account without any problem. The instructions are easy, clear and accurate.Thank you--Yoon 03:13, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
• It has been a pleasant journey for me too so far. I think wiki's quite user-friendly. The instructions were clear enough to make creating account and working through the tutorials easy. Deepa

Please read What is a wiki? and answer the following questions:

1. Do you have any concerns about the quality of educational resources developed using an open authoring approach? If so, what are your concerns? If not, how does an open authoring approach contribute to high quality learning materials?
2. In your opinion, should course development for education use closed or open authoring approaches? Give reasons for your view?
3. What mechanisms can be adopted to assure quality of educational content developed in Wiki environments?

• Every end user has the responsibility of verifying the information and the magnitude of error goes on reducing as more people edit and test their views with Global concerns. So the quality will remain high. Copyrighted ones should be left out.
• Only signed members should have the ability to modify and the system should have ways of checking who has made the change so that a contesting response could be sent to him to help him/her explain or know the point of concern.
• Most content for educational purposes should be Open, however to encourage innovation copyrighted material should be availed for ONLY Educational purposes. --parametrs 16:13, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

1. I do not have concerns about the quality of resources that are developed. I think that we all need to be critical of resources, no matter where they are developed. Also, I believe that Wiki, and open authoring, are the future of education, so we may as well figure out what to do with them. I believe that open authoring is a fantastic resource. It's a worn out saying, but two heads are better than one.
2. I think that course development materials should use open authoring approaches. That way the end product will be much improved.
3. I think that logging on and taking responsibility for edits is a way to safeguard the integrity of materials developed in an open authoring format. Brian Fahey

Course development should use open authoring approach. It gives equal rights for every individual to contribute towards the construction of knowledge. Nonetheless, students need to be educated on how to select and evaluate appropriate information developed by this approach. --Yoon 03:25, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

• I agree with everyone that 'anonimosity' during editing needs to be done away with. This can be done by mandating logging-in prior to making corrections and linking a piece of information with the contributor's user page. Collaborative knowledge building can go a long way in educating masses as educating one another becomes everyone's business. But in my opinion course development for education should use both open and closed authoring approaches especially for topics that require research and innovation. Deepa

I believe that wikis can make a great contribution to education,but I do not have sufficient experience with them to determine the anwer to accessibility questions. I believe that intellectual property rights are in place to protect the interests of those who wish to earn a living by what they produce so I do not worry about open authoring at all. The conditions in countries differ so a one size fits all may not be the answer. Let educators choose their path. I am all for sharing. On the issue of quality I quite agree that creators as well as users need to acknowledge their respnsibility to verify all material they produce and use. Luckily all edited versions of the wiki are saved.--Allison Sarjeant 07:59, 3 June 2009 (UTC)