Persad,+Terri-Ann

= = = = = = = = =__Reflections and Analysis__= Wikispaces to me is a very creative and a new way of having a fun, it is also a creative and highly interactive form of learning. In many ways it takes away intimidation and hesitation and allows people to express and understand at their own pace and in their own style. It creates individuality allowing a gateway for other users who may be able to relate with another user making the learning experience so much easier. The "wiki" however, while it may put a very nice form of learning with emphsis on participation and interaction, I do find it to be very intimidating at first. Actually i would say more overwhelming. I think I say this because it is a new way of learning and new is not always something that is easy to adapt to. When looking at Wikispaces it was too much at first for me to take in. I won't say that I didn't understand it but I did not really grasp the concept that was required of me. One of the main issues I had with the "wiki" was the idea of changing someone else's work. WHAT?!?! Me doing that almost felt like me barging in on someone else's territory, changing their views and/or criticizing their thoughts, their likes and dislikes. My other issue which came through not to long ago was my fear of messing up the entire wiki. Once again, I do apologise again for the delay that I created and I do hope it was not a huge inconvenience to any of you, but if it was I am incredibly sorry! However, that situation did reveal many things about many people and that I am grateful for. So I guess to every negative their is positive lurking somewhere near by. :) My expectations of myself concerning the wiki, is to become accustomed to it and to become an active user of the wiki. I have not had the experience of using Wikispaces previously, as I am sure is very obvious to many. I have found that that expectation is becoming more and more a reality, however, now that my fear is lingering off and I am developing a new kind of freedom in expressing myself. I'm thinking the wiki could become a little of an addiction. I could talk for days, weeks and months on the topic - anything! So for me, the concept of the wiki is growing on me more and more each and every day. Also the basic idea of just being able to use a new method of learning such as the wiki, is just a great oppotunity! With the progress of my project and using the wiki I am finding the learning experience on how to create the page on the wiki, is not only a step up for me but it is also, and sadly, a high point in my recently non exsistent life.:) One could be very suprised on what another considers a good weekend!! . . . because this weekend I was "wiki-ing" all day, every day! As I previously noted, I was fearful of changing anything on anyone's page and because of that I have only changed a spelling mistake on one person's analysis and reflection page. I also I dont like the idea of taking someone's hard earned thought and putting in my two cents. At this stage I only really look for typos and other grammatical errors because I still am a bit uncomfortable in rearranging anyone's work. As for my own work I usually read it over a couple of times, but their are some times that I miss an error here and there, so it's great that others can read my work/ramblings and have an opinion/criticism or correct errors for me.

3. Hmmm. . . where to start??? Well I think I was definitely the poster child for "What Not To Do On A Wiki"!! You Live You Learn!! . . . or something along those lines, right?!!? For me using the wiki was a new experience, and at many, an overwhleming experience. I enjoyed or more so was fascinated by the whole concept of the wiki. The freedom we were given was the most overwhelming for me. I guess sometimes, the eight year old in me comes back and I am once again afraid to touch anything that I am not 100% certain about with fear that I will ruin everything. . .this mainly applies to computers of course! I challenged myself greatly with this course, however most of the challenges that I faced was my own doing. I also think I may be the poster child for "Go To Class!!" While that was out of my control, it certainly would have helped if I had been there more often. I definitely missed out on the fundamental foundations required in becoming a well-taught wiki user. Working collaboratively was also definitely a challenge for me. I am very much a "Its My Way or the Highway" type person and having to see people edit over anything that I did or even contribute their ideas was sometimes not a very much wanted feature on my part. But as the semester went on I did not have to deal with that often or at all and I guess I really do not know what the "collaborative" part of this feels like on my part. Oh well!! As for editing or adding to other people's work was unusally satisfying for me. I felt like I was really helping someone for the better and I also do think I get a bit of a high out of seeing grammatical errors and being able to fix it. Contribution to the wiki? Well I am not sure how well I fit into this category. I did try to put in as much information as I can, but while I thought I was a well-diversed individual, I must say a lot of genres that were covered in the Table of Contents I had never seen or heard of them before till this wiki situation came about!! Like who knew what "adult swim" was?? To be honest I was a tad bit on the hesitant side to check it out. I even questioned how appropriate that would be for a class?? .. .and let me just tell you, that what adult swim is, is not anywhere near to what I thought "adult swim" would be. hmmm. . . So as for the benefits of the wiki, I would defintely put that as my number one because I learned a lot more than I would ever in any class. However, participating on the wiki seemed a little bit in disguise of the bigger issue. Getting the grade! I feel that a lot of this participation/contribution was all driven by getting a better grade and in truth, why shouldn't it? It is a class after all! But i feel sometimes when i would put out time and effort and actually be proud of my contributions, it would soon be followed by a sense of dissatisfaction that no one really cares what I think or believe or what genre I have shined a light on. But then I get back to reality and I realise I do not really care about the others who I do not know and my satisafaction is once back in full force because I realised the pride I have in my contributions. So for all those who are appreciative of my contributions you are welcome and for the person who introduced "adult swim" to me thank you very much!! As for the course as a whole I could only really talk about my brief encounters with both Mike Jones and David Gelb, afterall they were the core of the course, so why not? I have found both of you quite enlightening,delightful and definitely gracious in putting up with my BS! :) I have mainly had encounters with David Gelb and at all times you were quite forgiving and approachable and that was definitely a relief for me. However, when I was presenting for my assignment 3 I was like WHOA!! . . .this is kind of intense!! Definitely did not know thst was coming. But all in all it was good to hear honest feedback from the source as oppose to the odd smile and hmmm's followed by an unexplainable final grade. So overall, I was happy with the structure of this course, the only thing that was a problem for me I guess, is that outside of class hours I thought that both of you were inaccessible and maybe if they had other times where I could have come to you for face to face assistance . . .in life!! haha!! joking!! . . .in the class maybe I would have felt more at ease with everything. This class is definitely a class that I would reccommend and if I could I maybe would take it again. . . but the right way because I feel that I have missed out on content that I would have been able to make use of. Thank you!! = = =SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS= MONDAY 13TH NOVEMBER' 2006. - type correction - Heather Asling (Analysis and Reflection) THURSDAY 16TH NOVEMBER '2006 - typo correction - Ng Ngan Yan THURSDAY 16TH NOVEMBER '2006 - Added content, typo correction - Calypso Music THURSDAY 16TH NOVEMBER '2006 - Added Personal Video Recorder (PVR) to the Table of Contents THURSADY 16TH NOVEMBER '2006 - grammatical changes - Garcia, Mylene SUNDAY 26TH NOVEMBER '2006 - added content to Hard Rock MONDAY 27TH NOVEMBER '2006 - Added Steelpan to the Table of Contents MONDAY 27TH NOVEMBER '2006 - Added content to Steelpan MONDAY 27TH NOVEMBER '2006 - Added content to Fashion Magazines MONDAY 27TH NOVEMBER ' 2006 - Added content to Gospel Music