Dudman,+Matt




 * __Major Contribution:__**
 * The History of Hip Hop


 * __Contributions:__**
 * November 20th, 2006: "Advertising": Grammar and Content Edit.
 * November 21st, 2006: "Facebook": Content Addition.
 * November 21st, 2006: "MSN Messenger": Content Addition, Grammar and Edit.
 * November 21st, 2006: "Homepage": Addition Regarding The PS3
 * November 21st, 2006: "Playstation 3": Addition to Content
 * November 22nd 2006: "Fun Video Links": Content Addition
 * November 22nd, 2006: "Mass Production and Mass Distribution": Content Addition and Edited
 * November 23rd, 2006: "What Are Instant Messengers": Content Addition
 * November 23rd, 2006: "Online Gambling": Content Addition
 * November 23rd, 2006: "Television News Genre": Edited
 * November 23rd, 2006: "Record Labels": Content Addition and Edited
 * November 30th, 2006: "Game Shows": Content Addition & Edit
 * November 30th, 2006: "History of Pornography": Content/Chart Addition
 * December 2nd, 2006: "Internet Radio": Content Addition
 * December 2nd, 2006: "Hockey": Added hockey teams banner/picture
 * December 5th, 2006: "Fun Video Links": Added fun video links

As a first time wiki user I was a little nervous on how to utilize the system to it's fullest extent. I had to learn everything and even though it seems quite simple, I found some things confusing, however, that could just be me. Now that I've been using it throughout the duration of the course, i've gotten much more use to it and understand how to work it on a generalized level.
 * __Question #1:__**

The issue of a collaborative learning environment, in my opinion, is excellent. Wiki allows students to post messages, events, subjects, current events, and so forth so that all can view, while at the same time allows them to alter and edit them. This makes it possible for interaction between multiple users and in essence, allows more people to benefit. When we were first introduced to what we had to do in this course, I was quite hesitent on the fact of the whole thing, however, now that I've gotten use to it, it all seems so helpful and useful. I feel that the collaborative learning environment is a valuable asset and a key factor in the understanding of this course, or any course for that matter, that involves a multi-user interface.

The expectations that I have for myself are that I comprehend how to understand and use wiki first off. With this, it will then allow me to do the following: access notes, contribute to on going topics, create my major contribution, and so forth. This will in turn then allow me to gain the knowledge of wiki as a whole and be a competent user for the rest of the course and in the future.

I've never used wiki in a previous course, however, as I learn more and more from it and learn to comprehend the different aspects of it, I hope i'm able to take this knowledge and understanding and incorporate it into future courses and projects.

When going to post, I find that it's usually what interests me that catches my eye. I usually look through lists of topics to see what catches my eye or what relates to what I'm currently thinking about at that time. While reading, if I know something about the topic then i'll change and contribute to the actual topic. I look for subtopics that could be added, grammar, and general things that I think would contribute to the overal topic.
 * __Question #2:__**

My thoughts with regards to adding, editing or re-arranging other people's work is a thought of hestitation in a sense. I am always hesitent on it because at first i'm worried i'm going to ruin something on the page because i'm not the best with wiki yet, however, at the same time I feel good. I feel good because i'm able to add my thoughts for others to comment on, as well as, contribute to the overall topic. With this, it then allows for everyone to view it and comment on each others work like a chain link reaction - one step after another.

I check my major contribution for alterations anytime i'm on wiki it seems. I'm not sure why I do this, however, it seems to be habit. I'm interested to see what people have come up with and decided to add to it. Some of the contributions I didn't really know about it, and others I did. I chose not to incorporate everything though (as Prof. Jones suggested) so that it engabled people to add their own opinions and left room for subtopics to be created. People have worked on my major contribution and at first I felt kind of strange, like I didn't like or approve of it. After reading it over though and looking at it, I realized that the contributions only addes to the general topic and allows people to learn more in a variety of ways (ex. video, external links, etc), which in turn, allows for a broader view of a topic while controlling with specific ideas.

As mentioned above, I came into the course a little surprised of what we were being asked to do. I was nervous about Wiki because I had never used it before, however, after working on it and getting use to it I found that it got easier and it actually became kind of fun. I had only one or two challenges and/or limitations with Wiki, including such things as file uploads, content alteration with respect to things not aligning right (headings), however, the biggest challenge I had was when I wanted to upload some pictures for the project. Although this may sound ridiculous, I didn’t realize that if you have the same file name for a different picture that the original picture would be replaced by the new one; even if it was different. At one point, I found a picture of myself that I had uploaded on to my Analysis and Reflection on someone else’s major contribution page. At first glance, I freaked out thinking someone was ‘creeping’ me out, however, after investigating the situation, I found that both file names that were trying to be used were the same, causing what I hope to be, an innocent error. Other than these minor ideas above, working collaboratively on wiki was excellent, informative, and a definite learning experience.
 * __Question #3:__**

Advantages and benefits from participating in this particular Wiki I see as endless. Not only was I helping my grade within my course, however, at the same time helping others to be informed about different events or ideas that I had towards certain topics and subjects. The whole idea of starting an actual space and then constantly building on it is incredible. I didn’t think it would happen as smoothly as it did, however, I was pleasantly proved wrong. It’s amazing what can happen and what can be said when a group of people come together to form and organize a collaborative space whereby everyone has the opportunity to comment on each others work, along with start their own discussions. I had no idea how to use Wiki before this course and now I can confidently say I can surf my way around while still having fun!

I thought the overall atmosphere of the course was well developed and organized prior to the first presentation of it in the first class. Wiki was a great way to organize our class as well. We were able to put the question and answer section on it, which gives us the ability to post questions as well as answer them with professor review to ensure correctness. Lecture notes were able to be posted as well, which gave us essentially, a central point to operate from as a student and integrated part of the community building process. The way in which the projects were presented I thought was phenomenal. Not only did it allow us as students to view others work, however, it didn’t put people on the spot in a formal ‘at the front of the classroom’ presentation. Overall, I’m glad I decided to take this course as it was not only informative on a general level, but really opened my eyes to what is out there in the world, along with different mediums that we have access too that are more resourceful than one might think.