My+Contributions

__My Contributions__

-Added to Hierarchy of Media Genres: College/ University Bulletins -Corrections made on several pages. -Created 'Mash-ups' page on Main Navigation-- Changed and put in Hiearchy of Media Genres- -Added content to Mash-Ups page for Wiki Assignment


 * __Analysis & Reflection__**

1. **When first encountering wiki at the beginning of the course**
 * What do you think/feel about this collaborative learning environment?
 * What are your expectations for yourself?
 * What can you contribute as an experienced participant?

Wiki is a new environment for me and I still have to get used to it. Although thus far my active participation has been low, I have been passively looking at other pages and the collaboration of others to fully understand how can contribute effectively. I do intend on actively participating because I believe this learning environment is conduce to positive improvements. This Wiki space allows for constructive criticism from fellow students and also allows to put forth ideas that we all can elaborate on.

I expect to be a frequent contributor on this Wiki space once I am more comfortable using all of its features. I will have to make a day out of the week for posting any contributions so I don't fall behind on my Wiki space involvement. I would like to start my own topic of interest because I'm not in particularly interested in the topics that are in process right now.

My contributions as a participant will start at starting my own topic of interest or at least putting significant effort into the topics that interest me. I also intend to contribute to the study notes about "Reinventing Comics" as I believe those notes are helpful study tools for tests. As I continue my contributions I intend on becoming an experienced participant. As an experienced participant I will make my own pages that other students can build on as well as ask insightful questions about course material.

2**. Think about the following and answer to the best of your ability**:
 * How do you choose which postings to contribute or change? What do you look for?
 * What are your thoughts on adding, editing or re-arranging other people's work?
 * Do you regularly check your own postings for alterations? Has anyone changed your work and how have you felt about it?

Thus far, I have not really been interested in any of the 'Topics of Interest' on the wiki space. To solve this problem I have created my own. The changes that I would make if I had not created my own page would be minature grammatical errors. Another way that I would have a significant contribution would be if i disagree with something said or have a different insight about a topic.

I think at first the thought of someone changing my original work bothered me. As the weeks went by I began to understand how beneficial it is in most cases to further describe something or edit something. Re-arranging someone's work is kind of like stepping on their toes without saying sorry. Because this is intentional and some may do a major re-arranging I am still weary about this for that matter.

I have yet to discover any edits on anything that I have originally created. When I add information to my Mash-Ups page I am sure I will have others interested in the topic and therefore they will have their own experiences with the specific genre of music.

The biggest challenge that I had with the wiki was adding my own material. I think that I limited myself by not participating. If I participated more I believe the challenges of getting used to the wiki features would have been less. I think another challenge I had was a lack of contribution on my part. One day I was going to add a topic on the main navigation page (Mash-Ups) but I didn't have enough time then to get information about it. So I decided to use that topic as my Wiki media genre.
 * 3. As a final reflection for the course, post your thoughts and ideas on:**
 * challenges or limitations you experienced while working collaboratively on wiki
 * advantages or benefits from participating in this wiki
 * things about the course you thought worked well and/or suggested improvements

For me the biggest advantage participating in this wiki was having group members who were more familiar with the site. They showed me how to add images and make our own separate group page. Even though I like to learn by exlopring on my own, I found it very beneficial for someone who was more or less an expert with the wiki environment help me familiarize myself with the space.

I think for future courses there should be weekly assignments so people are forced to participate. Even though it may seem like a chore at first, in the end it will be an advantage when a big assignment is due at the end of the term because they will be comfortable with the space, and not as apprehensive when people edit their work. I also enjoyed the Graphic Novel assignment because I had never really heard of them before this class. When I heard about the assignment I wasn't excited, but then as I was reading the novel "Mother come Home" I really enjoyed it! I also liked the Culture Jamming project because it got us thinking about interesting topics such as Social Networking!