Let me try to answer the questions in order…
(1) Right now, I suppose, if I use blogs or wikis, I shall use the services which we have used. However, I think there is a need for a wiki server as part of the MSU IT system. Perhaps I need to bring this up in a meeting. I am more interested in wikis than blogs, but I think both can be useful. But again, I am very much thinking this through. As I said during the conference call, I see using this technology as providing a space where students construct, early on, a framework for what they will study, by bringing up questions, concerns and issues which they then connect to issues pertinent to the subject under consideration, such as Roman history. This can become an ongoing project. I may experiment with this soon in the class I am teaching in my Senior Humanities Seminar. More to come on that.
(2) My very hypothetical notion is to create a wiki format which looks like a Talmud in progress. The core would be a central question, and radiating outward would be wikis devoted to the first layer of pertinent issues, and radiating outward from that would be more wiki pages devoted to specific concerns about these issues. This would be non-hierarchical. It would be also tied to the discussion group. Here is something of a problems – posting to a discussion group is a LOT less technologically challenging than posting to a blog or wiki, and right now, considering the difficulties I have had, I am not sure how comfortable I would be using wikis in a 35 person Gen. Ed. Class. Think of all the time it might take me, not only to moderate, but to deal with all the problems students might have implementing this technology. This seems something of a show-stopper for the moment, for I cannot ask students to call the help desk for help on their wiki. This is a real problem we need to address – right now, can we use this technology in a regular Gen. Ed. Class – which is mostly what I teach? Perhaps what I can do is to make discussion thread have a moderator, who will then make the wiki. Here is a visualization
I have a wiki on netcipia.net which my colleague Prudence Jones as started, with little student participation so far. Here is the text of what I have written.
I have been thinking about what a noted educator, Ken Bain, has been telling us about what we need to do so that students will better engage the material. The key for this engagement is _NOT_ to simply present a list of goals to be achieved. A better solution is to start with a problem or issue students can relate to, and then find ways to tie this concern to the course. I want to do a better job of this the next time I teach Roman civilization -- and you can help me. Please!!
And we can start with a very simple question, which we can then tie into the study of Roman history.
And the question is this -- what aspects of the political life of the United States REALLY MAKES YOU MAD? Please, let us all know!
Again, as I noted, there has been no student input as of yet. More to come.....
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