Colonial+Period+Reflection+Page


 * Reflections Page **
 * Toni (DJ Toni C.): **

Diving into another group’s work was a daunting proposal. The inherent assumption is that we know more than the previous group. Personally, I didn’t feel comfortable with that idea in the beginning. As we began our work, however, I began to see some things that we could do differently. For example, pages that had lots of text could be streamlined, and graphics could be added. In addition, the interactive links and the references pages could have been better organized. We also worked to have a consistent font throughout our section, one for the titles and one for the body.

In the process of making the determined formatting changes, we learned about Colonial America. As many of the early Americans likely did as they encountered new cultures, we reviewed the content and decided which material was the best fit for us. Meghan, Kelly and I had to make difficult choices about which documents, facts and links to include or eliminate. Even after making the changes, it is nearly impossible not to second guess many of our decisions. I continue to ask whether we could have added pictures here or a table there; it's never ending.

Working with these ladies was phenomenal. Every person contributed to the overall product, never hesitating to pitch in wherever assistance was needed. I could not ask for more willing and talented partners to walk beside me in this process of learning to create a Wiki. We have all gained a greater appreciation for the benefits of utilizing a succinct, informative and intuitive Wiki. Due to our lack of previous Wiki experience, we went in with preconceived notions about what it would take to effectively complete this assignment. Whether modifying or creating, we now know that Wiki construction clearly has a place in education's future, maybe even in the near future with my sophomores.


 * Meghan (Plain Ole Meg): **

We have been asked to reflect on our ‘Wiki Wiki Wiki What?!’ project. Upon first learning about this project, I was a bit perplexed. I never rely on ‘wiki’ spaces for information because they are not reputable sources of information. I was astonished that we were asked to create a site based on the concept of what I have become accustomed to avoid! I also felt that it was infinitely more difficult to redesign an existing body of information than to create one from scratch. The existing page seemed to be so full of information and socomplete, I thought that editing the work would be impossible. However, after delving into this particular project, I began to realize the value of this assignment. I was very careful about the information/sources that I pulled from, and made sure that they were not linked to other ‘wiki’ or student-created sites. We attempted to make deeper connections between each of the scholars and philosophies than was made within the previous wiki. We deleted dead links and replaced links leading to other wiki or student-created sites. We organized the information that was currently in place and deleted information that was not pertinent to the subject or was out of the range of years that the Colonial Period spanned. Information that remained from the original wiki was organized in tables with embedded links to pages that opened up in a new window. We made the resources more accessible for users seeking resources focusing on the Colonial Period. We added relevant and engaging interactive opportunities for educators and/or students to access to build new knowledge about this time period.

Toni, Kelly and I all live relatively close to each other, so this allowed us to work together on this assignment quite frequently. We all worked cohesively, and we each contributed significantly to the completion of this assignment. With each member of the team being a responsible and trustworthy contributers to this assignment, no one person was overwhelmed with work: it was distributed equally. Although the time period we highlighted included the inaugural years of education in America, I learned so much about the beginning of this country that I am so proud to be a citizen of and the profession I am honored to be a member of. Ultimately, I am grateful for the experience and knowledge this assignment provided me in the implementation and development of curriculum and instruction in America and abroad.


 * Kelly (Loss Cat): **

While I have used Wiki pages, I have never created one, so this was a new experience for me. I had some difficulty getting used to all the specifics of making a page (inserting pictures, documents, widgets, etc.), but it got easier as I worked more and more on the assignment. I found the activity to be time-consuming, especially since we had to perform a “make-over” of someone else’s page. Must time was spent sifting through everything on their pages and deciding if it was appropriate and/or necessary. We did not want to completely overhaul their work and were a bit intimidated when we saw their finished product. Once we got into the assignment, though, we saw some organizational changes that we wanted to make so that the page would be easier for readers to follow. Our idea of a wiki page is one in which the reader can quickly and easily find information that is needed so we employed the use of bullets, paragraphs, and charts. We wanted to create a page that we would like to find if we were doing research about these topics.

My teammates were and continue to be outstanding! Meghan took the section on Educational History of the Colonial Period which was rather daunting since it dealt with educators and philosophies. I took the section on The School and the Classroom. My section focused more on specifics and less on larger, broader topics. Toni worked with the reference page and interactive links. The reference page was basically just one long list of references. Toni organized them by subject area within the wiki assignment which will make it much easier to use for others who may use the page. Both my teammates were focused and thorough and did everything they said they would do and more. I was extremely lucky to work with them on this assignment.

I learned a lot about making a wiki page and feel comfortable now in making one on my own. I would like to be able to introduce this to my 8th grade math students at some point so that they can make pages about the topics we have studied this year.