Wiki Collaboration Project

I made a class that is eight weeks long that IS ENTIRELY conducted using a wiki.  It may not be a great idea, but I wanted to see how it would turn out.  Do we need other resources?  Can people just post on a wiki and erase it later to collaborate?  This would probably not get approved as a class for any educational institution I have ever worked for.  But it was fun to think about how I could use the wiki in different ways, and what types of questions I would ask to force people to collaborate with one another.

Combined UAV Joint Task Force Coordination

Target Audience Air Service / Active Duty Army personnel involved in Air/Combat Operations Support in an effort to support Operation Enduring Freedom

Objectives: The Student will…

1. Collaborate between different branches of Military Service to Identify mission essential parameters effected by Aircraft limitations

2. Determine which Aircraft limitations and capabilities are best suited for situational exercises in high altitude settings.

3. Collaborate with between different branches of Military Service to compare and contrast four different “Predator” UAV variants using the United States Army’s Distance Education Program

Teaching Materials Needed, Including Handouts

1. Student and Instructors will need an internet connection.

2. Students and Instructors will need access to www.wikispaces.com 

3. Students will need access to UAV Training Manuals, and user level maintenance manuals for their assigned and qualified aircraft.

4. Instructions to access, login, and edit a wikispace webspace.  http://helpcenter.wikispaces.com 

5. Students and Instructors will need access to the DOD E-mail system

Advance Preparation Needed

1. Group class members into teams of three, ensuring that each class member is current and qualified on a different “Predator” variant aircraft.

2. Provide instructions to access, login, and edit a wikispace webspace before the activity

3. Provide limitations on information that can NOT be posted to wikispaces due to security reasons to the students. 

Outline and Methods

1. The class of 16 members will be broken down into groups of three or four members
2. Each group would have a person qualified to fly a different UAV system from a different branch of military service(Air Force, Navy, Army, and NASA).
3. Each group will need to create an individual login for each member
4. Each group will create a wikispace page for each member
5. Students will be introduced to each other by the instructor via email.
6. Each group member should read the following http://helpcenter.wikispaces.com and refer to each other if they are having problems negotiating the wiki
7. In the first week each member will post a picture of themselves, and a short biography including flight hours, aircraft certification, and number of deployments.  DO NOT include family information pursuant to OPSEC guidelines
8. In week 2 student should outline the limitations, capabilities and additional features of their aircraft.  The wiki should be organized, professional, and easy to read.
9. In week 3 the student teams will advantages their UAV Aircraft have over a manned Multirole/Combat support aircraft.  The students should work collaboratively to ensure that they are all comparing their own aircraft to the same manned aircraft platform.  This short essay will be done collaboratively, and will be added to the group wiki.

1. Week 4 students will read, and critique the wiki pages of the other groups.  Comments and questions must be answered in 24 hours, the first comments by each student will be one question or comment per group for each student no later than the third day of the week.
2. Week 5, Using the historic background of American History students will decide which military theatre of operations between 1776 and 2001 would have been most effected by the use of UAVs.  This short essay will be done collaboratively, and will be added to the group wiki.
3. In week 6 students will and critique the wiki pages of the other groups.  Comments and questions must be answered in 24 hours, the first comments by each student will be one question or comment per group for each student no later than the third day of the week.
4. In week 7 students work collaboratively to decide what training and professional development the Military should either keep, or implement to improve the capabilities of the UAV program.  This short essay will be done collaboratively, and will be added to the group wiki.
5. In week 8 students will critique the wiki pages of the other groups.  Comments and questions must be answered in 24 hours, the first comments by each student will be one question or comment per group for each student no later than the third day of the week.
6. Before the end of week 8, each group member will post to the bottom of the wiki a short reflective statement (just a paragraph) on collaboration using a wiki, and how the exercise helped to increase the ability to understand UAV’s across the different branches of military service.

16.  Before the wend of week 8, group members will grade their one of their other group-mates in 4 categories, this assessment will determine the participation points for the course.

    a.  On a scale of one to 5, how would you rate your partners communication with you?

b.  On a scale of one to 5, how would you rate your partners ability to achieve tasks on time for your group?

c.  On a scale of one to 5, how would you rat your partners willingness to compromise for the good of the group?

d.  On a scale of one to 5, how would you rate your partners willingness to assist you, or other group members through this assignment?

Concepts and Key Points

1. The use of the www.wikispaces.com is included to help with online, distance collaboration between service members of different branches of military service.  The wiki will act a living document where group members can collaborate, edit, and share ideas with other users, groups.  The wikispaces website is deal for not only the amount of support needed for users who have never used a wiki, but also for privacy needed for military personnel who are publishing information of a private nature.

1. The following documents should be provided at the beginning of class in preparation for use of the wiki

The wikispace online tutorial and help page 

http://helpcenter.wikispaces.com

How a wiki works, a short video introduction 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

The DOD Military One Source guide to Operational Security 

http://www.militaryonesource.mil/deployment?content_id=270487

Evaluation

The Course is graded for 60 points.  20 points for participation graded via a survey at the last week of class.  20 points for content accuracy.  30 points for a demonstration of knowledge applied to unique circumstances of a UAV platform operating in a theatre of operations.

Criteria of Knowledge Application

5 points.     - Student is aware of resources to find information, but does not apply them to circumstances within the wiki.  Has made no effort to assimilate information on platforms other than their own certified platform.

10 points - Student uses resources to find information and demonstrates understanding of the meaning of limitations and capabilities of UAV.

15 points   -has demonstrated prior knowledge of certified UAV Platform and applies them to scenarios in the wiki, but has not demonstrated application knowledge on platforms other than their own certified platform.

20 points -Has demonstrated prior knowledge of certified UAV Platform is efforts to understand platforms other than their own certified platform.

25 points -Has demonstrated prior knowledge of certified UAV Platform and is able to understand platforms other than their own certified platform.

30 points -Has demonstrated prior knowledge of certified UAV Platform and in more than 4 occasions applied limitations and capabilities to unique scenarios on platforms other than their own certified platform.

Content Accuracy 

5 points - Does not demonstrate understanding of system limitations and capabilities, has posted information not found or is inaccurate according to their platforms service and technical manuals

10 points - Demonstrates understanding of system limitations and capabilities

15 points - Demonstrates understanding of system limitations and capabilities and is able to understand platforms other than their own certified platform.

20 points -  Demonstrates understanding of system limitations and capabilities and is able apply understanding of platforms other than their own certified platform.

References

United States (2010).  Unmanned Aircraft Flight Systems Regulations: Army Regulation 95-23.  Washington, DC. Aviation Headquarters, Dept. of the Army

Wikispaces by Tes Support Center  (2016, Sept 19) Retrieved from URLhttp://helpcenter.wikispaces.com

Wiki Wiki Wiki

The pro’s of using a Wiki are outlined in West and West’s “Using Wikis for online collaboration. The difference between the blog and a wiki is, in my mind, the key reason to use a wiki.  And that is that Wiki’s provide endless and ongoing collaboration within groups of interested users who wish to share information.  Unlike the Blog, wiki’s are meant to be continuously updated.  Once published it is expected that the wiki will continue to provide a collaboration environment (p4, 2009).

Computers and Education published an article in 2013 citing the surveyed science teachers only  consider the Wiki as a benefit if people using the wiki take the time to learn how to properly set up the wiki.  Instructors who did not see the benefits of using the wiki, did not put fourth the effort to learn and how to collaborate with their peers.  The disadvantage to this is extremely high because on a wiki everyone is expected to be responsible for the published work, therefore everyone must learn the technology.  In other forms of collaboration online, such as a discussion thread or publishing a single webpage, the number of people who must learn to use the new method of publication is lower, therefore having a lower effect on people who don’t wish to learn the new technology. 

I believe this is related to the Technology Acceptance Model where users are only likely to continue using a new piece of technology if two things are high, the perceived usefulness of the technology or tool, and the ease of use or ability to learn how to use the new technology.  E-Banking is another area in which this model applies, the perceived usefulness of managing a banking account is high, as is the ability to learn the technology is high. 

Unfortunately, the wiki’s reliance on participation from all group members is a disadvantage as well as an advantage.  

Donnelly, D.F., & Boniface, S. (2013). Consuming and creating: Early-adopting science teachers' perceptions and use of a       wiki to support professional development. Computers & Education. v.68, pp.9-20.

West, J. and West, M. (2009). Using Wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write Web.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.  ISBN: 9780470343333

Vazifeh, Z., Keivani, S., Nabizadeh-Mamkaveh, R., (2014). Investigation into clients' attitude to e-banking using technology acceptance model proposed by Davis. Advance in Natural and Applied Sciences. 8.(7), 801

Blogging: Pros and Cons(mostly cons) for Adult Learners

I am a little surprised at what I read this week for class.  Three very good articles about the upside for publishing on the web in a format known as blogging, all with very good points about student interaction, sharing information, and enabling students to be heard were consistent in Santos(2011), and Wittle(2007).   In King and Cox's text, "The professors guide to taming technology.", the authors outline the foundations of blogging from the students and the instructors perspective, and give examples of how blogs can help build a community of learners.  

But, I am surprised that none of these three sources of information addressed common problems with digital content that I am used to hearing about.  Example, on p.98 of King and Cox's text the authors mention that foreign language students were introduced to blogs to help envelope the students in the language they were trying to learn, but were the students seeing the best examples of language and grammar on those blogs?  Did the instructor have to screen the blogs before the students read them?  I would hate to ask my students to observe the blogs of nurses and then find out later that they stumbled about a blog of nurses who not being honest about work or medical practices.  

What about privacy?  I would not want people to judge me by things I posted on the internet when I was in my mid-20's.  The postings that students make, including this blog, maybe around for a very long time, perhaps forever.  Can student post comments freely and express opinions without repercussions on a blog in the same way that they would on a closed message board...are other bloggers going to attack me for my opinion on public blogs?  

Content and accuracy ever since I was young I was told that the internet was a generally unsafe place to find information, I understand that most blogs will have a reflective, opinion theme based on the writers on preference and experiences, but I still believe that facts found on blogs should be taken with caution, people in blogs who share information in the form of statistics without using citations can lead learners astray.  As an example, I have posted a quote from Joseph Stalin, which is fake.

Please do not misunderstand me, I am NOT saying I will never use blogs, there is a lot of support for using blogs, in a brief article from the Journal of Occupational Therapy, Samia Ezzamel pointed out in her article on using blogs for occupational therapy, "blogging offered a sense of reassurance, as peers in similar settings read my posts and commented about shared difficulties and triumphs.", there is value in allowing peers to openly communicate with each other in an unrestricted manner, but I feel that we should at least consider some of the "Cons" to blogging before implementing.

Ezzamel, S. (2013). Blogging occupational therapy; knowledge sharing, professional development, and ethical dilemmas.  British Journal of Occupational Therapy. 76(11), 515-517

King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Santos, A.. (2011). Blogs As A Learning Space: Creating Text Of Talks. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 4(6), 15-19. 

Wittle, S.  (2007). That's online writing, not boring school writing: Writing with blogs and the Talkback Project. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(2), 92-96.