Week+01+Reflection

Week 1

During our first day we explored the class wiki and then had the opportunity to create our own. There were minor technology problems that arose, such as a loss of power to multiple computers, yet this did not hinder our learning. I was mostly surprised by the students' freedom in class to multitask during lessons and to find that I was at an average technology level in comparison with the other students. However, I seemed to be the only one who had ever used Twitter. I no longer have a Twitter account but found that it was an excellent tool to stay up-to-date with latest events, both on a personal and global level.

As with most technology, I believe the best way to understand it is to manipulate it on your own. Lessons can be useful but taking a **hands on** approach helps you to better retain the information. I appreciated the class time dedicated to allowing us to create our own Wiki as the teacher circulated and offered assistance when necessary. Whenever the teacher noticed a common problem he would show the entire class with the use of the projector how to solve the problem and where to go to get started.

I look forward to our next class as I already feel that I have learned a lot. Wikis can be excellent tools for a class and can be manipulated by the teacher to **suit many needs**. I feel confident that I could build another one on my own in the future in order to establish an **online community** for a particular class.

The only problem I can foresee with Wikis is the **lack of originality**. I fear that most of our Wikis will be very similar in terms of layout, style and design. Wikis challenge creativity in an attempt to **simplify** technology. I think that in order to make my Wiki different from the others that I might have to use HTML or other resources in order to have a Wiki that stands out and makes a statement. However, when I attempted to insert HTML code, the Wiki did not recognize it. This frustrates me but has piqued my interest.

To create your own wiki you can use Google Sites, or wikispaces.com