Rowland's COMP4040 Blog

Well, mixed feelings. It's good to have been introduced to the idea of these - a useful tool for me later. On the other hand, while the BLOG was useful, the WIKI I feel was less so. Principally because it really wasn't all that easy to track who made what changes when collaborative efforts took place.
Another concern I have is that it has been very difficult to take material from the WIKI and re-use it on the final website. None of the formatting, links etc is re-usable so a great deal of time has been lost. If each student had their own WIKI for submitting assessment work and there were a joint WIKI for colaborative work that might be easier.
A general observation: I have found it very difficult in this module to write / respond in an 'academic' manner. Partly this is due to the fact that I have yet to find a single book that has useful things to say about web-design (that isn't out of date). But, the format of BLOGing and contributing to the WIKI also tends to encourage a rather casual style of writing. Of course, if this is acceptable then there is no problem.
 

Hi Ric

Thanks for these comments. It is always useful to get a view from the user.

I think I agree with your comments about blogs and wikis I have also had a difficulty in working out who has written what. On your point about transferability I am wondering about having a web site for the group where they can contribute material which can be directly transferred to another site. Or possibly individual web sites which are linked from the main site so that ideas can be put there by individuals and they can draw attention to them using their blog.

I think that the assignments may be written in any way you like as long as they carry the necessary information. Of course you need to ensure that what is written is not just opinion but is backed up by evidence, argument and referencing.

Rowland
 

I believe the use of these emerging technologies has been useful; I was unaware of their existence until starting this module. They are a good way of getting into web pages as they allow quick and easy access into the world of web design, although limited.
I would agree with Ric's comments with regard to individual wiki's and the fact that page formatting does not easy good! Web page design.

However the process has been enjoyable and is in step with current web development!
 

Like Steve have never used ever Blogs or wikis before. Blogs are a good way of communicating thoughts and ideas and is available 24/7, so it doesn't matter when you write or comment on them. One of the problems is getting comment on a blog. I remember you asking everyone to comment on Blogs, even if it was just a quick acknowledgement to say you had read it, but this hasn’t happened; I am as guilty as anyone.

Wikis, good for group work, but I intend to do all my grade ‘justification’ on my own web site.
 

I feel the module has been useful, the idea of using blogs and wiki's i initially thought was brilliant, however as Ric has said I have also found the blog more useful than the wiki.

The wiki was good for coming up with the learning outcomes to collaborate the ideas etc.

I must say that the idea of a mock site on the wiki was not a good idea as with ric the formatting etc goes wrong and it's just as easy to do it in your own site (or even a word doc before you make the site).

I was nice to be introduced to these items though, I viewed blogs before and had encountered wikis without really knowing what they were.