March 2, 2009
Studio Lab #3: Collective Research Project – Individual Reflection
In our studio lab, the whole class works together to complete a wiki about crowd sourcing. Throughout the project, I not only learned more about crowd sourcing, but also experienced it firsthand.
Yes, the experiment worked
In class, we split up into groups of approximately four people with each group working on their own section. Our group got a confusing section to work with, but nonetheless, we tried very hard. Because of the difficulty and depth of our topic, our group actively contributed. Each of us wanted to share our own views on crowd sourcing. As we discussed, we learned. Additionally our whole group edited our wiki page to some degree or another, whether it is typing out information or fixing small grammatical errors. By working on the wiki, we experienced both the benefits and disadvantages of the wiki. Together, we prepared the final product.
I must mention one thing. The full potential of the wiki was not used. Just look at the discussion board. I originally tried to set a deadline, but people go by their own standards. Why listen to one member of the crowd if the rest do not voice agreements?
Benefits and limitations of the wiki project
By having the whole class work on one large piece of work, we work quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, one person – working alone – will have a very difficult time finishing before the deadline. Furthermore, having multiple minds working on the same project can help remove bias, improve overall quality, and eliminate most or the errors. Chances are if only one person makes the wiki, information will not be as accurate. There may also be more errors.
Nevertheless, no matter how well a wiki is done, it will never be perfect. Anyone can edit a wiki; some changes could be beneficial, but some may ruin the whole piece of writing. Also, different people work at different paces. As I write this, I am wondering when the one of the pages will expand past the title.
Wiki vs Face to Face
Both wiki and face to face communication have its pros and cons. On the wiki, those that are shy can voice their opinions anonymously. Likewise, wikis are more flexible in terms of time constraints, as people do not have to finish the assignment in a given amount of time (before so and so has to go home or what not). However in a classroom environment, tasks can be done more efficiently, mainly when people voice their opinions. Communicating through a wiki is rather difficult, especially in our case. Our wiki discussion board is almost useless. It is used to post some things individuals wish to say to the class, but whether the class listens is another story. For example, the topic about the deadline has been completely overlooked. Currently, the discussion board has a total of five topics and one reply. In many cases, people will not communicate at all. The work must be finished – that is all. Is communication necessary? Yes, to get the basic guidelines down, but after that it is rather useless.
Overall, this studio lab game me valuable experience using wikis and opened my eyes to the power or crowd sourcing.
External links:
Our wiki - http://tech114d101s09.wetpaint.com/
wetpaint (where our wiki was hosted) - http://wetpaint.com/
