Wiki Assignment

Part of my goal for any class is helping you all build what I will roughly call “digital literacy.” This doesn’t mean that I think you all cannot read and write, but rather that reading and writing in these spaces in some ways operates contrary to, and different from other modes of writing you have learned. Take for example class notes. The default model for this has been that each student is expected to take notes for his or her self on the class as a way of representing and reinforcing what has been discussed/learned. Mostly these are kept private (although on occasion shared with fellow classmates). The web has helped us rethink the default setting of writing, specifically in this case notes, as being private.

Enter the collaborative class notes, also known as a wiki. Working in groups everyone in the class will be responsible for building/writing a wiki that reflects the material we have covered in this class.

Here are the guidelines (or guiding principles):

• A 250 to 300 word summary of the main principles/ideas that we discussed in class, and how did the assigned text play into this discussion. (I realize that often we will discuss many ideas over the course of the day, but try to focus on a few key ones.)
• Edit the entry for the text we discussed. Nearly everyday we will be discussing a text it is your job to develop an entry separate from the class notes, which captures what that text is about. (Think of this as a short encyclopedia entry. I emphasize short here, you don’t need full plot summary and character outline. Keep it simple.)
• Define any key terms which came up in class. Create short wiki entries for these.
• Three links to other (reputable) sites that contextualize and/or add to the class discussion. These can be articles about the text (not encyclopedia style entries but articles), or other examples which are related (for example for “Garden of Forking Paths” you might create a link with an explanation to House of Leaves).

Keep in mind these notes are not meant to be transcriptions of what we discussed, instead think of these as practice in collectively synthesizing what the class was about.

The above is due before the start of the next class.

Get in the habit of linking and updating. That is do not treat the knowledge as static, instead feel free to update past pages as the class develops, edit, add, delete, move and most importantly connect.

It is easy to “cop out” and just divide each day in sections (you do the first part, I’ll do the second, etc. . .) but don’t. This will work so much better if you work together and write together rather than just have different people write different parts. Use the comments feature, revise edit etc. . .