Publishing Online Project

1. What pages on Wikipedia did you edit/monitor? (Please include URL to each page for individual and group work).

The page which I chose to edit was entitled “Tortoiseshell Cats” at the following URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoiseshell_cat

2. What is your Username on Wikipedia?

My username on Wikipedia is AWoronick

3. What is your reaction to the entire wiki project process? Please describe any positive and negative reactions.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Wiki project process. At first, I was very nervous about the process and afraid to “mess up” Wikipedia. Then, I also wondered what type of topic to post on. Fortunately, I pulled out my phone (which has a picture of my cat on it,) and I decided to talk about Calico Cats (I was linked over to the Tortoiseshell Cats page by Wikipedia and posted there.) With some research, I found some information to post and created a whole new section “Interesting Facts”. I was not sure how to reference at first, but I was able to go back and fix my errors. It was nice to know I could do that. Overall, it really was an interesting process and it gave me insight into what Wikipedia is and how it works. As Will Richardson states in his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, 3rd Edition (2010) Wikipedia is a “phenomenon” that has “tens of thousands of editors in chief, people just like you and me…collecting the sum of all human knowledge” (56). It is not a scary, unknown world that fills the minds of school children with wrong ideas and incorrect knowledge. It really is a place for humans (who do make errors,) can share information with the entire world. Because some of the information may not be accurate, it is our responsibility not to shy away from it and forget it exists, but rather challenge our students to research the information for verification (and perhaps edit a few pages themselves.)

4. If someone from the general public updated or edited your work, how did that make you feel? What types of changes did they make? Did you think that their revisions were appropriate? Did you make any additional changes as a result?

Someone did edit my work and he was not nice about the process either. Personally, I did take some offense to his (I’m assuming it was a male, but I could be mistaken,) comments because they did not appear to adhere to Wikipedia’s Neutral Point of View. For example, I had posted a line about breeding for calico cats being very difficult and he removed my post and commented it was impossible to breed for calico cats. He had no research backing up his statement (I had some for mine,) and his comments did not seem very nice to me. I, being new to the process, did not make any changes back, but when I looked at the page again today, somebody had restored my post. This person commented that though rare, it was in fact possible to breed for the cats.



5. If someone discussed your contributions, how did that make you feel? Was the discussion positive, negative, or neutral? Did you make any changes as a result?

At first, since it was the less-than-neutral comments, I was somewhat offended. There were a couple of tags removed due to incorrect references and I was able to make adjustments based upon that feedback. When I saw that my original post was restored, I felt good, but was thankful that someone else had done for me what I should have done the minute I noticed the original changes to my contributions.



6. Did you personally contribute to the discussion (talk pages)? If so, in what capacity? Did you receive any feedback/comments from others?

I did not personally contribute to the discussion page. It looked as though that was not updated for a few years. I also noticed it was not very Neutral and I wanted to adhere to the Neutrality principal. Since I was originally offended by the person who deleted some of my contributions and he was rude in his comments, I decided not to add to discussion. I was afraid I’d take a similar rude tone in my comments back and did not feel this was an appropriate forum to “duke it out” with a stranger. I really felt that adhering to Wikipedia’s Five Pillars of Use was important to uphold the integrity of the site and my posts.

7. Will you continue to check the pages that you updated/created in the future (after this course ends)? Why/Why not? Please explain.

I might check if I have a free moment just out of curiosity. Of course, life’s business may get in the way of doing that regularly, however, I am now very fascinated by the process and think it will be fun to monitor all the changes the page can make (in a manner of seconds, entire sections of information may disappear and/or appear depending upon who is watching.)


8. Do you think you will edit pages on Wikipedia in the future? Why/Why not? Please explain.

Personally, I think I will also do some further edits. Who knows what I become an expert on in the future and maybe I might “scoop” a story for all the world (similar to Richardson’s [2010] discussion about the Tsunami Wikipedia page.


9. Would you consider using Wikipedia in your current/future classroom? Why/why not?

Yes. I would love to do a demonstration for my students in the future. I think it will speak to the necessity to validate information on Wikipedia, but also hopefully encourage their desire to edit and make their own contributions.




10. What web site did you select for Part 2 for publishing student work online?
I chose sciencebuddies.org


11. What process did you use to locate a web site for publishing student work online? Why did you select the site? Was it difficult to locate an appropriate and relevant site for your classroom?

Once I devoted time to actually sitting down and getting to the process, it was not as hard as I thought it would be. However, I took my time “thinking of ideas” and came up short on my own (a classmate had a good one, but I did not want to steal her thunder.) I used Yahooligans search engine (because it’s kid-friendly and would most likely yield “school appropriate” sites. Through searching a few minutes under various headings, I found sciencebuddies.org.

12. Who (what audience) would provide feedback on your student(s) work?

This site is interesting because it is a combination of science teachers, scientists, and high school students who are on the “expert panel”. An inquiry can be directed and answered by anyone of these people. I especially appreciated the employment of high school students as “experts” because I think it’s a nice way to increase their interest and performance in science. I also think that younger children look up to high school students like heroes and hearing information from kids that are older rather than adults is usually better to understand. Also, younger students can have something to aspire to in their high school years if they are interested in science.

13. Would you use this web site in the future with your students? Why/why not? Please explain.

I would use this site because I feel my students always need help with science. I also noticed some topics on the site that my students tend to struggle with and to be able to find an expert and/or further information on these topics will help their understanding of the science curriculum being learned.



14. Would you continue to explore the web for other authentic audiences on the web? Why/why not? Please explain.

Yes, I really think students do enjoy performing for and receiving feedback from authentic audiences. Plus, work quality is usually just that much better when someone else is going to see it aside from me and my co-teachers. I know my apartment is cleanest when company is coming over; it’s the same philosophy with students and their work. But then, they also love sharing their work with others. It gives them a sense of pride in what they do.

15. Overall, what were your reactions to Part 2 of this assignment, both positive and negative? Please explain

Though at first I was hemming and hawing over completing Part 2 of the assignment, mainly because I did not know which direction to take, I found the experience much easier once I explored using a kid-friendly search engine. It just ensured sites I was located were appropriate for a classroom and mainly educational in nature.



16. Optional: If you had a student(s) submit work online, what feedback did your student(s) receive? What did your student(s) think about submitting work?

This question is not applicable. Due to the school year ending prior to being able to have students post work, I could not have a student submit work. I will, however, attempt the process within the next school year.