Weekly Report and Reflection #8: Wiki-what?

The world of information transferring has change a lot in my years. I pride myself on being a generation where everything is available, but at the same time I kick myself on how much more educated I am expected to be. All of this is possible because of the development of online wikis. My dad had a summer job way back when selling encyclopedias in a door-to-door environment. I wonder what his reaction would be to the idea of that being absolutely useless, with the creation of wikis. 
But for me, I think the use of wikis has been foundational in my ability to learn and growing as learner. I remember being in high school and being warned to never use wikis as a source and while I agree, I think what every should do is use it as a source to develop an idea of what a topic is about. Wikipedia, one of the largest open-source information websites is carefully curated by caring and intelligent individuals, and while it should not be trusted, it is extremely valuable as a first-form of information. Its ease of access, and reliable information has made it my go-to place when I have questions. For example, when I stumbled across this link on Hawaiian specialty foods I was instantly bombarded with foreign food names. Using wikipedia to understand what these things meant allowed me to understand what this other article was talking about. In a way its like using a dictionary when reading words you don't know! Brilliant! Have you ever wondered what a Portugese no-hole donut looks like? Well, here is a Malasada, on of the items featured on the Serious Eats webpage.

Serious Eats (CC), 2014

Doughy goodness filled with all sorts of fruit jams or cream and coated with sugar – YUM! I've had these before, but I only knew the name when I looked on wikipedia, so I do value wikipedia's everyday ability to contribute to my learning.

I like to think that wikis differ from a lot of other tools because they allow for aggregation, collaboration, creating, and organization. They are very versatile in their use, and are available through various platforms. Unlike Evernote, Google Docs, and blogs, wikis are usually dependent on advertisements and donations since it is a democratically, and user-generated program, so it is important that it appeals to its users or else it will not exist for long. With that being said, I have no preference in tools, since they have their own uses. For wikis, I believe they are for broad sifting in information. For special tools like Evernote and Google Docs, I think they are more specific and fine sifting and are specific to my needs in work and school.

Lately I've been working so hard to contribute everything I have for all my classes. And realizing my duties in this class and contributing to the efforts of a digital community, has convicted me that being a digital citizen is not easy. Being a digital citizen demands being diligent in communicating in a community that you have built or agreed to be in. For example, if I were part of a wiki site that had a specific topic of interest, I think it is important that I continue to participate in it instead of sharing once and forgetting about it. With this conviction, I am working super hard at regaining my commitment to this course and everyone in it. I look forward to reading my colleagues posts as with conclude this course. But until next time, these have been my thoughts on wikis.

Cheers,
Nathan