changes

• add mini group project - plan, schedule, communicate, collaborate, deliverable - low stakes, fun activity - WE scavenger hunt and pick best 3 OERs
• rethink scenarios - process, products
• community service learning - extend personal choice options
• change open textbook review activity - move to Catalyst discussion
• Millennials quiz http://pewresearch.org/millennials/quiz/index.php 
• Taking a close look at Facebook http://brasschecktv.com/page/603.html Somewhat alarmist but a reminder about the potential for good and evil

Final project process

The final project is about process - actually using collaborative technology in a scenario that represents the real world (society).

You can read about this and do any number of individual projects, but you won't have first hand experience (good or bad) with the essential theme of the course if you don't participate.

All the projects this semester went reasonably well. Not all go as smoothly, but the experience is important regardless. Once the final projects are completed and you do the peer reviews, I hope that you will see the value of the project process and its applicability beyond the scope of this course.
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11. Peer Review and Wrap-up

The Final Projects were well done. The "clients" - WikiEducators from around the world will be viewing your work!

We are coming to the end of the semester. The last assignments provide an opportunity to review the work of the other groups. There is also a chance to take some time to think about what you have learned in the class, as well.

Please review your grades. I will be grading past dues assignment until 11:30pm Tuesday.

It has been a great class. I really appreciate all your contributions to the discussions and the projects.

All the best,
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10. Final Project

For the Final Project, you should now be working collaboratively in small groups to research and create a final presentation. Planning is essential - you need an outline, a project schedule and assignment of roles and responsibilities.

Working collaboratively at a distance is challenging. This project is intended to give you an opportunity to use skills and technology to work through the process to produce a web-delivered presentation that demonstrates application of technology and computers to a social task. That is the course objective. We have been working up to this throughout the semester.

Scenario: You work for Global Public Relations Inc. WikiEducator.org is your client.

• research and develop a wiki page outlining work on the WikiEducator global initiatives and provide examples of projects that are addressing the initiatives. These examples should include a range of projects by governments, non-profits and individuals that show work done and progress. Try to include examples can be adapted for use in other locations with similar needs.
  
• worldwide promotion of the WikiEducator awareness program. Your page should be informative and interesting as well as factual. You are promoting the projects that are underway and encouraging others to see the value of the work and join in.
  
• Recommendations - list things that the client, WikiEducator.org can do to help promoting and recruiting - if these existed, your PR job would be easier.
  
  
• Strategy section - outline the assumptions you made for your presentation - audience, what they want to know. Describe your strategy for encouraging educators in your presentation. What was the thinking behind the presentation?

Ask questions if you need clarification.

Use the wiki

You need to be using the wiki for planning and developing. Two teams have made a start, but by now you should have your project outlines and timelines in the wiki page.

It is important to use the wiki for a couple of reasons.

• You need to practice writing and editing in the wiki - don't leave this until the end. The wiki is a tool and it takes a bit of getting used to. New this semester - the rich text editor. It was just installed in WikiEducator and it is a big help.
  
  
• Get used to working together on the same document - this is collaborative writing. Once you get some experience, the project really improves dramatically - that is why we are doing this.
  
  
• Staying organized using the wiki is much easier - no lost documents, no confusion over the current status of the work. It is all right there to see and work on.

The teams that start using the wiki early are the ones that produce the best results. There are so many things you can add to the wiki page once you gain some experience. That is when it gets really interesting. Small changes in formatting, adding images, including links to resources are small additions that greatly improve the project page.

There are wiki tutorials and help pages available - see project information for links.

If you have specific questions, please ask.

WikiEducator

if a wikieducator page (and its links) is suitable as a kind of classroom website, where uploading material about courses
and resources for other classrooms and teachers as well  
if so, where can i find examples of other WE pages for this goal ? 

Absolutely -- uploading material and resources for
classrooms and teachers is what WikiEducator is all about -- we're a
community of Educators around the world who are committed to sharing
knowledge and teaching materials freely.

Our only requirement is that the teaching materials we create and upload
must be licensed under a free content license (for example Creative Commons
Attribution or Sharealike licenses.

There are a number of schools starting to create portal pages for uploading
and sharing their teaching materials. Consider for example

- Warrington Primary is an inspirational example of a primary school here
in New Zealand who are dedicated to open education -- see:
http://wikieducator.org/Warrington_School
- Ort Gutman High School in Israel are working on a few OER projects see:
http://wikieducator.org/Ort_Gutman_High_School
- St Michaels College in Vermont run the Biology for Elementary Schools
Project see: http://wikieducator.org/Biology_in_elementary_schools
- There are country initiatives aimed at developing national repositories
of free content, see for example New Zealand (
http://wikieducator.org/OERNZ ), Uganda (http://wikieducator.org/OERUG),
India (http://wikieducator.org/India), Israel (
http://wikieducator.org/Israel)

We can help you -- the OER Foundation provides free training for educators
around the world who want to learn how to do this. We offer at least one
free online training workshop every month under the Learning4Content project
(see: http://wikieducator.org/L4C) . Feel free to sign up and tell your
friends and colleagues about our free training opportunities.

Cheers
Wayne

kick-off ...

How are you funding your operation? Maintenance?

Much of the WikiEducator funding comes from contributions from member institutions. There is some grant support from foundations such as the Hewlett Foundation for specific projects. There is a small paid administrative and technical staff to oversee the work of the hundreds of volunteers responsible for operation and maintenance.

What is your community criteria based on? Is it effective in providing "facts" and valid information?

The WikiEducator community consists of interested educators, academic institutions and educational organizations. The primary basis is the acceptance of developing, collaborating and making content available under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License.

WikiEducator is effective in providing "facts" and valid information because the content is open. Everyone is encouraged to comment and collaborate on information.

Is there any concurrent challenges you are facing right now?

Like any not-for-profit organizations, WikiEducator has big ideas and less money than they would need to do everything. Sustainable funding sources need to be found and expanded. There are many areas of curriculum materials that are being solicited. One way to create more content, is to have more WikiEducators contributing and collaborating, and WikiEducator is working to increase educator participation. Finally, the primary beneficiaries of WikiEducator are learners. There is a significant need to connect millions of learners worldwide with the educational resources available through adoption, re-distibution and re-use of WikiEducator content.
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9. Professional Ethics and Responsibilities

This week, we will be considering Professional Ethics and Responsibilities.

People who work in the computer field view themselves as professionals. In addition to requiring skills to create communications networks or write programs to control access to sensitive personal information, these people recognize that they have a responsibility for their actions like other professionals in legal and healthcare professions.

They understand that there are ethical issues that they must respect and handle appropriately. Having professional qualifications and a code of ethics are considered by many to be important to safeguard society in a computing environment.

FINAL PROJECT

You and your group should be developing an outline and a timeline for your client presentation wiki page. Everyone in the group should have several tasks to complete - research, writing, reviewing, editing, project management. Work collaboratively is a new experience for everyone.

If you have questions, please ask.