A safe internet addiction, the “Umass Wiki.”
Every English teacher has a different method of teaching, and Stephanie Jo Kent’s is no exception. What makes professor Kent’s method so unusual is her use of what is called the “Umass Wiki”. The “Umass Wiki” is an online device where among many features, students can post and read their homework as well as take a glance at any day’s classroom agenda. The “Umass Wiki” is a tool that was instituted, well hopefully, to make learning and following the structure of the class a bit easier. It’s a tool that has received mixed reactions from students ranging from students complaining about its difficult to use, to my high opinion of it and its easy to follow navigation.
Stephanie begins her post by stating how she has inspired the use of the “Umass Wiki” and how a number of her colleagues have followed suit. Since so many collegians have followed her idea, Steph claims the Wake will be a collaborative effort. Because of number of her colleagues have joined the ranks of “Umass Wake” users, it has probably been received with praise, making the lives of her colleagues as well as their students all the easier.
Next professor Kent g speaks of some of the assignments her various classes has completed. Some included writing papers on a movie called the Wall, which her Freshman class did, to our Junior class’s political essay. Some assignments involved trans class collaboration, implying Steph’s belief in a more communication and dialogue oriented structure rather than just a standard teacher-student phenomenon.
Critique
I think the idea of a collaborative critique rather than just a teacher editing a piece is truly brilliant and innovative. Every editor has their own opinions and biases and one person critiquing somebody’s work can some times leave a false impression. Though I highly respect the proofreading and editing of my professor, it’s refreshing to get some other thoughts and opinions on it. At the risk of sounding cliché, two heads are better than one and in this case, dozens of heads can only spell a good thing.
Yo Rocket! I have to correct a point of information. First, a grand total of ONE colleague has followed my example in using the wiki.
Of all the classes current and archived, all are mine except for one by the UMassWiki master himself, and the one we’re also interacting with this semester, the senior Honors course.
Meanwhile, you wrote your summary, analysis, and critique on my post alone, instead of on the (assigned!) commentary of the first year students. Not to worry, there is no penalty. I do want to reflect on my surprise (geez, I said all that?!) and pleasure – your misreading/misunderstanding of the assignment adds a new/different layer to this conversation.
If you had gone off on a totally unrelated tangent, well, that would be a different story. Your “take,” however, adds dimensionality which is quite refreshing.