User talk:Liaa13

Hello, I'm liaa13. I am part of a university class project working on a wikibook. First time properly using wikibooks but very much looking forward to engaging with this community and learning more about it! Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 14:45, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Wiki Exercise #1 What Makes a Good Wiki?
Online platforms all aim to provide a certain service to those using them. Of course, on the surface some are similar in what they deliver – i.e. Facebook and Twitter are both social networking sites where we can post, share, comment and ‘like’ things, but once we delve further into these sites and actually use them, one could argue that actually they tend to be used for very different things. For example, if we look at Twitter it is clear it is a primarily interactive site. It can be used to share serious or funny information, or merely to dictate ones every day life. Large amounts of people using Twitter tend to share controversial opinions (i.e. political), which can then lead to a large amount of discussion, which relates to Surowiecki’s idea that is “wisdom of crowds”. Twitter becomes a platform to share knowledge and learn people’s diversity of opinion amongst large amounts of people. I think it is important to note that experiences on social media will completely differ according to the individual who is using them. In reference to Pierre Levy (1999)’s idea of ‘Collective Intelligence’, which criticizes consumerist nature on the Internet, we should consider that, arguably, it is very difficult for one to have an online presence and merely consume without participating in any way. But this is of course a contested topic.

Coming back to the idea that differing online platforms are used for different things; if we look at social media engagement and wiki engagement, there are some notable differences. One of the most obvious is that posts on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc, tend to be informal. We wouldn’t generally go onto Facebook to learn things (though there are now more and more pages being created to represent news channels). It tends to be a platform where we mostly focus on our self, and creating a persona for ourselves in order for others to see us in a certain way, an idea presented by Erving Goffman (1956). To learn more, BBC Radio Four’s video is highly useful in explaining this concept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z0XS-QLDWM. Moving onto look at how one would use Wikipedia, though we are often advised not to use it as an academic source, most people will go onto Wikipedia to gain quick, easily understood knowledge on a certain subject. Its content is vast and detailed, and although it is there for public participation, for the majority of us it is used only to consume. Is this necessarily a bad thing though? Gauntlett argues that consumerism online destroys creativity; however could it not be argued that consuming information online that we didn’t already know actually fuels creativity and thus we create blogs and podcasts and vlogs. Which are of course creative a new way of life, but not exclusively a negative one.

For me, the biggest difference between these platforms is simple; it all comes down to the different way in which we interact with them. Some provoke a more formal side of us, and others a sense of self and narrative that we wouldn’t portray elsewhere. On Twitter we may share our ideas and opinions and post links to videos or pictures that we like, and also get to see these same things from other people. On Wikipedia we tend to be there to learn and take things in and gain knowledge rather than share it. When we blog, it likely will be very personal rather than interactive and revolve around the person’s unique, individual experiences tied up with some of the consumed knowledge I mentioned earlier. However this works together quite nicely and provides a good balance between consuming and creativity, and what we see is that diversity can be greatly useful if utilized correctly. Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 21:28, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Marker’s Feedback on Wiki Exercise #1


Posts and comments on other people’s work, of this standard, roughly corresponds to the following grade descriptor. Depending on where your actual mark is in relation to Understanding and Engagement elements, it should give you an idea of strengths and weaknesses within the achieved grade band overall.


 * Excellent. Among other things, these entries will probably demonstrate a complex, critical understanding of the themes of the module. They will communicate very effectively, making excellent and creative use of the possibilities of the form (including links, as well as perhaps copyright-free videos and images, linked to from Wiki Commons), and may be written with some skill and flair. They will address the assignment tasks in a thoughtful way. They will make insightful connections between original examples and relevant concepts. They will be informed by serious reading and reflection, are likely to demonstrate originality of thought, and will probably be rewarding and informative for the reader. The wiki markup formatting will be impeccable.


 * Although this post is at the lower end of this grade band, there’s clearly room for improvement here and you show clear potential to do this - there is a sense that you are making an effort to engage, and this will pay off if you keep persevering. I think in order to engage with the wiki exercises a bit more, it might be useful for you to look at the Grade Descriptors and (especially for this, perhaps, the Understanding) criteria in the module handbook to get more of an idea of how to hit those targets. Less instrumentally, and more in relation to this particular post, you have already started exploring the possibilities of the interface, but making more use of the wiki functionality and markup would go a long way to improving fluidity and functionality of posts. I suspect that, as you become more familiar and proficient with the platform, that this will make a considerable difference.


 * Re: responses to other people’s posts – these are very good. I like that you have framed some of your responses as questions to solicit discussion (this is, arguably, what discussion pages are all about!) and also that you have engaged in discussion in an open and critical way (that is to say, you've responded to what other people are saying and are contributing meaningfully to discussion - arguably the civic element of wiki that you ought to be thinking about, which you clearly are). Keep this up!

GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 15:49, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

A useful page!
I've been doing some reading/research into wiki markup and I thought I'd just post a useful page I came across, though I'm sure others have also found it I thought I would share it regardless, it shows you how to do basic things like put text in bold, italics and create bullet points (and way more of course!). I know this is new to loads of us and if you're feeling a bit lost like me then this page is really helpful. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Using_Wikibooks/Wiki-Markup Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 11:45, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

Wiki Exercise #2 Visibility and Data Trials
I find this an extremely interesting topic, however it is of course one that it is quite complex. Arguably, those who have an online presence, regardless of the platform, are making themselves visible to other people.

It is useful to look at Terry Flew’s (2008) concept of ‘’’Web 2.0’’’ which is centrally focused on interfaces that promote and enable participation and interactivity amongst other things. Of course, levels of visibility will vary between the person and the platforms that they make themselves available on. For some, having an online presence is for the sole purpose of making themselves be as visible as possible, for others, social media sites may be an escape where they do not want to be seen by people they know. I feel it may be useful to discuss some sites individually in relation to this topic;

Facebook
Facebook is of course a very widely used platform. It continues to grow each and every day and has an incredibly large user interface. A typical user page will consist of a profile picture, a small blurb about themselves - their age, home-town, school/uni/workplace and so on. Each person has their own 'timeline' on which they can post and others can post things to them, as well as comment on things that the user may have posted or shared- note that this type of communication is public. Facebook also incorporates instant private messaging which most people tend to use. So, what we can see from this is that Facebook is a highly visible sight, but of course there are some limitations. One can set their privacy settings as strict or relaxed as they like and this controls who can see their content to an extent. I think the element of choice is what is really quite interesting on Facebook. We choose who our friends are, we choose who sees our posts and pictures, and we choose who to interact with. I think this links in to what Mandelson and Papacharissi aim to discuss in their chapter "Collective narcissism in College student Facebook galleries" (2011), which further relates to Erving Goffman's (who I have mentioned previously in my entries on this discussion page) theory of masks. Essentially, both of these pieces of work collectively argue that everything we do contributes to a 'show' if you will, that we are putting on about our lives. We want people to see us in a certain way and Mandelson and Papacharissi argue that lots of us (namely university/college students) through the pictures that we choose to share on Facebook. Personally, the only content I tend to post on Facebook are indeed pictures, so I do feel that there is truth to this statement, but perhaps also some problems that could be picked up on (feel free to discuss these in the comments!).

Youtube
I really do find the whole Youtube culture/community rather fascinating. Youtube is open to all. There are little privacy settings (though that is not to say there are none) and so, generally, once you post something on this site is is out there for people across the whole world to access. But is this a bad thing? Probably not. Youtube vloggers, who are becoming more and more of a phenomenon all the time, have a huge exposure as they are putting themselves and detailed aspects of their lives out there for the end result of, of course, being seen. This benefits them, as the more views they get, the more popular they become and therefore earn more money/gain more sponsors. So visibility for them is a hugely positive thing. Having previously created content for Youtube myself (not vlogging but more focused on videography & editing) I have first hand experience with wanting people to view and engage with the content that I am putting out there. This differs from other platforms where we may want certain things to be seen by the general public.

Wikipedia
Wiki differs from the previously mentioned platforms as it does not fall under that category of social networking, but it is relevant here as the visibility is huge. Obviously, it is full of content waiting to be consumed, which I briefly discussed last week in relation to Pierre Levy's (1999) work on 'Collective Intelligence' which argued that consumerism over creativity is an extremely negative thing (I respectfully disagree as for me consumerism = creativity. Please let me know your thoughts on this?!). What is interesting about Wiki is that anything can be edited, and though this is fairly mediated, it doesn't change the fact that it can be done. What I'm getting at here is that though the concept of visibility online (because it undoubtedly exists - we are putting ourselves out there to be seen) is daunting and perhaps often seen as a negative thing, I feel it is quite liberating. The world has changed, without at doubt, at the hands of the internet and further social media sites. We have knowledge at our fingertips and through sites like Wiki we can even contribute to this knowledge ourselves. I for one would argue that this is incredible and will contribute to growth more than deprivation.

Please feel free to comment and share your views! Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 11:04, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Comments on Wiki Exercise #2
I find your opening comments as it was a thought that I struggled with when first setting about starting this exercise. I am horribly oblivious to many of the social platforms as I am personally not all that interested in sharing overmuch online; though my Facebook is plastered in too many photos. It is however a good way to think, how can one be hidden while partaking in any number of platforms designed for one to share their own identity, or whichever one they choose to show. Xavithehat (discuss • contribs) 17:06, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Glad I could help! Yes exactly, and I think that's a really good point to make as of course someone may not portray themselves online as they do in real life and in fact could become a completely different person all together. Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 20:57, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

@Liaa13 Firstly, I would like to say thank you for your recommendation of "Terry Flew’s (2008) concept of ‘’’Web 2.0’’’" as I have not yet came across this material and i'm sure it will be very helpful! I agree with you comments about Facebook being highly visiable and personally I feel that this is the least private of all my social media accounts. You point out that we can choose our privacy settings to be as relaxed or as controlled as we wish so we in turn control our own privacy. Although I do agree, I think it is crucial to acknowledge that people can still access basic infromation from out profiles even if they are set to private. For example, if you type my name into facebook you will still be able to see what I study, where I'm from and where I live - although I have put these things on Facebook so it could again go back to us being able to control our own privacy. Your profile could also be accessed through someoe looking at it through a friends profile. I am not an active user of youtube and don't know much about it but I really liked that you spoke about visibilty as a positive outcome for some people as it is often pointed out as a negative thing! I agree with your comments about wikibooks and I find your positive ideas about visbility refreshing to hear! Kaitlineaston (discuss • contribs) 20:10, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Thanks so much for your comment! Glad you found my reference to Terry Flew helpful. That's a good point! I have fairly tight private settings but similar to you I do have where I study, where I'm from and I think even my email on there. So even though it may seem to me that I am being private with what I post, people can still access these important bits of info on me which never really crosses my mind, and I think that is what can be really daunting about the Internet and these social media sites sometimes. Thanks so much! I think it's really easy to be cynical about the web and I just thought I would offer a bit more of a positive side, so I'm glad you enjoyed reading this! Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 20:57, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Wiki Exercise #3 Information Overload
This weeks post becomes more personal and reflective on my experience with the demands of social media and indeed the Wikibook Project I am partaking in at the moment and the ways in which this has been a challenge. To combat the immensity of this subject matter, I will once again break my post down into sections. Enjoy!

The Ease of being Distracted
The amount of information out there for us in this current day and age is staggering. If we want to know something, all we have to do is pick up our phones and Google it. The world is, so to speak, at our fingertips. For me this is exhilarating, terrifying, useful, entertaining and a little strange all at once. I have mentioned in previous posts that I am definitely an advocate for the Internet. Of course I am not naïve, I understand the negative implications of the always-on culture and the lack of privacy, but my opinion remains the same nonetheless. I am however no stranger to being distracted by my social media sites, and this has worried me slightly in the past. Trying to get work done is difficult when group chats are constantly pinging with plans for the weekend, Twitter is repeatedly refreshing with new and exciting info on our peers and Facebook is a digital photo collage where we can indulge our snooping side. Of course this is what we call the ‘’’always-on culture’’’. Turkle (2011) mentions the idea of ‘’’the tethered self’’’, which is in reference to the fact that we are tethered to the technology that we consume on a day-to-day basis. This makes it hard not to be distracted by the various technologies we have at our hands. I think this is really interesting and can relate to this myself. Though it is difficult sometimes to admit, I am definitely tethered to my technology. I check my phone often. A break in between classes normally consists of scrolling through my various social media sites, catching up on what I’ve missed. This in itself is a distraction, as there is probably always something better I could be doing (I.e. the wikibook project!!) But this is the world we live in, is it not?

Dealing with this Information Overload
Danah boyd (2012) talks about the distinction between our real and virtual lives. She argues that this distinction has become so blurred that we must create it ourselves by declaring “off time” from our social media sites. A bit of a bizarre concept really, but it is something I can admit I did myself. When I was younger, I was so involved in Facebook that when my exams came around I made a friend change my password for me in order to keep my distractions to a minimum. I remember seeing people doing similar things, and even now I often log onto Facebook to see the declaration of someone “taking a break” from social media. This is one way of dealing with such distractions, but for me these days it is more simply all about balance. In an ideal world I would try and limit the time I spend on social media sites to night-time once I’ve gotten all my other (more important) daily tasks finished. However – especially of recent – this is difficult as I manage all of my Dad’s social media accounts for his business, as well as my contribution to the wikibook project, meaning that I have well and truly become part of the always-on culture (incidentally, how many of you have found since beginning the wikibook project you are online more than normal?). My current challenge is trying to remain online simply for my work and education purposes only, and not to be distracted by the various mindless pieces of click-bait, friends photos or dramatic status’ that wash away hours before you know it.

The Demand of the Wikibook Project
To my admitted surprise, I have so far been enjoying the Wikibook project (minus the stress, of course), especially these weekly posts. I have however been finding it difficult to manage with the workload I have from my other subjects respectively – having two essays and a Wiki Project all due in the same week is definitely ‘’’not’’’ ideal! However this is all part of the challenge, and it’s good to help develop time managing skills, which is exactly what I’ve been trying to do. So far I’ve been dedicating certain days/hours to different subjects and this seems to be working well. Reading week was also a great help! I think what is so challenging about the Wiki Project is how it definitely falls under that always-on category. New comments, discussions and edits are happening all the time, and there is a definite sense of not wanting to miss anything. I’ve found myself to now be checking it constantly in order to stay updated (have you all been doing the same?).

So to conclude, and to repeat myself, I do think it’s about balance and that is primarily how I try and manage to stay on top of the so-called information overload. A system that doesn’t always work, but one that for me is more effective than having say, declared “off-time”. Please comment your thoughts and let me know how you’ve been managing your time with the wikibook and other projects, and further trying to keep yourself focused! Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 11:09, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

Comments on Wiki Exercise #3
Hi This was an excellent read and so relatable to me! Being detracted is the world that we live in right now and I too have had that group chat pinging in my ear non-stop happen to me also and much to my friends disgust I have muted them for the time being (during this stressful wiki project). The "always on" culture is definitely a key part of distraction and as much as we hate to admit a lot of us are constantly on whatever social sites we love, even my gran has been sucked into this world at the age of 70!

In regards to taking a break from social media I have found myself doing this often as I can get sucked into this world and i feel that I suffer a lot from "the fear of missing out" which has made me really sad in the past but I feel taking a break is the best solution. I have seen many of my favourite you tubers and bloggers having to do this just from the sheer stress of the commitment and responsibility which is awful when you think that someones life its being so affected simply by spending too much time online. I too am guilty of managing many social accounts as I have my blog page, modelling page and a page for my sweet company which can all ad up to be extremely hard work. Sometimes I find it all hard to juggle as I can be getting emails and messages from lots of people at once.

I am glad you've been enjoying the project, I have too if I'm honest just not the fear of running out of time! I am constantly refreshing the discussion page in fear of missing a message but all has been going well so far don't you think? I think doing a little at a time will be good so we don't get too stressed but we are constantly getting things up on the page! Justgabrielle (discuss • contribs) 15:45, 2 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Hello, thanks for your comment! I'm glad you can relate, and I too have muted my other group chats right now with all my uni deadlines. Sometimes it really can be just too much.  Definitely - I know that I am definitely guilty of having a fear of missing out.  And likewise my Grandparents have just set up their own FB pages which they find quite bizzare!


 * I can totally understand how taking a break helps as I too have done it in the past. I used to edit videos (still do very occasionally) for Youtube - not vlogging, more just editing random footage of places I've been or my animals! - and I was so dedicated to it that if I didn't upload for a while I would feel very stressed, and people would comment on my videos asking me to edit more etc! So I would take breaks to try and distance myself from it. It's silly that we let this affect us, but it definitely does, doesn't it? I've seen Youtubers struggling with this as well and it definitely is sad to see!


 * I've definitely not enjoyed how fast time is going either. And yes, I've been doing the exact same!! I was at the cinema with a friend tonight and I couldn't help but worry what I was missing on the discussion page.  But I do agree all is going well so far, our chapter is getting more content which is great! Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 20:51, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Wiki Exercise #3 Wikibook Project Reflective Account
For what will likely be my last wikibook post, I wish to reflect on the wikibook project experience and discuss the ways in which the process interlinked with the concepts that my university module has been focused on teaching us.

Always-On Culture
What I found particularly intriguing about the project was its encouragement to become part of the 'Always-On Culture', which is the notion that we are inclined to be constantly accessible over social media platforms, and feel the need to check these platforms all the time. At least, this was something that I felt I had to enage in personally. I was constantly checking the discussion page to make sure I didn't miss anything, as I didn't want my grade to suffer if I was not active enough. Communication was key in this project, whilst making edits or adding content to the chapter, I always wanted to keep my peer's updated on this as it was important that everyone agreed on certain concepts having a place in the chapter. Being always-on meant that if anyone was looking for advice or mentioned me personally, I was there to respond promptly as of course time was fairly of the essence in this project which is perhaps another reason why I felt the need to be largely accessible.

Fear of Missing Out
This incidentally ties in with the Fear Of Missing Out, and I definitely felt an element of this present in the wikibook project. The wikibook page took priority, at least for a few days, over my other social media platforms, which I am normally extremely active on. When on my computer or even phone, I always had the discussion page tab open as I was definitely was worried about missing things on the chapter. So much content could be added so fast, and I was eager to keep up with this. I wanted to be as involved as possible and became eager to always be engaging with the chapter. A challenging feat but something that I actually fairly enjoyed even though it was hard work. It was interesting to be learning about these concepts in lectures but also partaking in them firsthand through the form of the wikibook.

Parting Thoughts
The project has undoubtedly been an extremely informative, eye opening and enjoyable (at times!) task for me. Having never used wiki*edia as anything other than a consumer before, it was particularly challenging initially to learn the tools of the trade so to speak, i.e. the wiki markup, language and do's and don'ts of the platform. However once I had gotten used to these things, I found it enjoyable to use them. Especially the markup as I found it aesthetically pleasing to have the page very organised and attractive. Alongside this, working with so many people proved difficult at times especially as we had to rely on each other's contribution so heavily in order to tie the project together. Meeting in person was arguably more problematic as there was never a time that everyone in our group could meet together except in the labs, and so we ended up doing most of our collaborative discussions online, which admittedly bode well for our engagement portion of the project. To conclude, the project taught me many things and perhaps most importantly gave first hand insight and experience into how we are indeed living in a digital age. Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 10:32, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

Comments on Wiki Exercise #4
Hi Liaa13,

I have enjoyed reading through your wiki page, it has been a good insight into your interpretations of the digital age. Just touching on the parting comments on the wiki project, I think you had similar issues with what our group had. In terms of the discussions taking part mostly through the discussion pages rather than face to face, which I suppose was always going to happen and like you mentioned, it bode well for our engagement points. Good work. Lewislbonar (discuss • contribs) 20:07, 16 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Hi thank you for your comment, and I'm glad you enjoyed reading through my wiki page. Yes definitely, I suppose that was the whole point of the topic, to have all of our discussion online which was quite unique! Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 09:42, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

Hi Liaa13, It is refreshing to see how much you have engaged with this module. The content provided in your Wiki book is not only informative but also enjoyable to read, a lot of work has gone into it. I find it really interesting how you have applied ‘Always- On Culture’ and the ‘Fear of Missing Out’ to your personal experience, the fact you always checked your notifications on your wiki page exhibits your dedication to the work. Whereas with my group we discussed mostly on the Facebook chat then transferred it to our discussion page, so we knew when to check it. If I had put something on the discussion page and not got a response, I would mention it on the Facebook chat, as I would always get an instant reply. Reading through your Wiki book and seeing the immense amount of work you have put into it, makes me reflect on my work and look at how I can improve if I were to do this module again. JayeRaiyatMedia (discuss • contribs) 22:00, 16 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Hello, thanks so much for your kind comments about my wiki page. I did try and put a lot of effort to this project so I'm glad that came across in my page!  It's interesting how everyone communicated differently. My group also had a Facebook group chat, however we tried to limit our discussion on there to help our engagement, but we did talk on there more informally and kind of let each other know where we each were with our sections!  Thanks again and I'm glad you enjoyed reading through my page. Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 09:42, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

Hi Liaa13, I loved how you have sent out the ending post in a way that relate to the module themes and our particular chapter. It is very clear how the wiki project allowed us, if not forced us to succumb to these sort of habits. I too found myself always with a tab open and constantly attached to my laptop, in fact I had to take a few days break from using it because I think I was going square eyed from looking at it every 5 minutes. Although I feel that the "always on" culture gets a bad name as it is associated with people constantly on social media and such but in the way we partook in this habit was to benefit our development and our work which I think is a refreshing perspective on the phrase. And the same for "Fear of Missing Out" as instead of missing out as instead of missing out on a party that your friends are posting all over social media about you could be missing a key piece of information that could be vital to your chapter so again even though it definitely was a FEAR it was helpful in encouraging yourself to make sure you were taking part in the discussion.

I'm glad you enjoyed the process as I did too, although very stressful I think it has given us a good team working ethic to take further in the future! Justgabrielle (discuss • contribs) 08:24, 17 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Thanks Gabrielle! I definitely agree in regards to how people tend to label always on culture as a bad thing even though as you say it can be beneficial as we have discovered through this project! I also did feel the same at one point about just having to take a break from the page, which I did for a day or so just to get some distance and come back with fresh eyes so to speak! I'm glad you enjoyed it too but yes, it was definitely one of the more stressful university assignments I've worked on so far! Liaa13 (discuss • contribs) 09:42, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

Content (weighted 20%)
The Introduction section here is a little perfunctory, but the main Concepts section is where all of the key sections are mapped out. Each section has its own descriptive short paragraph, summarising the discussion and concept in fairly neat and concise ways. The overall effect of this is that the chapter is given a sense of narrative and structure from the outset. Whilst the discussion in various sections doesn’t always live up to this, and there are one or two inconsistencies, this ought not to diminish too much for the achievements evidenced here.

As mentioned, the sections themselves generally contain good content, but there are inconsistencies regarding the strength of argument, and citation of sources. An obvious example of this would be the first history section, for which citation of sources doesn’t occur until the paragraph on the 1990s!

The unusual step of including a survey and posting the results here is an extremely useful one. Something that absolutely HAS to be thought through in ALL future work is that if one is conducting a survey (even if for demonstration purposes, as included here) or indeed ANY work with people, one must go through an ethics approval process – this is to ensure no harms (relative or absolute) occur for researchers or participants. This process will become more apparent later in the degree programme, particularly in final year projects. The use of interwiki links connecting all of the sections of the chapter together is both very useful and evidences good levels of project management, delegation of workflow, and joined-up collaboration. One thing that would have benefitted the chapter enormously, is if these interwiki links could have been extended to include more reference to other chapters in the book. For example, you have a subsection on Surveillance uses – there could have been interwiki links to various relevant sections in other chapters (especially, perhaps, Privacy in a Digital Age chapter).

Plenty of evidence of reading, secondary research and application of ideas from peer-reviewed sources, as well as other sources from popular culture and journalistic materials. This does tend to vary quite considerably from section to section, however, with some sections oddly drawing from newspaper online articles around topics for which there are materials available in the further reading lists (the subsections on internal effects, the Google effect and others, where there are some obvious aspects of that reading e.g. Vaidhyanathan and his book on the Googlization of Everything). Excellent section on FOMO.

The references section evidences research, reading and sharing of resources. However, the depth and range of sources could be considerably improved.


 * Good. Your contribution to the book page gives a good brief overview of the subject under discussion in your chosen themed chapter. There is a good range of concepts associated with your subject, and the effort to deliver critical definitions, drawing from relevant literature and scholarship, and your own critical voice in the building of a robust argument is very much in evidence. The primary and secondary sources you found about the chapter’s themes cover a good range and depth of subject matter.

Wiki Exercise Portfolio (Understanding weighted 30%)
Posts and comments on other people’s work, of this standard, roughly corresponds to the following grade descriptor. Depending on where your actual mark is overall (and particularly in relation to Understanding and Engagement elements), that should give you an idea of strengths and weaknesses within the achieved grade band, relative to the descriptor


 * Outstanding. Among other things, these entries will probably demonstrate a complex, critical understanding of the themes of the module. They will communicate very effectively, making excellent and creative use of the possibilities of the form (including links, as well as perhaps copyright-free videos and images, linked to from Wiki Commons), and may be written with some skill and flair. They will address the assignment tasks in a thoughtful way. They will make insightful connections between original examples and relevant concepts. They will be informed by serious reading and reflection, are likely to demonstrate originality of thought, and will probably be rewarding and informative for the reader. The wiki markup formatting will be impeccable. In addition to the criteria for 70%+, entries at this standard demonstrate outstanding critical understanding of the exercise and are able to produce sophisticated lines of argument, and is highly original.


 * Reading and research:
 * evidence of critical engagement with set materials, featuring outstanding and highly original command of a considerable range of relevant materials and analyses
 * evidence of independent reading of appropriate academic and peer-reviewed material to a considerable degree
 * Argument and analysis:
 * well-articulated and well-supported argument featuring discriminating command of a considerable range of relevant materials and analyses to an outstanding degree
 * evidence of critical independent and highly original thinking (through taking a position in relation to key ideas from the module, and supporting this position);
 * exceptional evidence of relational thinking (through making connections between key ideas from the module and wider literature, and supporting these connections);
 * considerable evidence of independent critical ability

Engagement (weighted 50%)

 * Evidence from contributions to both editing and discussion of content to an appreciable standard (i.e. volume and breadth of activity as evidenced through contribs)
 * Good engagement with and learning from other Wikipedians about the task of writing/editing content for a Wikibook
 * Reflexive, creative and well-managed use of discussion pages using deployment of judgement relating to key issues, concepts and procedures