Overview
This term, everyone will learn a bit about how open source software is
developed and how public wikis (like Wikipedia) are evolving. In addition,
everyone will fill out a work sample which makes a proposal about how they
might make a useful contribution to a public wiki. Some students will also
go ahead and complete an optional Wiki activity (similar to the optional
Fluffy Spreadsheet Competition) in which they will make a contribution to a
public wiki, document what they did, and earn a few bonus points in this
class.
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As part of the general theory associated with this class, I want everyone
to learn a bit about open source software and the evolving culture around
working cooperatively through the Internet with people you have not
personally met. An excellent way to experience these ideas is make a
useful contribution to a public wiki. I want to emphasize
"useful" in the last sentence. Anyone can begin editing a Wikipedia
page and whack away at its content, but the likely result won't be to
improve the page, and if so, then someone else may need to revert the edit
to restore the original content.
To make a useful contribution, you must learn about the goals, policies,
and culture of a given wiki. This provides the context you need to
understand before beginning, and it will help you avoid making "off-topic"
contributions. Next, you need interesting ideas that add to the wiki's
existing content. Finally, you must package those ideas in an appropriately
written and attractive manner. Doing all this requires skill and judgment.
To help you learn about wikis in an efficient manner, this table contains
links to ideas I want you to understand.
| What is a Wiki? |
An introduction about wikis and their culture. |
| Wiki Editing |
A non-graded in-class exercise that we will complete. It will show
you how to edit a typical wiki. |
| Wiki Contributions |
An optional activity. If you choose to do it, you will make one or
more contributions to a public wiki and describe your work in
your My Talk page inside the
OSU Wiki. |
|
OSU Wiki |
The OSU Wiki exists to share ideas about
Oregon State University and its environment. Most of its content was
created by prior students in BA271. It has not reached a critical mass
and a lot of the content in this site is of little value -- but some is
quite well written and on target. |
|
BA271 Wiki |
The BA271 Wiki is a learning tool for
BA271. It provides students with a sand box in which to learn about
editing a wiki without affecting an actively used wiki. During the term
we may use this wiki for two purposes:
- As an in-class exercise, students will create and revise a User
Talk page that contains a bit of information about themselves.
- As part of the midterm exam, students will write an essay in
their User Talk page. This seems to work better than having students
write an essay on paper ...
|
