The FO2010 session held yesterday was to be hosted in Dim Dim however due to 'technical difficulties' (yes it all turned to custard) with the mic for the guest speaker - Wayne Mackintosh. The mic was not working consistently therefore we transferred to Elluminate, which allowed continuation of his presentation re:Wikieducator. Wayne presented a brief history & overview of of this learning platform & some very interesting stats which highlighted that this forum is being used predominantly by over 45s/Gen Xers.
As a result of Wayne's presentation I was keen to learn more about Wikieducator, this was very scary as I realised that Wikieducator may well become an addiction for me. I listened to a previously recorded session in Wikieducator on Basic Wiki Skills which was very similar in layout to an Elluminate session, however there was a visual of the facilitator(s) when they were speaking, which also seems to be similar to Dim Dim layout. The goals of the session were very basic they run through how to create a Wikieducator account, step by step with the participants and also how to update your preferences. The facilitators are Nellie Deutsch and Gladys Gahona, educators from different parts of the world who are advocates of Wikipedia (WE) and make reference to their online counterparts who they often collaborate with as their online 'family'. As with many online communities that I have experienced, they are welcoming & willing to assist and support new users.
What I like about wikieducator is the commitment of the community behind it to free, open education. I think it is a hard platform for newbies, but as with everything, gets easier the more you work with it.
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