Reaction to Wiki Lore and Politics in the Classroom

Before I read Martin & Dusenberry's essay and previous to this class I had come into contact with Wiki's due to my enrollment in a previous media class. Some of the topics discussed in Martin & Dusenberry's piece were topics which both, where discussed in class and became actual problems. In particularly students reactions to the Wiki. I recall being hesitant on using the technology when it was first introduced, that feeling passed as I realised it is fairly simple to operate the Wiki program. The problem I encountered which caused the most confusion was the writing style which should be used for such a public environment which is also considered an educational place. Should you keep your writing professional as you would a short educationally tuned essay and leave the slang which is often used in most public pieces out? Or should you write as you would in private documents which are intended for piers where much slang is used and a more of lackadaisical style of writing is acceptable and more relevant to the conversation? Dusenberry comments that "students articulated both their excitement and frustration at continually having a public audience to consider when they created documents." I have chosen to follow a more formal path of writing for the education related documents I post for public view on the Internet.

One thing that surprised me in Dusenberry's piece was the relevancy of the style of writing used by the student when the Wiki was to be graded. It is interesting to me because when I am writing for public view on the Internet I tend write in a more lackadaisical and somewhat cynical style than I would if I were writing a traditional assignment to be turned into a professor. I now see the need to write in a more professional tone when writing a document for a grade.

I also now see the depth to which distinguishing intellectual property can be a problem which needs to be addressed. I am excited to research and elaborate my personnel as well as my groups ideas concerning intellectual property.