Week 2- Wiki Reflection

From the large and differing posts developed in the Mobile Phones Wiki 1 page, it is evident that the activity was a success. I do believe that the activity worked well as an effect of the contributions of the group. I believe the activity is a reflection of the Social Cognitive Theory. We, as the students, were required to 'think about our thinking' in order to put each of the differing hats on and share our opinions. Our behavioural patterns were assessed through self-evaluation of our posts and we each considered and reflected on the perspectives and opinions of our peers. This activity created a triadic reciporal causation; an interaction between the three essential elements necessary to promote learning. The three characteristics being personal characteristics, behavioural patterns and social environment (Snowman et al., 2009).
The activity was also an example of Constructivisim. Each of us came to the activity with an attitude and opinion towards the use of mobile phones in the classroom, all of which I am sure were extremely different, for different reasons. Constructivist views of learning hold that meaningful learning occurs when people use existing schemes and the viewpoints of others to interpret the world around them. I believe the activity created an environment for us to utilise our existing knowledge and beliefs towards the subject and then reflect and comment on the opinions of others to increase our own knowledge and understanding of the subject. I believe the wiki page worked well for a group of adult learners being graded. However, for a classroom of teenager learners, I believe the wiki pages create an environment for bullying. The way the site does not show who posted, deleted or amended what, creates an environment for disencouragement and intimidation. If one of my posts on the wiki page had been deleted or amended I would have been extremely offended and disheartened. I probably would not have gone back on the page again and would have been cut off from the learning. I believe this activity could be utilised in a classroom, however it would be up to the learning manager's discretion to ensure the students are mature enough to respect each individual's opinion and to ensure that all students feel welcome to post. The Thinking Hats are a great way to show all perspectives of a situation. It would have been extremely easy for all of us to jump on the site and post about how devastating the use of mobile phones in classrooms would be for everyone involved and then log off again. Instead we had to put each hat on and think deeply in a Creatve, Inquisitive, Processive, Positive and Objective way.
Overall I did enjoy the activity, however before using in a classroom I would test the learners with other group activities.
Rachael