Building Collaborative Capacities in Learners: The M/Cyclopedia Project, Revisited

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s Building Collaborative Capacities in Learners: The M/Cyclopedia Project, Revisited Dr Axel Bruns – Dr Sal Humphreys Media & Communication Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia a.bruns@qut.edu.au – s.humphreys@qut.edu.au creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s Key Questions ‒ How does education: • prepare graduates to become expert users of the information available from user-led content creation environments? • prepare graduates to be expert participants in user-led content creation environments? creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s Produsage ‒ Beyond production: • ‘anyone can edit’ – users become producers of content • content is no longer a distinct product – it is a temporary artefact of an ongoing process, and is continuously evolving • usage and production are increasingly, inextricably intertwined • strict distinctions between producers, distributors, and consumers no longer apply • a new “Generation C” of content produsers? this is produsage creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s Common Characteristics ‒ Shared across these environments: • Community-Based – the community as a whole, if sufficiently large and varied, can contribute more than a closed team of producers, however qualified • Fluid Roles – produsers participate as is appropriate to their personal skills, interests, and knowledges; this changes as the produsage project proceeds • Unfinished Artefacts – content artefacts in produsage projects are continually under development, and therefore always unfinished; their development follows evolutionary, iterative, palimpsestic paths • Common Property, Individual Merit – contributors permit (non- commercial) community use and adaptation of their intellectual property, and are rewarded by the status capital gained through this process creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s The C4C ‒ Four crucial graduate capacities: • Creative: engage in collaborative creative produsage work (and understand reasons for wanting to do so) – economic, social, individual • Collaborative: evaluate when, where, and with whom to collaborate (and when not to do so), and understand potential positive and negative consequences – especially for intellectual property and personal reputation creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s The C4C ‒ Four crucial graduate capacities: • Critical: evaluate quality of content and skills of collaborators, assess own capabilities, identify best sites of / venues for produsage – and be able to express and share such critique constructively • Communicative: understand the communicative models of produsage environments, and work effectively within them – also participate successfully in communication about the shared collaborative effort: metacollaboration creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s New Media Technologies ‒ Context: • Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology • second/third-year undergraduate unit • BCI, BMassComm, BCI/BBus, open elective • 150-170 students • second semester (July-Nov.) • provides an introduction to social and societal implications of new media technologies creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s Wikis in NMT ‒ Aims: • students collaboratively develop M/Cyclopedia of New Media • published to the Web at end of semester ‒ MediaWiki (2004/5): • standard system, familiar from Wikipedia • but clunky, counterintuitive interface • wider use across university would require multiple installs ‒ Confluence (2006/7): • good WYSIWYG, access management, tagging functions • allows multiple wiki spaces on same install • but difficult to export content for wider publication creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s Assessment ‒ 1/2 – Wiki entries: • create/update entries on set topics in the wiki • group work (two students) ‒ Key assessment criterion: Collaboration • Over time: collaboration throughout project period • Across team: communication and dialogue while collaborating in wiki • Highest level of achievement: ∘ Edit history shows continuous work in updating content in the weeks before the assignment due date ∘ Comments on entry page used highly effectively and regularly to enhance collaboration on content development creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s Assessment ‒ 3 – Wiki gardening: (experimental, new in 2007) • public peer review of existing entries in the wiki • proposal for topical portal to entries in the wiki ‒ Key assessment criteria: Critical Review and Knowledge of the Field • requires students to express critique of peer work fairly and constructively • requires students to develop strong understanding of overall wiki contents • Highest level of achievement: ∘ Very convincing evaluation, expressed very thoughtfully and respectfully ∘ Very clear and convincing argument for proposed portal page ∘ Selection of entries for portal is highly logical and sensible creativeindustries.qut.com

c re a tiv e in d u s trie s Further Needs ‒ Lessons from NMT: • Confluence and similar wikis well suited to student work • history/commenting functions make group work more transparent • important contribution to building students’ C4C capacities ‒ But: • continuing problems with embedding wikis in university access and authentication systems • possibility for cross-institutional / international collaboration, but difficult to implement • publishing final outcomes to wider Web from Confluence needs further work ‒ And: • collaborative new media pedagogies only emerging • development hampered by institutional resistance to change in some organisations (e.g. prohibiting use of Wikipedia as source) creativeindustries.qut.com

Building Collaborative Capacities in Learners: The M/Cyclopedia Project, Revisited

by Axel Bruns on Oct 13, 2007

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