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CollaborativeWikiWritingandEditing[25%oftotalgrade]Concept ThisisthesecondgradableassignmentforSI410EthicsandInformationTechnology.Theassignmentisdesignedtoaccomplishfourinterrelatedgoals.

1. Learnsomeofthemechanicsofwritingwiththeassistanceofacollaborativewikitool.2. Modelthewritingstyleandstructureofcollaborativelydevelopedencyclopedias.3. Exposesomeoftheethicaldilemmasthataccompanycollaborativewritingandeditinginawiki

environment.4. Synthesizeandextendthephilosophicalconceptsofthecourse.

SincethisassignmentcontributestowardyoursatisfactionoftheLS&AUpperLevelWritingRequirement,theprincipalfocusofthetheworkisonproducingaspecificwrittenarticlefortheclasswikiandtheneditingyourworkandthewritingofotherstudentsintheclass.Thenetresultisausefulcompendiumofarticlesonethicsandinformationtechnology.HowtoGetStartedTheclassMediaWikisiteisthelocationforallofthewritingandeditorialworkfortheassignment.ItisaccessiblethroughthecourseCToolssite.(“Wiki)MakesureyouarecomfortableusingthebasicwritingandeditingtoolsatMediaWiki.AnexcellentsetofhelppagesisavailablethroughMediaWiki[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents]andthroughthe“Help”linkintheclassMediaWikisite.Procedures1.Chooseatopicandcreateastub.Anyconcept,person,orobjectcoveredinthecoursemaybeusedasthefocalpointforthearticleyouprepare.Youmustidentifyauniquetopic;i.e.,twostudentsintheclassmaynotdraftaninitialarticleonthesametopic.Createastudarticleandenterthetopicontheindexpage,withalinktoyourstubarticle. Concept.Ideassuchas“informationintegrity,”“privacyintheonlineenvironment,”“virtualreality,”“Infosphere,”“digitalontology,”arealldrawnfromthecoursereadingsanddiscussion.Itisalsoacceptabletoextendthecourseconceptsintotherealmofnewandpopularmedia(e.g.,“virtualrealityinfilm,”“rockandrollandtechnology,”“technologyethicsinthemovies,”)ortoapplytheconceptsinaninternationalormulticulturalsetting(e.g.,womenandnewmediainChina).Followyourownpersonalinterestsandapplythemtotheassignment.Usethesyllabusandthereading/discussionguidesasakeytoidentifyingconcepts.Thesyllabusandreadingguideswillalsoleadyoutoarticles

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thatyoucanusetobothwriteyourdraftarticleanddocumentyourideas.Ifyouchoosethisoption,youmustprovideadefinitionoftheconceptthatrelatesitdirectlytoethicsandinformationtechnology. Person.Youmaywriteabiographicalarticlefortheauthorofanyofthearticleslistedonthesyllabus.Somepeoplearemorewellknownand“documentable”thenothers.Youmayalsowriteabiographicalstatementforanypersonwhohasadvancedtheunderstandingofcomputerethicsorinformationethicsinthepast50years.Someofthesepeoplearementionedinassignedarticlesbutarenotthemselvesauthorsofarticlesthatyouread.Ifyouchoosethisoption,youmustbesuretoexplainwhatthemajorcontribution(s)thepersonhasmadetoethicsandinformationtechnology. Object.Youmaywriteadescriptivearticleonaninformationobject(orproduct)thathasortransmitsethicalproperties.“Avatar,”“LambdaMoo,”“SecondLife,”“TheMatrix,”“Halo:Reach”areallexamplesofobjectswithethicalimplications.Ifyouchoosethisoption,youmustidentifyinyourdraftarticletheethicalissuesassociatedwithyourobject.2.Findinformation.SometopicsmayalreadyhaveWikipediaentriesandotheronlineencyclopediaentries.ItisOKtostartwithpre‐existinginformation,makemajorrevisions,andthenaddyourownideas.Forexample,LucianoFloridihasanentryinWikipediathatmightserveasapointofdeparture.Hisentrydoesnotdoaverygoodjobdescribinghisideas,butfocusesinsteadonhisbiography.PLAGIARISMALERT.DonotattempttopassoffWikipediaentriesasourownwork.YoumaystartwithWikipediaentriestogetideas,butyoumustdocumentyourstartingpoint.ItisextremelyeasyfortheinstructortoidentifyplagiarizedcontentfromWikipediaandotheronlinesources.Theopportunityofthisassignmentistoworkwithexisitingcontentasrawmaterialforsomethingyouwishtosay,whiledocumentingwhereyougotyourcontentandideas.3.Writeafirstdraftandsubmitunderyourownuniqname.Yourfirstdraftshouldcontainbetween750and1000words,longerifnecessary.Articlesthataretooshortwon’thaveenoughsubstancetoedit.Articlesthataretoolongarehardtoreadandmayrequiremajorsurgerytomakethemreadable.ThetechnicalqualityofyourinitialwritingwillbestrongerifyoudraftyourarticleinawordprocessingprogramandthencuttheresultsintotheMediaWikisite.Additionally,ifyoueditandadaptcontentthatyoufindinothersources,itwillbeeasiertomaintainqualityifyoupasteandeditinawordprocessingprogram,theneditandrevisewithintheMediaWikisite.4.EdityourownworkinWikiMedia.Addlinks,references,illustrations.Addappropriatesub‐headingstomakethearticlelookandreadwell.Youmayundootherstudent’seditingifyoufeelthattheeditingiswrong.5.Editsomeoneelse’sarticlewithattribution.Youmayeditthewordingtoimprovethereadability.Youmaycorrectspellingandpunctuation.Youmayaddfootnotes,links,illustrations,andevennewsections.Youmaydeleteportionsofthearticleifyoufeelthatdoingsoimprovesunderstanding.Youwillnotachievefullcreditforthisassignmentwithoutsubtantiveeditorialworkonanotherstudent’sdraftarticle.Anemiceditorialeffortswillbepenalizedupto5of15grade‐pointsfortheassignment.

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6.Editsomeelse’sarticleanonymously.YouwillbeissuedadummyidandpasswordthatwillallowyoutowriteandeditinMediaWikiwithoutanyoneintheclassknowingwhoyouare.Experimentwiththeuseofthepowerthatcomesfromanonymity.Writeaboutitinthediscussioncomponentsofoneormorearticles.MESSINGAROUNDALERT.Sarcasmdoesn’tcommunicatewellinawikiencyclopediasetting.Becausethisisonlyanexercise,theinstructorisquitetolerantofeffortsathumor(lameornot)inthisassignment,aslongasitisprettyclearwhattheintentis.Visualpunsandhumorareeasiertograspthanwrittenparody.Whilewestrivefortruthinourworkhere,wehavelearnedthattruthisrarelyabsolute;oneperson’struthisanotherperson’sjoke.Andviceversa.7.Cross‐linkarticles.Uptofivepointsofextracreditforthisassignmentwillbegiventostudentswhocreate“meta‐articles”thatpulltogethertwoormoreindividualarticlesunderabroadertopicandprovideinternallinkstothoseindividualarticlesattheWikiMediasite.AssignmentDeadlines1.[Tues.,Sept.28] Practiceloggingin;createastubpersonalbiographicalstatement;editastub;searchforatopic.2.[Wed.,Sept.29] DiscussionsessiononthebasicsofMediaWiki.Bringyournotebookcomputerstoclass.Bereadytocreateabriefbiographicalstatementandcreatefirstpartofarticlethroughacombinationoforiginalwritingandtheeditingofalreadyexistingcontent.3.[Wed.,Oct.6] DiscussionsessiononadvancedtechniquesforMediaWiki,includingtheuseof“Discussion”tabstoidentifycontroversyandconflictsurroundinganygivenarticle,theadditionofillustrationsandreferenceworks;combiningandmassaginggroupsofarticles.Creating“Meta‐Articles”withinternalcross‐links.4.[Thurs..,Oct.7] Deadlineforsubmissionofyourfirstdraftarticle.5.[Wed.,Nov.24] Troubleshootingtechnicalaspects.6.[Mon.,Dec.13] Alleditorialworkcomplete.At5:00pm,theclassMediaWikisitewillbe“frozen”forgradingandanalysis.DeliverablesEachstudentisresponsibleformakingcontributionstothecollectiveSI410MediaWikisite.EachstudentmustdraftandsubmitoneoriginalarticleonatopicrelatedtoEthicsandInformationTechnology.Eachstudentmusteditandimprovetheworkofatleasttwoarticlessubmittedandeditedbyotherstudentsintheclass.Oneeditorialexercisemustbedoneforattribution,usingyouruniqnametologin.Oneeditorialexercisemustbedoneanonymously,usingtheseparateID/passwordprovidedtoyou.EachstudentmustcontributeillustrationstotheMediaWikisite.EachstudentmustaddatleastfourreferencestooneormorearticlessubmittedtotheMediaWikisite.Becausethisassignmentisfundamentallyaboutwritingandeditingina“wikimode,”thequalityandstyleofyourwrittencontributionsandeditorialengagementarethemostimportantmeasureofsuccess.Additionally,becausethisassignmentinvolveslearninghowtouseaparticularsoftwaretool

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inawaythatexposesstudentstotheethicalchallengesofcollaborativeauthorship,thequantityandvarietyofyourworkonthesiteasawholeisanimportantmeasureofsuccess.GradingThisassignmentisworth25percentofyourtotalgrade(25/100points)fortheclass.Gradeswillbeassignedindividually,basedonthefollowingcriteria:

1.QualityofthewrittenarticlethatyousubmitoriginallytotheMediaWikicoursesite.2.Clearevidenceoftimeinvestedinwriting,editing,andaddingappropriateillustrations,andothersubstantivecontenttothewrittenarticlessubmittedandeditedbyyouandothersintheclass,asevidencedbyyourpresenceinthe“History”tabsofmultiplearticlesites.3.Contributionstothe“Discussion”sectionsofoneormorearticles,showingwhereethicalissuesariseinthecreatingoreditingofarticlecontent.4.Evidenceofabilitytodescribeoneormorekeyideascoveredinthecoursereadings,classlectures,anddiscussion,inpartthroughtheinsertionofcitationstopublishedreadingsorlinkstoappropriatewebsites.

Thehighestgradesforthisassignmentwillgotostudentswhodemonstrateagraspofthedistinctivecombinationofthe“wikipedia”styleofwriting,theacquisitionofthetechnicalskillsrequiredtodisplay,illustrate,anddocumentthesubstanceofawikiarticle,andsubstantiveeditorialworkonwiki,bothanonymouslyandwithattribution.