Wiki plus.

Currently I am coordinating a research training program that consists of course and other forms of teaching/learning forms such as workshops, seminars, etc. for transferable skills. The characteristic of our programme is that it covers Global Health which is cross cutting from cell to society research. This translates to our students being placed in different departments and different institutions at KI. Therefore it teaching would allow us to meet in the cyber space.

It is difficult to select only one IT tool for teaching after taking this inspiring course this week. I would begin with wiki-space for simplicity, user friendliness and possibility to add on other forms of IT devices. Wiki is easily created and maintainable, it would give each student opportunity to contribute, stay updated and interact with others in the course. For example a course would run for a week and it ends, but for a teacher it never ends one would want to have feedback for improving next course. Therefore having a wiki to go back to is useful, another important pedagogic advantage in wiki would be to also have good interaction with other invited teachers who may be there for an hour or two, they could contribute by using wiki or may be even creating own page, so the students can stay in touch with them. Since learning is also applying students continue to learn even after the course, so with wiki they can log in and contact, discuss with former classmates. With wiki I would like to add a link to slide sharing, if teachers & student permit, power point presentation and lecturer’s voice during the course to allow students to rewind and use that lecture and discussion following it to be synchronized and save on our wiki. This I think is great opportunity to hear again what occurred in class and it may contribute to learning and remembering for life the interaction rather than just reading the text of the ppt. Sometime even good courses one wishes to have had another opportunity to attend, and it is possible without travelling, visa etc…
Wiki I see it also as possibility to actively involve our collaborators in other institutions outside KI/Sweden, several bridges have been built to create research collaboration at KI, I foresee Wiki and other IT tool for teaching will build bridging also in PhD education at KI and it’s collaborators around the world, after all KI is global university.

Reflections on Day 3.
Power-point session was refreshing to update oneself and learn new ways to improve presentation such as including video clips in a slide, creating sounds etc.. Power point presentation is one of the best tools for a teacher provided it is used properly. because it can absorb so much information does not translate to that the message is received, therefore it should only be complementary in lecture and sole tool used. Having used wiki yesterday one notices that some of the functions can be reused again for power point to certain extent.
Picasa can be useful but I find it not be so different from other programmes that can also edit photos. What makes me little reluctant is the fact that Picasa needs extra registration therefore personally I would prefer in this case to use those available already as package in a computer.
Prezi is certainly interesting tool however it requires more time to learn. The basic movements/action need to be practiced more to obtain control of the mouse and all the movements, it feels like learning ice skating.

Reflections on use of wiki.
Wiki is new tool to me and I find to be user friendly. It certainly something I would like to start up right away for a course or even for research group. One can collect all information whether text, pictures, video and updated publication on websites using RSS. Wiki is combination of website, interactive site for discussion so it would be ideal for course or workshop. In our context in Global Health characteristic of our PhD students is that they are not at KI full-time, therefore this would create an academic virtual space where they can catch up with missed seminar or even other academic events.
Wiki gives the option to allow more than one person to set up yet limit the to selected group. To use it for a course will be very useful in terms of reviewing and evaluation past courses where written feedback and/or interaction can be traced back. In addition course wiki could be data source for future educational/pedagogic research.
the disadvantage I can think of at this stage is that once we get trained and start using it, if KIcommons is discontinued. Therefore I would reccomend it to be used for courses and perhaps combined with other IT tools to enhance opportunities.

I have read other people's bloggs but never had one of my own nor commented on one. It is not so easy to write for public eyes without structured system, writing for newsletter, website where there are guidelines, editing etc.. is much easier than writing what you want, how you want and when you want. What I have noted is that on many bloggs except for the author, most people log in with fictional names therefore hiding their identity. This rasies question about who will read and how they will use this information.
Would I use it for teaching, I am not sure I can answer this so earlier in the course, perhaps later when I learn more about positive and negative consequences of utilizating bloggs. As a teacher, one would like to create a comfortable environment where all different students can express, pose questions etc. it is therefore possible that shy students may have difficulties interacting.
Using blogg seems being in class without walls and anyone else form outside can sit by and listen & observe. Therefore this raises a question of who is part of the class and who is not. In addition it would be interesting to explore the students perspective on this too. perhaps,one would consider using it only in cases where all studnets agree to the use of blogging.

Web 2.0 is indication of how fast IT technology has developed so far. It is combination of different tools that are widely and freely available for all. It is communication tools used in the cyber space, which is the platform of encounter for all inhabitants of this globe.
Web 2.0 innovative tools are still growing and they are many in number and serve different purposes for different people. Several factor contribute to it is use such as age which is crucial determinant of the use of these tools, younger generation tend to adapt to it and utilise them whereas some of the older generation are more cautious. IT per se is new and growing fast, some disciplines or sectors have quick applied such as communication others like education are gradually adapting. However Web 2.0 tools raise many issues as indicated on ethics, right etc.., above all in our context introduces new relationship/interaction between teacher and student role as well as giving students a new role to influence their learning.