wikibooks and wikibookians: loosely-coupled community or the future of the textbook industry?...
TRANSCRIPT
WIKIBOOKS AND WIKIBOOKIANS:
LOOSELY-COUPLED COMMUNITY OR THE FUTURE OF THE TEXTBOOK INDUSTRY?
Ed-Media 2009, Honolulu, HI
Meng-Fen Grace LinUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa, [email protected] Suthiporn SajjapanrojIndiana University, [email protected] Curt BonkIndiana University, [email protected]
Technologies drastically changing the
Textbook/Publishing Industry
Pocket School Project, Stanford University
(Mexico in 2008; Rwanda in January 2009)
Enter FlatWorld Knowledge (8m of VC in March 2009)
Digital textbooks: Hits California
(May-June 2009)
E-book Readers (May 2008)
Apple iPhone 3G S Announced (June 2009)
Scribd Signs Book Deal (June, 2009)
Research on Wikis and Wikibooks
Wikimedia Foundation (includes Wikipedia)
Wikibooks Main Pagehttp://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
Wikibooks Website
Sample Wikibook (cooking)
Sample Wikibook (The Web 2.0)
Wikijunior (for kids birth to age 12)
Purpose of Study
A follow-up survey study to verify: Male domination? Unsatisfied with Wikibooks
environment? Multiple roles?
A follow-up survey study to further understand: Wikibookians’ identity Inner working of the community Experience lived as a Wikibookians
Methods Used
Survey 46 items and 3 open-ended questions Demographics Identity Experience Community
Participants: Actual participated in Wikibooks Through revision history Email user function on site 1900 emails sent; 167 valid responses
Findings - Age
Age Previous study (80
participants)
Current study (167
participants)
Under 18 19% 8%
18-25 39% 35%
26-34 25% 20%
35-50 12% 25%
Over 50 5% 13%
Findings - Gender
Previous study (80 participants)
Current study (167 participants)
Findings – Education
Degrees Previous study (80
participants)
Current study (167
participants)Lower than high school 10% 5%High school 29% 23%Two-year college 11% 10%Four-year college 23% 26%Master’s or graduate level degree 16% 21%Doctoral or post graduate degree 11% 16%
Findings - Location
Findings - Language
Findings - Language
Male domination Young but more evenly
distributed All education background North America and Europe English-speaking
Discussion - demographic
Findings - Experience
How would you label yourself in terms of Wikibooks?
Findings - Experience
How long have you been contributing to or editing in Wikibooks?
Findings - Experience
How often are your Wikibooks edited, expanded, or modified
Findings - Experience
The level of your contribution/involvement
How long have you been contributing to or editing in Wikibooks?
1=low 10=high
Our study average = 5
Not experts Not long Not frequent Not highly involved
Discussion - experience
Findings - Identity
The main goal of Wikibooks is to create virtual learning resources for education
Findings - Identity
What is/are reason(s) that you have coordinated or completed one or more Wikibooks
Findings - Identity
To what degree do you trust the information provided in most Wikibooks
1=low 10=high
Our study average = 7
Findings - Identity
What skills and competencies have you developed since becoming a member of Wikibooks
Skills and Competencies Gained: Quote
A: Editing skills (which is much different from writing) since mostly I am involved with cleaning up or relocating existing work to improve the readability and structure of the book. Wikibooks are never completed…..They constantly change, evolve, expand, condense, and adapt as writers and editors gain and lose interest.
Findings - Identity
A Wikibook written by a large group of people is better than a Wikibook written by a small group of people
Findings - Identity
The number of collaborators you had
Findings - Identity
How will you use the most recently completed or current Wikibook project (check all that apply)
High trust in contentFew or no collaboratorVariety of skillsAltruism
Discussion- Identity
Findings - Community
Do you feel that you are part of the Wikibooks community
Findings - Community
Is it necessary to provide apprenticeship or mentoring for new people in the Wikibook environment
Findings - Community
Are there people who have helped you with your Wikibook projects
Findings - Community
What has helped your level of comfort
Findings - Community
How long does it take to learn how to use Wikibooks
Findings - Community
Do you help or apprentice others in their Wikibook efforts
Findings - Community
How is someone typically apprenticed into the Wikibooks environment
Findings - Community
The process of finding compromise and agreement is more important than the product of the Wikibook
Findings - Community
What is your view of Wikibooks
Findings - Community
“I simply don't contribute a whole lot; I prefer simply to learn, and Wikibooks does an excellent job at that”
View of Wikibooks: Quote I started out contributing to the
Electronics wikibook and the Robotics book, occasionally. I watched it turn into a complete mess, as a single person turned a book about Electronics into a grand unified book about Life, the Universe, and Everything…..There are just too few people on Wikibooks to fight off such disruptions, so it just goes on uncontrolled.
Loose-coupled community Common practice and shared goals Focus on sharing and learning Friendship and socializing not
important
Discussion - Community
Points to ponder
How can Wikibooks become more of a community with apprenticeship? Should it?
Will people assume a high level status in society as a wikibookian just as writers and novelists are today?
What if schools in California and Texas and other states start adopting Wikibooks for K-12 education?
How would wiki-curriculum created by children work?
Future research
Asynchronous apprenticeship In-depth ethnographical
understanding of the lived experience of a Wikibookian
Communicate with Wikimedia foundation; suggest improvements of tools; keep monitoring changes at site
Future research
User aspects: talk to students and instructors who have created or used Wikibooks
Explore Wikibooks junior Research K-12 classroom
development and use of Wikibooks Create government initiatives for
free and open books
Questions and Comments…