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THE WIKI EXPERIENCE

Dear All,

I hope you like our wiki!

Look for the page with your name under 'Navigation'. You will immediately see whom you will be working with.

Use 'page' to write your text, 'discussion' to debate some changes you might find necessary to discuss, be it form, content or style aspects, and 'history' to keep track of your partner's changes. It is very important that you discuss changes you are not sure of or want to make clear to your peers. You can use 'discussion' or 'a note about this edit for the page history log' (when you edit text under 'edit this page') to document changes you make (either to your text or to your partner's).

On this page you will be given instructions on writing topics and deadlines.

**April 28th 2011** – **__3rd Assignment__**
It’s time for **__summaries__**! In this assignment you will be gaining insight into __mass media__ by making use of your __listening and writing skills__. Search for your __new groups__ under //Piloting 3_3_NAMES// and **sum up** the following videos. The first one is an introduction for the second one. You will also be able to find a connexion with this project. You will have to produce your summaries of the videos **__from 28th April to 13th May__**. Collaborate as much as you can to make the task easier and your summaries comprehensive – use the discussion forum! Here are some tips for how to get started: - Watch the videos as many times as you need to get their gist: get a feel for the tone, style, and main idea of each video. - Try to collaboratively divide the ideas of each video into sections and subsections by using the discussion forum. - Take notes while you watch and try to place them under each section. - Do research on ideas you don’t understand by using reference materials such as dictionaries or websites; your peers may also be able to help out by debating those ideas/concepts in the discussion forum. - After grasping the main ideas of the video, start writing your summary. - Review the sentences you wrote. From them, you should be able to create a thesis statement that clearly communicates what the entire text was trying to achieve. If you find that you are not able to take this step, you should go back and make sure your sentences actually addressed key aspects. - At this point, your first draft is virtually done. You can use the thesis statement as the introductory sentence of your summary, and your other sentences can make up the body. Make sure they are in order. Add some transition words (//then, however, also, moreover//) that help with the overall structure and flow of the summary. And once you are actually putting fingers to keys, remember these tips: § Write in the present tense. § Make sure to include the name of the videos. § Be concise: a summary should not be equal in length to the original text. § If you must use the words of the narrator or other people in the video, cite them. § Don't put your own opinions, ideas, or interpretations into the summary. The purpose of writing a summary is to accurately represent what the author wanted to say, not to provide a critique. - Once you are certain that your summary is accurate, you should (as with any piece of writing) revise it for style, grammar, and punctuation. The reader should be able to understand the videos based on your summary alone. If he or she does not, you may have focused too much on one area and not enough on the main idea of the videos. Source: [] (adapted and abridged)

**FIRST VIDEO: Media Evolution**
media type="youtube" key="tVy76THYMDs" height="390" width="480"

**SECOND VIDEO: The Virtual Revolution 1 - The Great Leveling 1 of 4 - BBC Documentary**
media type="youtube" key="RJWsCggAst4" height="390" width="480"


 * Are you not curious? Here are some quotations from the videos:**

//I’m travelling with (…) the man who invented the web. It’s twenty years since he made his breakthrough and now the divide between the digital// haves //and// have nots //is shrinking fast.//

//In this series I’ll be meeting all the pioneers and key players, everybody from Google to Facebook, Twitter to Amazon.//

//It’s like the Internet has become a brain. It’s the smartest brain in the world.//

//I despite wikipedia, I loathe wikipedia, I use it every day.//

**February 4th 2011 – __2nd Assignment__**
This time you’ll be writing a newspaper article. In __about 100 words__ write the story that hit today’s headline. Choose one of the pictures below to base your article on and write a well-structured newspaper article. Be sure to include the heading, the lead-in (What? Who? Where? When? How?) and the body of the article. Be aware that you will need more precise language and vocabulary in a newspaper article of 100 words than in the previous text.

Look for the page with your name under //Navigation// and write “Second Assignment” before you start writing your newspaper article. Don’t forget to copy the picture you selected onto your page. If your page is locked, look for another one with your name – that will mean that your first group formation has changed.


 * __Deadline:__ 28th February**



**//January 3rd 2011 - __1st Assignment__//**
For your **__first assignment__**, you must choose __ONE__ topic out of the following three to write an opinion text on. By **14th January** you should know which topic you are taking and have it written on top of your group's page. Use the discussion section to decide on a topic with your group. Your final text needs to be finished by 24th January.

Here are the topics to choose from:

1) Comment on this quotation: //Teens’ idols influence the way they dress.//

2) What do you think of body art?

3) Go on writing the following text: //I love eating at McDonald’s and…//

Before you submit your assignment please make sure you check text structure (organisation into paragraphs, coherence, cohesion - connectors), spelling, register (formal/informal) and punctuation.

Make the most of this wiki!

Have fun,

Mariana and Kirsten