OLR Exercises - Topic 6: Designing for Usability, Sociability and Sustainability

Exercise 6.1: Design rules and your CSU forum experience
Consider all the times you have used a CSU forum in your study in all subjects. Under the 3 headings from table 2, purpose, people and community size, describe in your own words, any forum experiences where you not only felt a sense of belonging, worth and satisfaction, but felt a sense of loss when the forum was closed. If this has never happened to you then explain why under the same 3 headings.

Purpose
ITC510 and ITI501 are the first two subjects I am doing as part of the Graduate Diploma of ICT in Education. Therefore the forums for these subjects are the first forums I have used. The purpose of the CSU forum is to connect students of each subject with each other. The CSU forum allows students to share ideas, problems, frustrations and feel connected to others as they complete subjects.

People
Students live and work throughout Australia. The forum allows all to participate, regardless of geographic location and time zones. Students are able to provide assistance, encouragement and reassurances to others. Some students have more ICT expertise than others, and they are generally willing to share their skills and knowledge to help others. Because most of us are also teachers, we are able to discuss and empathise with many school based ICT issues and situations.

The forum for ITI501 is little used, and then only for subject requirements, not as a communication tool.

I have found people to be particularly helpful and friendly in the ITC510 forum. I will probably miss chatting, sharing our frustrations and helping each other when this subject is over. I hope I encounter classmates from this subject in future subjects, although it seems that this is the last subject for many, not the beginning, as in my case.

Community Size
The size of the community depends on the subject. I am currently involved in two CSU forums from two subjects. ITI501 only has about 9 students enrolled, therefore a small forum community. ITC510 has a larger student enrolment, therefore a larger community size.

I have found that a smaller forum size can limit the interaction and value of the forum. In ITC510 forum members communicate and help each, and regularly add to the forum. In the smaller forum of ITI501 I find there is less interaction and input by members, therefore the value of the forum is lost.

While the community size at ITI501 has been too small to be effective, the community size of ITC510 has meant the forum is constantly active and therefore effective. There is always somebody contributing and others offering assistance.

Exercise 6.2: Wiki and Moodle design

What is it about the design of the wiki and Moodle that you liked or disliked?

Moodle

I liked Moodle because it enables users to create and access blogs, wikis, chats and forums from the one site. It was easy to create an account, and the use of columns, headings, breadcrumbs and tags makes it easy to navigate. The account is created by the administrator, but others are able to access, add to and modify the site with the use of the enrollment key. This gives the site security and protects users from outsiders, which would make it suitable for use within the classroom, including in a primary setting. However, I did notice that much of the content on the site was very outdated (2007) and it seems the site is no longer used to facilitate this subject.

Wiki

I have limited experience with wikis. The wiki at CSU Interact has not really been used by participants of this subject. I did add to it early in the semester, and this was easy to do but without the interaction of others I find it difficult to determine the usability and sociability of the site. However, the window of the wiki appears very small within the screen, I can only read 3 lines at a time making it difficult to view and read properly.

What features do wiki and Moodle have in common and what are the differences?

Wikis and Moodle are both free online tools that allow users to share ideas. Users are required to sign in, but are then able to access, modify and add to the site. A wiki is generally a collaborative document, a document that can be modified by multiple users. It therefore has limited capabilities. Moodle is a more sophisticated course management system allows users to create blogs, forums and chat as well as wikis.

Is the presence of likeable features also a combination of the design tips for usability, sociability and sustainability, as advocated by Preece and Kim in earlier
topics?

Easy usability is important with any website that is used to support online communities. If users experience difficulties logging on and navigating a site, they will very soon get frustrated and be unlikely to continue to use the site if problems continue. Moodle and wikis are easy to access and navigate. Access can be controlled by usernames and passwords, and users are easily able to add to the content on these sites.

Sociability is supported in both wikis and Moodle. Wikis and Moodle make it easy to create an online community with a particular purpose (for example education). Both are designed for growth and change, allow a community to create and maintain community feedback and allow users to gradually take control.

Moodle has better usability, sociability and sustainability than wiki. Moodle has more functions than wiki, including chats, forums and blogs, providing a more flexible environment for online communities to meet. This flexibility also makes Moodle more sustainable.

Exercise 6.3: Trust and reputation: how is it achieved?
Analyse and comment on other aspects of online trust and reputation that you feel are worth discussing across any TWO online communities.

CSU Interact is an online community created by Charles Sturt University to allow students to communicate and collaborate. It is a trusted site with a good reputation amongst its community of students and educators. The site has good usability, sociability and sustainability. It is easy to access and navigate. Users are required to have a username and password provided by the university in order to access the site, offering a high level protection of privacy to users. Students are able to access and share information and communicate through the forum, wiki and chat facility. Users are able to access and add to subject forums, but are also able to access a wider variety of forums if they choose. The site is sustainable as long as the university requires students to access it to complete subjects and tasks. Most universities are highly regarded and trusted within the community. This trust transcends into the online world and online communities. The credibility and reputation of CSU as a highly regarded education provider automatically gives users of Interact a sense of trust when using the site.

Facebook is a free online social networking website which allows people from around the world to share personal information and communicate. It has a high level of usability, sociability and sustainability. According to Answers.com (2009), Facebook has over 300 million active users world wide, 50% of which access Facebook every day! It is very easy to set up an account and create your own page. Users are easily able to create online community topics and networks and invite others to join, comment and provide feedback. Users are able to communicate, chat, share and access personal information and photos online. Because Facebook is so popular, it has gained a good reputation and level of trust with many people. Many users, such as myself (and others in this course if you read their blogs!), may begin as skeptics and not share much information or photos. But as users learn to use the site, they become more comfortable and feel like they have a level of control over their privacy and the site. They then begin to share more and more personal information and photos. Facebook still has issues around security and privacy amongst many people worried about the privacy and security of information, potential bosses using Facebook pages to determine employability and concerns about inappropriate content. However, the number of users continues to grow as does its reputation and credibility. Facebook will continue to be sustainable while this continues or until some other trend takes its place!

Wiki Answers.Com. (2009). How Many Members Does Facebook Have? Accessed 30 September 2009 from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_members_does_Facebook_have