User:Allylynch1/sandbox

Added a photo on 4/19: Focus group

Added the below on 4/19: Focus group

Online focus groups can be conducted either synchronously, which occurs live with all participants at the same time, or asynchronously, which occurs at the leisure of the participants schedule through e-mails or mailing lists (Rezabek, 2000). Challenges within asynchronous online focus groups include sporadic participation over time and a potential timely study. Within synchronous online focus groups, challenges include timing not working for participants and lack of accessibility. Online focus group benefits include no transportation necessary and ease of access, while online focus group complications include lack of technology and minimal technological skill (Rezabek, 2000).

Final Reflective Essay 4.20.20
Over the past few weeks, I have learned so much about Wikipedia. I have learned that it is more than just an informational site and that it is made up of many communities of scholars working together to improve articles and offer valid, relevant information. When learning how to evaluate articles, I saw how refreshingly strict Wikipedia is in making sure any information that is uploaded on the site is properly sited and removing improperly plagiarized information. I learned how much making sure articles consist of accurate, updated information, data, photos, images.

I chose the article “Focus Group” because I am using this methodology in my dissertation study. I am starting this study this summer online and this article mentioned online focus groups but could use some additional information. I went through the article with an inclusive lens, wishing to see more sectors represented and how they use focus groups (this article just focused on business and art focus groups).

Based on what I felt I could contribute to this article, I wanted to focus on online focus groups since this is my chosen methodology that I wanted to learn more about and share the knowledge I found. I added to the types of focus groups, the challenges they face, as well as adding to the advantages. To personally challenge myself, I added a photo of a focus group that I found within the Wikipedia database. It was a great learning experience and I hope it improved the article.

In terms of my peer review experience, I really enjoyed seeing what my other classmates were doing and how they were approaching their articles and assignments. I reviewed three classmates’ work. All three reviews had extensive bibliographies where my classmates wanted to add to their chosen articles. I contributed feedback in terms of having too many articles or too little that they would be contributing, as well as considering adding images to make their articles more interesting.

I was very thankful for the feedback I received from my classmates as well as my professor. They encouraged the new references I was hoping to contribute and helped me reel in my big ideas about totally revamping the article. I wanted to add different sectors that use focus groups but that can be an endless list so they recommended smaller edits with bigger impact which I appreciated.

Generally, I was impressed with how easy it was to go through the Wikipedia assignments. I really liked how interactive each module was and make it easy to learn a very new, complex learning tool. I was definitely hesitant going into these modules since I am not very technically savvy and wasn’t sure how I’d be able to handle the new platform, but I’ve enjoyed learning it! The assignments Wikipedia gave us were very different from other assignments I’ve done in the past. Mostly because in other online classes, it’s hard to stay engaged and truly learn depending on the professor and platform. But I had never seen such an easy use of a new platform within their training modules, using the sandbox, understanding their rules on plagiarism. I will be regularly returning to my Focus Group page to see if any additional, new research has been contributed. It’s important because I can stay connected to the scholars on their page and truly understand how Wikipedia works on the backend and how reliable the site is.