Will Kent Reflection

Kent was an awesome speaker for our class because he knew a lot about Wiki data and how groups can work together to create shared databases. He made learning about collecting data exciting and fun by being really passionate about it. Kent encouraged us to look at Wiki data however we wanted, which made it easier for us to understand and make our own contributions. He explained words like “value,” “property,” and “item” so that we could make our own queries. Kent showed us step by step how to “query” and gave us cool examples like Beyonce and Harry Potter, which helped us see how Wiki data can be useful in everyday life. It also showed me he genuinely cared about us and he made sure not to show that he is bigger and better than us. He wanted to relate to us. Kent was so passionate about teaching Wiki data, it was more fun for us to learn. He showed us how we could be part of the Wiki data community and encouraged us to keep exploring on our own. Kent made it easy for us to understand complex information and made learning about collecting data an enjoyable experience. He also made the point that sometimes it’s not our fault it doesn’t work. Sometimes the information isn’t there, along with the visualizations being difficult to understand and create and that it’s a big trial and error project when using these tools.