We are coming near the end of my first class in the online teaching certification course. After completing my first online group collaboration I have found myself interested in Wikis.
The term ‘wiki’ is derived from the Hawaiian phrase ‘wiki-wiki’ which translates to quick. A wiki is a application that allows users to collaborate, create and edit websites. The most well-known is Wikipedia. Visitors can read the Wikipedia website content, edit content and create topics. While wise students know that they need to evaluate this source for accuracy, this wiki is an interesting use of collaborative technology available on the web. Wikipedia is a good example of the unique and powerful information sharing features of a wiki.
The collaborative features of wikis are well suited for learning environments. A wiki can actively involve learners in the construction of their own knowledge and enhance the learning process. When a wiki is used by a group of students peer interaction is increased. In addition, the facilitation and sharing of knowledge, and student cooperation is promoted.
During our group project, the Wetpaint wiki helped us interact with one another and negotiate solutions to problems. We found it allowed us the ability to seek assistance from each other, while sharing and clarifying our ideas.
While researching creative ways educators use wiki’s, I found many interesting ways to apply the wiki to education.
Duffy and Bruns (2006) list several possible educational uses of wikis:
• Students can use a wiki to develop research projects, with the wiki serving as ongoing documentation of their work.
• Students can add summaries of their thoughts from the prescribed readings, building a collaborative annotated bibliography on a wiki.
• A wiki can be used for publishing course resources like syllabi and handouts, and students can edit and comment on these directly for all to see.
• Teachers can use wikis as a knowledge base, enabling them to share reflections and thoughts regarding teaching practices, and allowing for versioning and documentation.
• Wikis can be used to map concepts. They are useful for brainstorming, and editing a given wiki topic can produce a linked network of resources.
• A wiki can be used as a presentation tool in place of conventional software, and students are able to directly comment on and revise the presentation content.
Other novel wikis:
Some students use wiki’s for groups of students to keep notes online. This adds the benefit of peers reviewing, editing and changing the notes.
Check out http://studyhall.wikispaces.com/ where students in a study hall have compiled notes, and study guides to share with one another. Things have changed since my study hall days, where I spent 45 minutes passing notes.
Or take a look at http://bothellcampus.wetpaint.com/ where students can find information on clubs, service learning or campus resources offered at thier school.
Even college counselors have a wiki. The site http://collegelists.pbworks.com/is a wiki where school advisors share information with one another about colleges and universities that are categorized by specialities ranging from architecture to video gaming design.
If you have an interest in how wiki’s are being used in classroom, I recommend the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul9YM7QZZis&feature=related video for an in depth analysis on the subject.
Duffy, P. & Bruns, A. (2006). The use of blogs, wikis and RSS in education: conversation of possibilities. Proceedings of the Online Learning and Teaching Conference 2006, Brisbane: September 26. Retrieved November 2006 from http://olt.qut.edu.au/udf/OLT2006/gen/static/papers/Duffy_OLT2006_paper.ppdf
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