Teaching with Technology

“Why Wikis? …” in the latest issue of JOLT is an extremely well-written and balanced overview of the utility and limitations of wikis in instructional settings. On the heels of last week’s disappointing article about wikis this was an encouraging breath of fresh air to read.

The authors from East Carolina and Eastern Kentucky universities begin at the beginning, with the creation of the “wiki” in 1994, and describe well how wikis bring together the creation, organization, description of discovery of knowledge under a single shared interface. As they note, today’s “web” is very different from “the internet” of static web pages and with such affordances as wikis possess communication has evolved from the “one-to-many” (websites) and “many-to-one” (boards) modalities to “many-to-many” collaborative processes.

From recent studies of wikis the authors outline both promising and problematic findings concerning the use of wikis in instruction. Through its tracking of edits, collaborative writing projects engage students to thoughtfully consider what has been written by others and how it may be improved upon. Undergraduates report this supports their development of new evaluation skills enabling them to evaluate and critically examine new content. Graduate students report that wikis support group learning processes, and administratively wikis are being used for such purposes as recording an evolving set of curricula (an example from Alaska is cited in which over 10,000 pages of curricula comprise the wiki).

There are limitations to the use of wikis ranging from perceptions from students that wikis are “frivolous” to discomfort with the concept of students participating in the creation of course content (i.e., “learner-centered”) as opposed to their relatively high comfort levels with traditional “teacher-centered” courses. The authors cite a study reporting that student frustrations with learner-centered technologies are less often a consequence of the collaborative technology itself and instead can be explained by either misuse of the technology or inadequate support provided by the instructor.

The study conducted by the authors focused on student perceptions using wikis in online coursework, and those same students’ perceptions regarding uses for wikis in K-12 classrooms. Most of the students in the study had no previous experience with wikis. While only about two-thirds found wikis “easy to use”, nearly all agreed wikis are a good tool for teaching and learning and effective for collaborative problem-solving. In textual reflections students saw significant benefits to using the wiki in the online course. Some of the limitations cited by students had to do with the user interface provided by PBWorks, specifically the absence of “drag and drop” functionality. (Once again surfacing the theme of student frustrations with the technology getting in the way of the learning!). Students identified several uses for wikis in the K-12 environment including the creation of learning communities among students, using wikis to provide content and forums for exchanges with students and parents, and collaborative research projects for students.

The authors find the keys to utilizing wikis in sufficient training in, support for and thoughtful design of instructional uses (including assessment components), and provide a very good, concise, table of recommendations for educators considering the use of wikis in the classroom.

As noted at the onset of this article, it’s a breath of fresh air. Wikis are a relatively new information appliance and do seem to merge some outmoded navigational and updating characteristics (e.g., manually resetting links to renamed pages!) with new and dynamic functionality (many-to-many real time collaboration). We’re only starting to explore the potentials of these new appliances, and the authors of this article take an open, fresh approach to the problems and prospects of wikis. I highly recommend their template found on page 132 which identifies key considerations to keep in mind.

Source: Faye Deters, K. Cuthrell and J. Stapleton, “Why Wikis? Student Perceptions of Using Wikis in Online Coursework,” MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 6, No. 1 (March 2010): 122-134.