The Internet has already become a very important part of everyday lives. As the Internet adopts more of the Web 2.0, the Internet is becoming a medium which is becoming more user-created. An example of this are wikis: databases that contain a sizable amount of user-created content, displayed on web pages that anyone with an Internet connection can create, edit and view. The most notable wiki on the Internet is Wikipedia, described as “the the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” Since the boom in popularity Wikipedia received in 2003-2004, wikis have been considered for use in educational applications.
With respect to classroom education and pedagogical applications of wikis, wikis can provide many positive student-centered advantages to a classroom. Wikis are dynamic and changing bodies of information that are built by the users. This puts the wiki contributors in a state of constant interaction and collaboration as various wiki articles are developed and published on the Internet. This collaboration in the development of a body of knowledge is an active learning and cooperative learning process. Another pedagogically significant aspect of a wiki is the generous use of hyperlinks within wiki articles. A main article in a wiki can contain a relatively large amount of hyperlinks which, in turn, link to related articles. Students viewing wiki articles can use this to build meaningful topic associations with related content. For example, students looking up DNA on Wikipedia can use one of the many hyperlinks in the introduction paragraph to view related articles on viruses, nucleic acids and chromosomes (just to name a few), in a way to broaden their understanding on related topics.
Wikis contain a vast amount of information. Wikipedia contains over 2.6 million articles for access by their English speaking users (10 million combined for all languages), with a total database size of 1.2 terabytes (1228.8 gigabytes, or 1,258,290 megabytes; enough data to fit on roughly 160 DVDs or 1,600 CD-ROMs). This creates a huge source of information that cannot be practically managed, stored or displayed by traditional storage media. However, the impressive size wikis can obtain are not their most prized asset in education. Wikis allow authoring which is unique, wikis allow anyone with an Internet connection to edit the content in the wiki databases. This allows not only for the addition of facts, but for the addition of a human element by allowing experiences and discussion to be integrated to articles, but separated from the main factual points. This wiki culture of open source, knowledge creation and information sharing is a new way to distribute information.
Wikis are very elastic and dynamic; they can grow as necessary to facilitate their need to expand. A very important aspect of the wiki is it's ability to change and be updated. The content of a wiki can be added from any computer with an Internet connection, making the information very accessible for modification. This access to the wiki makes for articles that are easily updated and very up to date. As part of the wiki system, all changes made are recorded by the database so that any changes due to vandalism can be reverted back to a previous version.
Other important impacts wikis could have on classroom education are varied. Since wikis are accessible to students via Internet, they could provide an alternate way of delivering text content, making textbooks antiquated. The easy integration of multimedia into wikis further make wikis a cadidate for textbook replacement. Since most wiki platforms are open source, there are many available wiki frameworks available for free for download over the Internet, providing teachers with this technology at no cost. The friendly user interface of wiki platforms ensure that students who are familiar with basic word processing programs are able to make full use of the wiki. The wiki itself is also, mostly, self-sufficient and most of the design and linking properties of the wiki are handled by the user or by the wiki itself. The only aspect of the wiki which needs teacher administration would be vandalism protection and ensuring information is valid; but wikis that require login greatly deter vandalism with a high amount of accountability.
Wiki technology is not new. It was first developed in 1995 by Ward Cunningham. The name comes from the Hawaiian word “Wikiwiki” which means quick. This article defines wikis as “collections of Web pages that are linked together, and they can be edited by anyone who has access to them. Collaborators can add new content, edit existing content, add links to known Web sites on the Internet, and create and link to new pages within the wild. They also can add graphics, video and audio files, calendars, and chat features. The wiki is a shared repository of knowledge (p. 14).” The article explains that there are many advantages to wikis. They include the following:
This article focuses on using wikis as an educational tool to teaching new literacies. This article described part of a three year study of digital literacy with both elementary and secondary students who explored different forms of e-literature. The article explained that the study included wikis for the following advantages
The article explained that wikis promoted visual literacy skills and student engagement was increased. The study suggested that wikis created “a richer and more interesting experience” for the students and led to learning that was unintended originally.
This article examines the uses of wikis as a knowledge management tool. In the article, a wiki is defined as “a freely expandable collection of interlinked Web pages, a hypertext system for storing and modifying information-a database where each page is easily editable by any user with a forms-capable Web browser client.” The following advantages of using wikis are explained in this article.
The study concluded the following: “The initial findings suggest that effective implementation and use of a wiki to support knowledge management for effective teaching and learning is contingent upon familiarity of both students and instructors with the technology, level of planning involved prior to system implementation and use in class, class size, and the ability to motivate students to learn from one another based on the principles of discovery learning.”
This article talks about the importance that wikis have played in the business world. Wikis have increased the level of collaboration that takes place among members of companies. “With global competition driving the speed and importance of innovation, we have found that companies are exploring ways to encourage greater collaboration among employees, suppliers, and customers. Wiki is one mechanism that makes that possible…” Businesses, like Toyota, have effectively received input through wiki type technologies from all stakeholders, which include the customers, suppliers and employees. Some of the advantages of wikis mentioned in this article include greater engagement and increased order and effectiveness. The article mentions that wikis create trust and reputation because the user’s behavior is visible and individuals usually behave differently when they interact with other they know.
This article has many great tips for educators with regards to using wikis in the classroom. When using wikis the article gives the following tips:
Daniel Carrington
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