Unit 4 Collaboration

Objectives:
After completing this unit, students will be able to:
1. Define a wiki
2. List and explain at least three advantages of using a wiki for instructional purposes
3. Describe the limitations of using a wiki

Topic Information:
Most of us are familiar with Wikis. They are a public repository for information located on the World Wide Web. Most wikis are fully public domain, meaning that anyone can edit or add information to the wiki. However, some wikis are located on secure servers, which require a login and password to access.

There are several advantages that make wikis an excellent tool to promote collaboration in education. First of all, it allows multiple students to provide information to the wiki document. They do not need to be physically present, or working simultaneously. Wikis are truly asynchronous, meaning the students are free to add their portion whenever it is convenient.

Another advantage of wikis is its ability to develop deeper understanding through the use of discourse. Properly prepared, students can use the wiki to expand upon the ideas of other students, and share ways they have seen the topic implemented. Students learn from each others' thoughts and ideas.

Wikis also allow easy monitoring of student participation. Most wikis maintain a log or history of who updated the wiki, when they updated it, and what they did when they updated it. Instructors can use this history to measure which students are participating in the project, and the amount they contribute.

There are some problems with Wikis. Unless the school provides a secure location for the wiki, and provides a means to produce personal sign-in security, anyone in the world could potentially add information to the wiki. That means students could get information provided from anyone, including experts that might do most of the work for them. If the wiki was designed to measure how much the student is learning the material, it would not be able to perform that function if much of the information was provided by outsiders.

Another problem with wikis is that most do not have automatic filters or monitoring systems. Thus, it requires constant reviewing by instructors or overseers to ensure that the language is appropriate, copyrighted material is not misused or misrepresented, and the information posted is accurate.

Discussion:
In the Discussion area, share your own experiences of using wikis. This could be professionally or personally. Also, if you have previously used a wiki as part of your instructional material, please summarize how successful it was.