Web 2.0: Wikis

In two words: group work. Faculty have been told for years that group work improves learner knowledge retention. We've also been told that knowing how to work in a group will be a critical skill for the employability of our learners. Most of us don't assign group work though because learners hate it, we hate it, and it's impossible to grade. Wikis are the tool that we've been looking for. First, the research:

Students learn best when they are actively involved in the process. Researchers report that, regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats. Students who work in collaborative groups also appear more satisfied with their classes. (Sources: Beckman, 1990; Chickering and Gamson, 1991; Collier, 1980; Cooper and Associates, 1990; Goodsell, Maher, Tinto, and Associates, 1992; Johnson and Johnson, 1989; Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1991; Kohn, 1986; McKeachie, Pintrich, Lin, and Smith, 1986; Slavin, 1980, 1983; Whitman, 1988) Barbara Gross Davis “Tools for Teaching” Jossey-Bass, 1993

Wikis allow you and your learners to avoid some of the common problems with group work. First, wikis can be asynchronous. Learners do not all have to be in one location at one time to edit a paper. The paper can live on the wiki, learners can access the wiki to edit the paper at a time that is convenient for them. They no longer have to pass the paper back and forth in email, losing control of who changed what when and ending up with a confused mess of edits in twenty-three different files. Instead, the wiki keeps track of who edited the paper and what they changed.


The graphic to the left shows a wiki in the open source software mediawiki. The tabs at the top of the page give your options. The article is in front now, but to edit it one only has to click on the edit tab. This particular wiki software also automatically builds in a discussion area for each article. So if learners want to discuss edits before making them that discussion is conveniently placed and archived for the faculty to see also.

The history page though is what makes group work possible from a grading perspective. That page archives every draft of the article along with who edited the article and what changes they made. Not only that Mediawiki has a nifty little compare button, so the instructor (grader) can truly see who added what information to the article. (See the graphic below.)
There are several examples of classroom use of wikis. The 1001 Flat World Tales wiki was started several years ago and now has a significant amount of student writing posted there.

Some faculty have chosen to use a wiki for their entire course, such as the screen shot from a Drexel University chemistry course below:

Wikis have the flexibility and tools needed for a variety of course projects, from traditional papers to learner-generated textbooks. Many wikis can also be password protected should your situation require that.

The simplest way to begin to use a wiki is to choose one that is hosted. www.wikispaces.com hosts wiki space at no cost to users. (To get rid of the ads you do need to pay a monthly or annual fee.) www.Siteground.com hosts mediawiki for less than $7.00/month and www.pbwiki.com hosts Peanut butter wikis.

CCCOnline has a tutorial for Mediawiki available at http://www.facultywiki.ccconline.org/index.php?title=Wiki_Tutorials.

Lisa