Wikis and Collaborative Learning

As far as new technologies go, collaborative learning in the classroom, in my opinion, is certainly a very popular and effective way for teaching students new content.  There are many ways that a teacher can incorporate collaborative learning into his/her classroom. Perhaps one of the most popular ways, is the use of the wiki. For those digital immigrants out there among us and anyone else who may not have come across a wiki before, I have included a video below that nicely explains exactly what a wiki is and how it can be a powerful learning and teaching tool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAtZisgc7mc

According to Howell (2012) a wiki is "a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language". The use of a wiki has become increasingly popular among schools and workplaces because they can be used collaboratively - multiple users can update the content (Howell, 2012). Many people often confuse wiki's with blogs as they are both websites that are used to display content. However, the main difference between a wiki and a blog is that a wiki can be used collaboratively whereas a blog can only be updated by an individual (Howell, 2012).

Maloy (2011) states that using wiki's in the classroom is an effective collaborative learning strategy that enhances increased levels of interaction between students. Wiki's in the education system allow students to publish their work online and receive feedback from their peers in relation to learning (Maloy, 2011). In my opinion, collaborative learning is such an important aspect of teaching as it allows students to engage in social interaction and also encourages students to work as a team. The skills that students learn from collaborative learning is integral; teamwork and social interaction are imperative traits for 'real world' situations. Maloy (2011) writes this nicely by stating: "working on a wiki becomes a way for students to understand the process by which knowledge is generated, evaluated, and revised by groups of individuals in business, government, and many other fields".

http://shtmteacherswiki.pbworks.com/w/page/5814911/Using%20wikis%20for%20your%20subjects

However, when using a wiki in a classroom setting, teachers may find that students are posting inappropriate comments or material that is plagiarized (Maloy, 2011). Therefore, I believe that it is important to set ground rules to your class before the wiki is created. Teachers must become the editors of the online content and even screen and approve the material before it goes public - a feature that is available when using a wiki.

Personally, I haven't had much experience using a wiki, however; I believe that it is a powerful collaboration tool and I will make an effort to use them in my teaching. Although teachers do have to monitor content, the benefits of using a wiki greatly outweigh the negatives. Collaborative learning is an important aspect of schooling children and should be included in the education system.

Video taken from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAtZisgc7mc

Image taken from:

http://shtmteacherswiki.pbworks.com/w/page/5814911/Using%20wikis%20for%20your%20subjects

References:

Howell, J. (2012). Creative technologies and play. In V. Rainer (Ed.), Teaching with ICT: Digital Pedagogies for Collaboration and Creativity (pp. 87-109). Australia: Oxford University Press.

Maloy, R.W., Verlock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2011). Communicating and networking with websites blogs wikis and more. In R.W Maloy (Ed.), Transforming learning with new technologies (pp. 206-239)
Retrieved from
https://www.library.uq.edu.au/coursebank/get.php?id=34067031529059.pdf&copyright=yes