Friday, October 17, 2008

Wiki as Learning Tools

Donna Millard
200788438

Wikis are fast, easy to learn to use and provide an excellent collaborative learning device regardless of what learning group you are in--student to student, teacher to student or even teacher to teacher. (Waters, 2007; Bold, 2006; McGee, 2007) Similar to what the research found with podcasts, wikis also support a collaborative environment that support social cognition theories of learning--the group discovers more in this socially interactive environment. (Merriam, 289) However, wikis can even go further to support social constructivist theory which believes that "knowledge is constructed when individuals engage socially in talk and activity about shared problems and tasks." (Merriam, 291) So, the group actually learns, not just discovers, more in the use of wikis as a social learning tool which is not quite talking but still communicating.

Bold (2006) found that in their study, graduate students took more responsibility in the content that they provided to the group. While it was noted that the grad students didn't find it as good as face to face conversations, using the wiki did provide them with a satisfactory alternative especially in a distance education setting. (Bold, 2006) Waters' (2007) research on teachers' uses of wikis to create curriculum documents found that the creators felt they would actually use the final products as they had some say in developing them. This whole sense of responsibility returns to a social constructivist theory in that they develop something new through some form of dialogue and collective learning.

As seen with podcast research, wikis offer another alternate to individuals with different learning styles. Ferris and Wilder (2006) note that students also learn how information should and should not be organized for the best results and to work together to develop this skill set.

“… like oral-based instruction, networked computer media can also provide a way for students to learn material collaboratively and take ownership of the material they are learning in a manner similar to a Socratic in-class discussion.” (Ferris, 2006)

They learn not only from the information but from the structure created in the wiki environment. Shareski and Winkler (2005/2006) use these ideas about structure and information and apply it to an exercise about how to evaluate sources found on Wikipedia--the ultimate wiki source. The use of social software as a learning tool in not only creation but evaluation and dissemination is the ultimate purpose of a tool like a wiki. It is truly multi-faceted.

McGee and Diaz, however, caution about the appropriate match with a course and a particular social software tool like a wiki. (McGee, 32) The course content and use of appropriate technology needs to be based on a rational decision applying the basic constructs of learning--comprehension, analysis and evaluation. (McGee, 38) Only after these are applied should the most appropriate tool be utilized for specific tasks. Wikis are not always the best choice in the social software tool kit.

Sources:

Bold, M. (2006). Use of wikis in graduate course work. Journal of interactive learning research, 17(1), 5-14. http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE

Ferris, S.P. & Wilder, H. (2006) Uses and potentials of wikis in the classroom. Innovate, 2(5). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=258

McGee, P. & Diaz, V. (2007). Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs! Oh My! What is a faculty member supposed to do? Educause Review, 42(5), 28-40. http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/WikisandPodcastsandBlogsO/44993

Merriam, S.B., Caffarella, R.S. & Baumgartner, L.M. (2007). Learning in Adulthood: a comprehensive guide. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Wiley.

Shareski, D. & Winkler, C.A.K. (2005/2006). Are wikis worth the time? Learning and leading with technology, 33(4), 6-7. http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/EducatorResources/YourLearningJourney/Web20/are-wikis-worth-the-time.pdf

Waters, J.K. (2007). Curriculum unbound! Technological Horizons inEducation, 34(3). http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=ITOF

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