Pedatechnical Review of Wikis

As institutions of higher learning, our top priority should be to create an environment that fosters sound, pedagogically centered teaching. Leveraging technology can often help us accomplish this goal. If you have found your way to this blog, the odds are you are looking for a solution to an educational problem. Many options exist, and chances are many of you have tried other technological solutions. The focus this month is on the potential power of wikis. Many institutions have started exploring wikis, whether integrated with a course management system, as an enterprise application, or simply as an individual installation. But the jury is still out on the pedagogical impact of such a technology.

The white paper described 4 principles that wikis can potentially support. What about the other three? Can you think of any way to leverage a wiki in your classroom in order to engage students in more meaningful faculty/student contact? Can wikis be utilized as a mechanism for providing prompt feedback? Can you think of any situation in which an educational wiki could emphasize time on task? What about the 4 principles discussed in the whitepaper—do you agree with the thoughts of the authors? Can you think of additional uses or ways to use the wiki to directly support these principles?

Too often a teaching problem is identified and the band aid that is instantly applied is technology. Wikis, as with other technologies, have no inherent pedagogical value. Pedagogy only arises when structure and guidelines are implemented and enforced on technology. Many people approach wikis with the mind set that, "if you build it, they will come". Why wouldn't one think that? Students these days have technology at their fingertips and are begging instructors to leverage resources that allow them to quickly retrieve information and reach goals. The reality is that networks students are involved in are highly structured. From Facebook to Wikipedia there are people monitoring the content and contributors to ensure compliance. Instructors need to take similar approaches. You wouldn't start a semester without a syllabus or a session without objectives. Write rules and regulations for your wiki and be sure to enforce them. This will require extra effort on the instructors part. While technology can help you solve a problem, it can also require more time and effort to maintain. Assessment is needed to evaluate the impact of any technology. As institutions become increasingly accountable for their actions, how can the implementation of a wiki be justified? How will (or have) you measure(d) the impact the wiki has on the teaching and learning environment. How do we know that the wiki is effective?

Finally, we would like to know if any of you have used a wiki before in an educational caliber? What worked really well and what was less than ideal? What challenges did you and/or your students need to overcome in order to make the experience a positive one? On the other hand, what advantages does a wiki provide that other technology-driven collaborative spaces do not?