Wikis: One Instructor’s Adventure
September 20, 2010 by Royce Ann Collins
New technologies come and go. In the education world, there are always innovative opportunities to incorporate fresh ideas into the teaching toolkit. The problem that most instructors face is which one is a good idea. Can I really add this to my course? What good will it do? Is this just another fad?
When course management systems were first developed, many institutions quickly got on board and tried to help faculty use these new and exciting tools. Gone are the days of quietly structured classrooms with neat rows of wooden desks and students with pencils and paper. The classroom is no longer the core place where we share knowledge. Whether we embrace it or not technology has changed the way we live, conduct our jobs, communicate with significant people, and teach.
Collaboration has been a movement in education for at least 20 years. Web. 2.0 technologies hallmark this ability to collaborate across time and geography. Knowledge is created differently with the incorporation of Web 2.0 technologies (Funk, 2009). “The real significance of …Web 2.0 technologies is the way in which they organize people and activities, not simply the way in which they create and distribute information” (Staley, 2009, p. 38).
What are instructors to do? First, examine the learning objectives for the course. Then, explore the best way to accomplish the objectives. Think outside the classroom box. What are the best ways available to me that would enhance the learning of my students? This question is what started the author on a journey of incorporating the wiki.
What is a wiki? A wiki is a collaborative website space which allows for easy editing and linking to other pages. According to Hsu (2007), wikis are well designed for collaborative assignments including case studies, group research and writing, brainstorming, and planning activities. It brings depth to group presentations. By everyone in the course having access to the wiki, all students can be prepared to discuss a topic in class. A wiki records the contributions made by individuals and tracks the work progress.
Instructors who have collaborative learning experiences or group projects already in a course may find wikis a great addition. Wikis lend themselves to group projects or writing assignments. In grading group projects, instructors usually struggle with 1) knowing who contributed to the project, 2) understanding the amount of contribution made by individual students, and 3) if a timeline is important, was the project moved along accordingly. The wiki format gives the instructor easy access to this information in a real-time format.
Why would I want to use a wiki in my courses? Many reasons, but one is that many employers are using wikis for group projects. Wiki collaboration is powerful. Corporations know that knowledge sharing is paramount for their success in today’s markets (Funk, 2009; Tapscott & Williams, 2008). Wikis have been applied to “open source software, development, business collaboration, grassroots political campaigns, and large data collection” (Funk, 2009, p. 10). “Smart companies are encouraging, rather than fighting, the heaving growth of massive online communities” (Tapscott & Williams, 2008, p. 1).
Using Wikis in CoursesBefore incorporating any new teaching strategy into a course, there are several items to carefully consider and how the technology matches the teaching philosophy of the instructor. This author believes that all learning environments should be student centered or learner centered. The focus is on the student learning, not on incorporation of technology for technology sake. Secondly, consider the best use of any teaching technique whether it is a collaborative classroom technique or use of technology. For instance, lecture is still a viable way to deliver content. Recording that lecture and making it available to students in an audio format helps those students who are auditory learners or those who might be struggling to understand the content.
Research also confirms these ideas. Hopper and Hendricks (2008) list thirteen technology integration strategies, which are important to consider:
1. There is no magic technology. In any classroom, things don’t always go the way we want them. We must always learn from our own imperfections and also learn from the technology failures.
2. Use technology when it is sensible or it supports the instructional strategies.
3. Online technologies should support the learning setting. There are a range of choices available, but using the one that creates the best learning situation for the students is imperative.
4. Create self-directed learners who can find their own information using technology resources. Students must be armed with the proper skills to locate valuable information as well as the skills to critically evaluate the quality.
5. Prepare for the immediacy expectations created by the communication technology available. “Set clear expectations early with regard to instructor availability and appropriate communication channels” (Hopper & Hendricks, 2008, p. 12).
6. “Use technology to increase the value of feedback in promoting quality work” (Hopper & Hendricks, 2008, p. 13). We don’t need to wait until the next class session to correct student’s misinterpretation of material.
7. Adhere to copyright rules and regulations, protection of private information, and encourage professional, ethical conduct.
8. Strategically plan the incorporation of technology into courses. Technology does not “fix” student learning skills. Evaluate the use of new technologies with courses.
9. Prepare for multiple levels of technological expertise from students. Some students will be able to incorporate and adapt to new technologies. The more inexperienced technology users will need assistance from experienced classmates or the instructor.
10. Use the power of technology to archive information. As mentioned above recording a lecture is an excellent means to distribute the material to a wider audience.
11. Don’t over use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a tool to enhance presentations. It should not be a way to replace lectures or presentations. The phrase “death by PowerPoint” might ring a bell.
12. Understand the technology from the user point of view. Request feedback from students concerning their experience with the technology.
13. Don’t be afraid. Technology seems to frighten many instructors away from its use. Remember we all learn from our failures and telling our students to “try, try, again” and not applying it to ourselves is hypocritical. The advances in technology are not going to slow down in the new future, so waiting for the opportune moment is not a good course of action.
These strategies are a good starting point for any instructors who are considering how to enhance their courses.
Armed with research on wikis in the classroom and how to create the best wiki assignments, this instructor embarked on incorporating wikis where appropriate. Knowing it was not magic, but supported the instructional strategies for the course. It was a tool that would help students develop more self-directed learning skills. It would also need to be evaluated throughout the learning situation, so the instructor also kept a reflective journal of her experiences with the new technology tool and planned formative and summative classroom assessments.
The first experience of applying a wiki was in a graduate level teaching methods course. Knowing how technology has changed the way we communicate, the instructor ethically felt bound to educate her students with the new Web 2.0 technologies. First, she chose a free wiki provider and set up the introduction page and another page where students could just experiment with the wiki tools. Excited about the application, she introduced the wiki to her students. The instructor checked the wiki daily to see how the students were engaging and was perplexed by the fact that no one had tried anything on the wiki. Each face-to-face session the instructor talked about the wiki and asked if there were any questions. Later analysis of the reflective journal documented how frustrated the instructor was with the lack of engagement by the students and questioning what she was doing wrong. Then, one day it dawned on her. The population in her course was adults who ranged in age from late 20s to late 50s. Prensky (2001) would probably categorize them as digital immigrants for the most part. Most digital immigrants do not “play” with software or new technologies. They need to have the demonstration and hands on development of the skill. About half way through the course, the instructor took an hour of class time and demonstrated how to log on to the site, how to change the text on the site, and how to attach documents and videos. The engagement improved after that session; however, some students stated that they would just rather write a paper than create a wiki page. However, writing a paper did not allow for the collaborative aspect of the objective that was important for the course.
In every course, this instructor incorporates classroom assessment techniques (Angelo & Cross, 1993) and has a standard questionnaire that students are asked to complete at the end of course. These formative and summative assessments are reviewed and the instructor makes modifications accordingly either in the current course or future iterations of the course. Twenty-nine students completed the course assessment. One qualitative question (In what ways did this course challenge you?) received the most comments concerning the incorporation of the wiki. One student stated, “developing a wiki page was challenging but worthwhile.” Another student wrote, “Opened my eyes to the advancement of technology.” A third student stated, “I needed to be forced to wiki. (Doing it once makes it less scary.)”
While at least half of the students (15 out of 29) were positive about the learning experience, there were several comments concerning the wiki in response to the question: what assignments did you find least interesting? Only four students specifically mentioned the wiki:
1. “The individual wiki posting. However, I did find value in reading and commenting on others’ wiki.”
2. “The wiki-not that it was not interesting, there was too many different tech stuff at once for me.”
3. “Starting the wiki. Reading the posts and offering comments.”
4. “I did not care for the Wiki assignment, but it did introduce me to the concept.”
Even these students demonstrated that they understand the positive value of a wiki.
With the initial experience, the instructor learned she must give class time to demonstrate the basic tools of the wiki. The instructor also thought that wikis had the potential to be a good collaborative learning experience. There were difficulties with the wiki software, because it was not Microsoft Office based. Students are so used to Microsoft office features that when they are asked to do something that does not include the easy click features they may be resistant. Nevertheless, one question remained in the instructor’s mind: Was the learning enhanced for the students with the wiki?
Hazari, North, and Moreland (2009) studied the pedagogical value of wikis. The examined four areas: learning/pedagogy, motivation, group interaction and technology. From their 20 question survey, this instructor adapted 14 statements to fit her format and course. In addition to the qualitative questions that were standard for her end of course assessments, students were asked to rate the 14 items on a Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neutral, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree). For this discussion, the four items concerning the learning theme will be discussed.
A year later after that first attempt and four more courses using a wiki for a group assignment, the instructor collected about 103 responses to most of the 14 statements. (Some students did not respond to each question.) From the responses to the learning statements, students at least perceived that they learned material as a result of the wiki. Sixty percent of students strongly agree or agree that the wiki aided them in learning the course material. Sixty-three percent of the students strongly agree or agree that they learned more from the wiki exercise than they would have if the groups had given class presentations on the topics. When asked if they thought they would retain more of the material as a result of the wiki, 48% of the students responded agree or strongly agree. Over half of the students (57%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “I would like to see wikis used in other courses.” This is in no way empirical data, but an assessment technique used to gather feedback for the instructor. Still the wiki assignment was perceived by over half the students as helping them learn.
The positive perception of the wiki tool was also supported by students’ written responses:
1. “My first wiki and enjoyed it. Something different to learn.”
2. “I enjoyed the wiki versus having to watch a bunch of presentations.”
3. “Great idea and concept allows use of information flow.”
4. “I enjoyed the wiki.” 5) “I like the wiki because I use wikis in other aspects of my life.”
5. “Enjoyed doing the wiki. Very educational both for history and for technology.”
6. “Awesome use of technology to assist in teaching!”
7. “Loved it! It was fun and informative.”
8. “Awesome idea to integrate technology in the learning transaction. Web interaction is a reality now and as educators we need to be smacked in the face and understand that technology is here. Immensely enjoyed the discussion portion as well.”
9. “Very direct, simple use of the technology while focusing on learning content not technology.”
10. “The wiki made it easier to collaborate with other students (i.e. my group members). We did not have to worry about meeting outside of class and could see each other’s progress on the project.”
There were negative comments as well and some that gave good suggestions. One student wrote: “I had never used a wiki before this class. I would recommend more time spent on the features required to build the page, i.e., importing data, better to type in information than cut and paste from Microsoft Word, how importing data after writing text will affect text, how to do the table of contents. Once I understood the mechanics of the wiki it was easy to build.” Another student commented: “Some of the technical aspects took a little while to get the hang of: posting pictures, creating a table of contents.” Another student expressed frustration with the wiki: “Frankly, I spent more time formatting (or attempting to format) the wiki as I did on the research and assimilation of the information, which I found profoundly frustrating. Having said that, it did challenge me in a positive way.” Another student expressed: The Wiki “was not user friendly initially. Would have preferred more in-depth instruction of how to use/post/link. Would have saved some time and frustration. However, I was even more proud that I figured it out on my own. Great tool in the classroom, necessary to stay competitive.”
From this collection of classroom assessments, this instructor feels confirmed that the wiki is a very good tool to use for collaborative learning projects. The use of a wiki allows the instructor to accomplish the collaborative objective as well as the dissemination of knowledge. From the group project wiki pages, all students are required to review and discuss the content. While the discussion element can be accomplished on a message board, the discussion on the wiki pages allow students to link to content within and outside the wiki. The depth and breadth of information that the students are exposed to is far more than can be accomplished in a 30 minute in class small group presentation.
Wikis are not something to be incorporated into a course without strategically thinking about the learning aspect. While instructors may be concerned it is a fad, it is one of the Web 2.0 tools that was designed for collaboration. Remember students are always considered first. Questions for instructors to consider: 1) What is the best tool to use to enhance the learning of this group of students? 2) What are the objectives that the instructor plans to accomplish in the course? 3) What is the best tool available to the instructor to enhance the learning for the students and accomplish the learning outcomes? Even after reading this article, some instructors may still fear failure when incorporating new technological tools. However from this instructor’s experience, the student learning accomplished is worth the risk. If collaborative learning is a part of the course, then a wiki might just be the learning tool that would motivate the students and create a dynamic learning experience.
Angelo, T., & Cross, K. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques (2nd edition). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Funk, T. (2009). Web 2.0 and beyond: Understanding the new online business models, trends, and technologies. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D. (2009). Investigating pedagogical value of wiki technology. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 187-198.
Hopper, K., & Hendricks, R. (2008). Technology integration in the college classroom: A baker’s dozen frugal but promising strategies. Educational Technology 48(5), 10-17.
Hsu, J. (2007). Innovative technologies for education and learning. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 3(3), 70-89.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved December 29, 2009, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/
Staley, D. (2009). Managing the platform: Higher education and the logic of wikinomics. Educause Review, 44(1), 36-47. Retrieved December 10, 2009, from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume44/ManagingthePlatformHigherEduca/163579.
Tapscott, D., & Williams, A. D.(2008). Wikinomics: How mass collaboration changes everything. New York: Penguin Group.