Potential uses of a Wiki in education

**Potential uses of the Wiki as an educational tool**:

·
Students
can use the wiki to construct group projects. The wiki itself allows for a permanent
record and ongoing documentation of their work.

·
Wikis
are good for students to summarize and reflect on readings or course
material.  It allows sharing of resources
and enables use of a communal bibliography.

·
It
is especially advantageous for online, distance or blended learning where the
teacher or instructor can publish materials, readings or alter and update the
syllabus as the course progresses.

·
Wikis
can be used as a communal educational resource and experience sharing
environment in teacher communities of practice.
It allows teachers to share materials along with their comments,
reflections and critiques and make modifications on the fly.

·
Wikis
can be used as a concept mapping tool.
Students can use the hyperlink functionality to connect related topics
and then change these connections as their knowledge base extends.

·
Wikis
offer an alternative to more commonly used presentation software such as
PowerPoint.  Not only is it free, but
allows for similar use of multimedia.  It
also allows for in-situ modification and comments by members of a group or
peers.

·
Wikis
offer an attractive alternative to conventional group work.  Rather than having to rely on gathering in
the same location, or sending files around via email, the wiki allows for
groups to work together regardless of geographical location.  It also offers advantages over similar tools such
as Google Drive or Dropbox by keeping track of all the revisions and
modifications made, allowing users to undo potential mistakes.  It also makes it significantly easier for
assessment of group work as it allows the assessor to identify the
contributions of each individual member of the group and often encountered
issues.

·
Wikis
also offer an alternative venue for students providing feedback for courses or
units.  They can collaboratively express
a group opinion on a topic or course.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Grosseck, G.
(2009). To use or not to use web 2.0 in higher education? *Procedia Social*
and Behavioral Sciences*, 1(478–482).*
2. ↑ Redecker, C.,
Ala-Mutka, K., Bacigalupo, M., Ferrari, A., & Punie, Y. (2009). *Learning*
2.0: The Impact of Web 2.0 Innovations on Education and Training in Europe.
Seville (Spain): European Comission Joint Research Centre Institute for
Prospective Technological Studies.
3. ↑ Felea, C., & Stanca, L. (2012). Wiki Tools in
Teaching English for Specific (Academic) Purposes – Improving Students’
Participation . *ICWL*, 241–250.
4. ↑ Boulos, M. N.,
Maramba, I., & Wheeler, S. (2006). Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new
generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and
education. *BMC Medical Education*, 6:41.
5. ↑ Alexander, B. (2006). Web 2.0 A New Wave of Innovation
for Teaching and Learning? *EDUCAUSE Review*, 33-44.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Park, H. W. (2012).
Examining academic Internet use using a combined method. *Qual Quant*,
46:251–266.
7. ↑ Redecker, C.,
Ala-Mutka, K., Bacigalupo, M., Ferrari, A., & Punie, Y. (2009). *Learning*
2.0: The Impact of Web 2.0 Innovations on Education and Training in Europe.
Seville (Spain): European Comission Joint Research Centre Institute for
Prospective Technological Studies.
8. ↑ Thompson, J. (2007). Is Education 1.0 Ready for Web 2.0
Students? *Innovate: Journal of Online Education*, 3:4(5).
9. ↑ Forte, A., & Bruckman, A. (2007). Constructing
Text: Wiki as a Toolkit for (Collaborative?) Learning . *WikiSym’07* (pp.
31-41). Québec, Canada.: ACM.
10. ↑ de Pedro Puente, X. (2007). New Method Using Wikis and
Forums to Evaluate Individual Contributions in Cooperative Work while Promoting
Experiential Learning: Results from Preliminary Experience . *WikiSym’07*
(pp. 87-92). Québec, Canada. : ACM.