Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Wikis: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners

Wikis: Defined:

West and West (2009) stated, “A wiki is an online collaborative writing tool.  As defined earlier, a wiki is a “collaborative web space where anyone can add content and anyone can edit content that has already been published” (Richardson, 2006, p. 8).  The first wiki was created by Ward Cunningham (read more about him here) (West & West, 2009).  Although wikis have been around for some time, the use of wikis in adult education has increased in recent years (Lari, 2011; West & West, 2009).  The question we are faced with then becomes; what are the pros and cons of wikis for adult learners?
Wikis: Pros for Adult Learners:

Current literature regarding various Web 2.0 tools, including wikis, cites numerous “pros” for the use of wikis in adult education.  Some of these pros include:
-          Allowing students the ability to collaborate on group projects (Lari, 2011; West & West, 2009)

-          Providing a platform to “elaborate on topics in an asynchronous manner” (West & West, 2009, p. 5)

-          Supports team building efforts (West & West, 2009)

-          Supports the use of multimedia ( On Choy & Chi Ng, 2007)

-          Supports the expansion of ideas (West & West, 2009)

-          Dynamic form of communication (West & West, 2009)

For more information on how wikis can be used for collaborative learning check out this video:
 

Wikis: Cons for Adult Learners
Although there has been much support for the use of wikis in adult education, there have also been some “cons” discussed regarding this Web 2.0 tool.  Some of these cons include:

-          The ability for multiple users to edit content (this could lead to misinformation or inappropriate types of communication) (Educause Learning Initiative, 2005)

-          Structuring of content can be challenging (Educause Learning Initiative, 2005)

-          Limitations in security and management depending on the type of wiki service being used (West & West, 2005)

-          Creates a collaborative bias (Educause Learning Initiative, 2005)

For more information on using wikis check out some of these great resources:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb09/vol66/num05/Learning-with-Blogs-and-Wikis.aspx
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7004.pdf

 References:

On Choy, S. &  Chi Ng, K. (2007). Implementing wiki software for supplementing online
     learning. Australian Journal of Adult Educational Technology, 23(2), 209-226. Retrieved
     from:http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet23/choy.html

Educause Learning Initiative (2005). 7 things you should know about…wikis. Retrieved
     from:http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7004.pdf

Ferriter, B. (2009). Learning with blogs and wikis. How Teachers Learn, 66(5), 34-38.
     Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
     leadership/feb09/vol66/num05/Learning-with-Blogs-and-Wikis.aspx
 
Lari, P. (2011). The use of wikis for collaboration in higher education. In K.P.
     King & T.D. Cox, The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology (121-133). Charlotte, NC:

     Information Age Publishing, Inc.

West, J.A, & West, M.L. (2009). Using wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-
     write web. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 

 
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9 comments:

  1. amhoekmaSeptember 18, 2013 at 7:16 AM

    Amanda:
    I like the simple format of bullets for pros and cons of utilizing wikis. I like your blog layout as well, great job! I like the idea and concept of group collaboration, but I have found in many of my courses that my students do not like to work in groups. I have done paired work in class and they still struggle to communicate and work together on projects? Do you think this is in part due to our need to socialize less because of social media? Would a wiki encourage collaboration because the students would be in on “online” environment that they have come to be in so much in their life? I always think that I am doing them a favor by breaking up the amount of work for each person by putting them in groups or pairs, but they just do not seem to respond well to this type of collaboration.

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    1. UnknownSeptember 21, 2013 at 9:59 AM

      Hi Annie,

      I know exactly how you feel, every time I mention the words "group project" there is usually a collective groan (even in my online class I can "hear" them doing it...). I think that a big issue with group projects, and why many students don't like them, is because they feel like the work is not distributed easily. I remember in college, and even now, having to do group projects and feeling like no matter how we divided the work that I always ended up doing more or working harder than my group members. One good thing about using wikis is that each student can provide their own input, but their input can also be edited and improved by the other members. The other thing I like about the idea of using wikis is that as the instructor you can see who added what information and worked on what, so that would be a good tool to really monitor how much work each student put in.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:29 PM

    Hi Amanda.

    First, let me commend you on your blog design and layout. It is visually appealing, easy to use, and has helpful inclusion of video and graphics.

    I also keyed in on the con of wikis due to a "collective bias" (Lari, 2011, p. 123). I believe that any time you have a group development effort that there is the risk that some members' voices can be drowned out by the more dominant personalities or simply those who are members of socially privileged groups. I also think there is also the risk that, as the group composes and edits their work, truly original thinking may be eliminated in an effort to reach consensus.

    The question is, how can an instructor combat this problem when integrating wikis into their curriculum? How do we make sure that all members are heard equally and that the best ideas make it to the final product?

    Holly


    Lari, P. (2011). The Use of Wikis for Collaboration in Higher Education. In K.P. King & T. D.
    Cox (Eds.) The Professor's Guide to Taming Technology (pp.121-133). United States of American: Information Age Publishing Inc.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownSeptember 21, 2013 at 10:01 AM

      Holly,

      Thanks for your feedback. When working with students, especially when they are working on a wiki project, I think it would be helpful to encourage them to use their own personal strengths. In our first meeting for our group project we all discussed what our strengths were in relation to the project. I feel good about my ability to do research and to edit content, but I am not great when it comes to the technical part of creating the wiki or working with graphics. Some of my group members had experience putting together a wiki so they felt like they could work on that aspect. When working with students on a project like this I think it is important to encourage them to not try and overpower each other, but to utilize their abilities as best as they can.

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    2. UnknownSeptember 22, 2013 at 10:18 AM

      Good point Amanda! I think that beginning a wiki project with the members talking about their strengths and what they fell they could bring to the project is an effective way to give each contributor a "voice". As you point out, the group can divide up the work in such a way that each member supports the other - adding based one's strengths, supporting each other based on individual challenge areas. I also agree that when an instructor highlights the potential of group work in wikis to lead to a "collective bias" will help those students keep the dialog open.

      Holly

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  3. UnknownSeptember 20, 2013 at 4:37 PM

    I love your girly blog!! Pink is one of my favorite colors. I also love the face you included a video and extra resources for people. Blogs and websites can get uninteresting and visual attractiveness helps someone to want to stay on the page. I especially like your post about wikis supporting team building. That is one advantage that I really understand now. The only disadvantage I see is the open editing feature; that could cause some problems....great blog!!

    Sonnie

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    1. UnknownSeptember 21, 2013 at 10:04 AM

      Hi Sonnie,

      Thanks for the compliments on my blog! This is the first blog I have ever created so it has been a learning experience.

      I definitely agree that the editing features of a wiki can be concerning. I think this can create issues not only with the validity and reliability of the information as discussed by Lari (2011), but also with issues of editing other students' content and making changes which should not be made. This is one reason why when working with adult learners we need to be sure to explain the purpose of a wiki, as well as its features before letting students get to work on their own.

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  4. UnknownSeptember 21, 2013 at 10:34 AM

    Hi Amanda,
    I may be speaking too soon as I have only completed two other wikis before, but the only con of the wiki that I have experienced first hand was the first bullet you mentioned: The ability for multiple users to edit content. During my first wiki assignment, I only had one other partner so I this wasn’t an issue for me, but during my second wiki assignment there were three of us and we edited over each others work a couple of times. Luckily, it didn’t take to much time to fix the page, but I did feel frustrated about re-doing my work. According to West & West (2009) “…most wikis are set up easily to view the wiki history and to restore prior version, just in case users overwrite or change text they want to keep” (p.16). I found this wasn’t an easy feature to use. This time around, there are four people in my group and we’ve decided to send a quick email before we start editing the wiki and again once we are done. Do you have any better ideas on how we can avoid editing over each other’s work?

    West, J. and West, M. (2009). Using Wikis for Online Collaboration: The Power of the Read-Write Web. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 9780470343333

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  5. Gary'sAdultEd September 22, 2013 at 5:01 AM

    Hey Amanda,

    Thanks for including a video within your blog this week, having the ability to provide multimedia within blogs and wikis certainly adds to the content. I watched portions of the recorded webinar as I was curious how the presenter, a middle school teacher, was incorporating the wiki into her normal seated classes. It was very interesting to see how she formatted her activities across all of her periods throughout the day. So the students in Period one would have an opportunity to collaborate with students in another period. I have to say I was a bit skeptical of the application of wikis in a seated classroom; however this educator was taking full advantage of the technology to reach across the time constraints within her normal teaching day. All pretty well thought out!

    Gary

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