It is difficult to truly estimate the number of wikis currently used in education settings. The use of wikis, a natural tool for distance education, is increasing in education. Wikis are used to facilitate group study or team projects. Wikis are used in a number of ways.
Here's a short video by pbwiki with some suggestions on using wikis in education:
As posted on YouTube by ramitsethi
How can wikis be used by educational institutions (e.g., universities)?
- to create knowledge repositories
- to build communities of practice by creating a collective repository of information
- to build expertise in a subject area, which can be refined over time by the community members and other interested individuals
- administrative scheduling
- faculty profiles (e.g., research interests, courses taught, areas of expertise)
- current events and activities
- clubs and organizations
- student feedback
- journaling
- establishing and managing study groups, study buddies, and mentor matching
- student services, such as ride sharing
- fan sites for teams (e.g., football, baseball)
- posting job opportunities
- posting opportunities to participate in research
- building intranet sites for groups or events
- posting volunteer opportunities
- creating a local restaurant directory with reviews
How can wikis be used by instructors or teachers?
- to post course information such as
- course syllabus,
- study resources,
- external links,
- assignments,
- project requirements,
- project planning and management,
- project information,
- frequently asked questions (FAQs), and
- extra credit projects or assignments - to create interactive activities for the students
- to monitor online discussions among students to determine problem areas
- to post expert reviews – post student work for general discussion but post a review by an expert
- to build a collective knowledge base of course materials across school sessions or years
What types of student activities can be supported by wikis?
- homework hand-in
- case library of example designs and solutions
- student advice page
- build a glossary
- exam reviews
- student galleries
Some educators are apprehensive about using wikis because of the ads that are often displayed on free wiki sites. Some wiki services offer services for a fee where ads can be removed. However, some wiki hosting services offer ad-free wikis for qualified educators. Wetpaint offers free ad-free wikis for educators. Also, Wikispaces has been offering up to 100,000 ad-free free wikis since 2007.
Here's a short video created by pbwiki that describes the benefits of using wikis and collaboration in education:
As posted on YouTube by ramitsethi
If you're using wikis in education and learning, post a comment and tell us all about it.
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