by Caroline Street

Created on: June 07, 2008   Last Updated: June 17, 2008

Wikis are known for collaboration. According to wikipedia, itself a wiki, "is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language[1][2]. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. For example, the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis.[2] Wikis are used in businesses to provide affordable and effective intranets and for Knowledge Management. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as 'the simplest online database that could possibly work'." The area of focus should be on how it assists colleges since both students and programs benefit through the utilization of wikis.

Colleges benefit whenever collaboration occurs between students. The lecture hall is an environment that does not assist in the meticulous processing of information. Seminars and papers are the traditional form of expressing knowledge and insight; however, there are problems with these two forms.

Time, class size and paper grades inhibit the actual communication of information. Wikis can assist in this area with creating pages where a demonstration of synthesis, application, and evaluation must occur. For professors, it also creates a permanent record for access and review from term to term or year-to-year, a database like Ward Cunningham explained in Wikipedia.

Finally, it's a way for a professor or a department or a school to review content and assess progress. Is the end result actually achieved the desired goal? Are the students learning enough, or processing enough or building upon their knowledge to a necessary or expected level? These types of answers promote change and adjustments in curriculum; an obvious unseen benefit of wikis.

For students, the benefits are more obvious. Logistically, wkiks allow for collaboration without the physical hindrances of location and time. Flexibility around schedules exists. Content, however, is more the point behind wkis. Students, through the use of wikis, can build upon research and experiences on a personal level rather than absorbing information and going no further in the learning hierarchy. Wikis become a place where documentation and consensus occurs, authenticating the product and making it as relevant as possible in an academic environment.

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