Wikis: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners


“IF A CHILD CAN'T LEARN THE WAY WE TEACH, MAYBE WE SHOULD TEACH THE WAY THEY LEARN.” ― IGNACIO ESTRADA


A wiki is a cross between a website and a word document, in the form of an interactive page that makes possible to students to read, generate and publish content online (Wiseman and Belknap, 2013, p.360). A wiki allows people to add, modify or delete content in collaboration with others. The Wiki’s content does not have a defined owner. A wiki can be used for knowledge management, and note taking. Ward Cunningham created the first wiki in 1994, called Wikiwikiweb. He described the task “the simplest online database that could possibly work” (HandsonERP, 2014). Wiseman and Belknap (2013) further suggest that “Wikis can serve as a knowledge platform where learners form a community in which they share their knowledge with a group, discuss issues, post interesting pieces of information, and work together” (p. 362). 

SHOULD WE USE WIKIS IN THE CLASSROOM? PROS. 

Although Wikis have existed since 1994, its application in classroom instruction seems to be scarce. Boulos, Marambal and Wheeler observed that “when faculty plan appropriately, wikis allow learners to actively participate in their own knowledge construction and also participate in co-writing with others” (as cited in King & Cox, 2011 p. 121). The application of Wikis in the classroom have myriad of possibilities. Research by Wiseman and Belknap (2013) shows that in ESL reading groups, wikis can be used to engage students in academic activities that are predominantly social. By using a wiki, students can create online glossaries to define vocabulary in a novel, and add vocabulary activities. Other students can create timelines in order to trace the plot of the novel, or make a critique on the book they are reading. (p. 364). Due to its collaborative approach, wikis are easily integrated in adult education.

CONS OF THE USE OF WIKIS

The use of wikis in the classroom could be beneficial, but some aspects should be considered during the application of wikis on instruction. The use of passwords to protect the site potentially prevents any individual from posting inappropriate or irrelevant content. Administrators can activate a notification button to get notified of changes and edit or remove any content that is irrelevant for the project (King and Cox, 2011). An article posted by Educause Learning Initiative (2005) indicated that a wiki represents the collective view of the group that authors it, therefore the wiki itself has a collective bias. (as cited in King and Cox, 2011, p. 123). The use of wikis as an instructional tool could potentially enrich adult learners’ experience through collaboration.

 References
Wiseman, Cynthia S., and Joshua P. Belknap. "Wikis: A Knowledge Platform for Collaborative Learning in ESL Reading." TESOL Journal 4.2 (2013): 360-69. Web.

HandsonERP. (2014, Mar 15) What is Wiki? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5HijgcZ0bc



King, K. P., & Cox, T. D. (2011). The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology: Leveraging Digital Media, Web 2.0 and More for Learning (1st ed.). Information Age Publishing Inc.

Comments

  1. JaiMenonApril 4, 2019 at 12:20 PM

    Thanks for your insight Elsa! I too noted the Educause Learning Initiative as cited by King and Cox (2011) collective perspective and bias. While it was mentioned there was not a "resolution" or "solution" to the existence of the bias. Would instructors assisting adult learners inform learners of the bias and work to assist them to counter the it?

    In a way it feels like a bias is a given. If you are there to write about science fiction, certain psychology theories, or fictional character biographies, that is what you are going to focus on and create a culture around. It might be for limited sharing or open to the public, but the collective project has a focus. So I suppose, in my thoughts, does bias = focus and vice versa in their reasoning?

    After a trip to the university library website, I found an article concerning methodological perspective bias. While not directly related, it gives a few good tips on being able to reexamine articles and works in peer or dissertation review and challenge personal perspective bias. One such tip is to memo your thoughts and stay open minded, and it was noted that "the potential for introducing bias must be acknowledged and managed" (Deady, 2011). It may be a good step for the instructor to point out the potential for such bias, although in most cases a perspective is assigned by the instructor for exercise. Either way it might be a good idea to note that the use of such specific perspectives could create a bias toward that particular approach or school of thought.

    Thanks again!

    Deady, R. (2011, April 11). Reading with methodical perspective bias: A journey into classic grounded theory. Directory of Open Access Journals. Retrieved from http://groundedtheoryreview.com/2011/04/11/reading-with-methodological-perspective-bias-a-journey-into-classic-grounded-theory-2/

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    Replies
    1. Les LauberApril 4, 2019 at 10:56 PM

      JaiMenon and Chaser, I think collective bias is something we must guard against both as facilitators and learners. Although serious, thoughtful collaboration among learners can lead to improved understandings and new knowledge, when we don't challenge our own assumptions and our own data, and find evidence to support or verify them, we end up with very poor quality knowledge, indeed (Dron, 2007). As evidence that this is a real phenomenon, I point to poor science "knowledge" that can be disproved with mere logic such as the "flat earth" and antivaccination movements.

      Best

      --Les

      Dron, J. (2007). Designing the undesignable: Social software and control. Educational Technology & Society, 10 (3), 60-71.

      Delete
    2. Elsa Valarezo de IretonApril 5, 2019 at 10:39 AM

      Thank you for stopping by, folks! As adult instructors, I think it is important that we address the collective bias in our classroom. Of course, when it comes to expressing opinions, bias become visible. However, when stating facts in assignments, bias should be "put away" and find a neutral standpoint that reflects the facts. Again, as adult instructors, I think we need to educate our students, and the best way to address this, it's having candid conversations with our learners, often showing a neutral tone. For example, when my students and I talk about politics, we like to see the positive and negative aspects of it. We need to motivate our students to find concessions to their opinions, so they can exercise their critical thinking.

      Have a great weekend!

      Delete
  2. CHASERApril 7, 2019 at 7:03 PM

    Elsa,
    I think hinted at throughout the reading but never really out right stated is that Wikis are not applicable to every learning situation. Ramen, et al. (2005, as cited by King & Cox, 2011, pg 128) followed how wikis were actually used in several different environments and discovered that they were primarily used as a way to collate information rather than create knowledge. In your case, as an ESL teacher, I think Wikis would be a great way for the students to create an online glossary or picture dictionary, as you mentioned in your post.

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  3. BridgetWApril 7, 2019 at 8:22 PM

    Reading your post, one point that my mind really focused in on was on how Wikis do not have a singular, defined owner. This prompted a reflection on my end on the additional challenges this brings to those who may be consuming the wiki made by others, After all, when we talk about intelligently consuming information, part of what we are taught (and teach!) is to evaluate the source of the information and author, and consider their credibility for the topic being covered. Similarly, the lack of immediately available timestamp on information can make it challenging to determine how up the date the information is. Thinking about the practical usage of a wiki and it's usage from that perspective only emphasizes the importance of attributing information onward to credible source citations. After all, if you cannot judge the credibility of individual authors, it is even more important to attribute where specific information came from. And even from a collaborative standpoint, timestamps are very helpful to everyone knowing what was done by previous contributors. For example, at work we have a Google file that acts a wiki for tracking programs, and we've added a section to the file that contributors update to reflect what date the included information is accurate through. (E.g., if I saw it was up to date through February 17, 2019, I would know my coworkers had updated the wiki for programs through that date, and I would work on the next dates and update the date to what I then contributed.) Combined, less immediately attributable collaborative spaces can be extremely useful, but certainly have their own unique challenges that have their own unique mix of possible solutions. This is true not only for wikis, but I would say for many of the technologies we are exploring.

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