The use of wikis in the MET program really opened my eyes to their potential in education. The fantastic affordance of working with wikis, is not that they are necessarily always correct (although Wikipedia usually is! ), but the discussion over the content. People engaging in debate about a particular subject matter has been the cornerstone of learning for years. Wiki assignments preserve this learning format for students in the online environment. They are about collaboratively constructing a body of knowledge – isn’t this what education is all about?
There is one particular learning activity I learned from my MET program that I have incorporated into the design of other courses. At the beginning of the term, the instructor lists the main curricular categories in a wiki. Students then sign up for a particular category to research and write an entry for. As part of the assignment, students can also edit or extend other student’s work. This kind of activity puts the student in charge of their own learning. There is choice, collaboration, and of course pride that goes into creating a public work.
I recently started a wiki with two other co-workers on Web 2.0 tools for the classroom. We created it in PBWorks because it was free and has features to control who is allowed to edit the wiki. There are also some features that allow you to customize the appearence and layout. In my previous role I would often be asked about tool selection. We wanted to work on a public resource together with other designers and instructors. Please have a look and please keep in mind that it is just a start!
chrisaitken