Wiki’s Advantages and Challenges
Using for a group collaboration and discussion definitely differed from what I was accustomed to in an LMS standard threaded discussion space; I have used Wikis before but only as a solo venture or a small group collaboration. I have not used it for a larger collaborative group effort which is kind of ironic as this is what it was intendUsing for a group collaboration and discussion definitely differed from what I was accustomed to in an LMS standard threaded discussion space; I have used Wikis before but only as a solo venture or a small group collaboration. I have not used it for a larger collaborative group effort which is kind of ironic as this is what it was intended for, used collaboratively by multiple users. I found this experience to be both beneficial and challenging over using our LMS (WebCT) for collaborative learning.
Advantages of WebCT
- Anyone could edit a particular post at any time. For example, if another student posted about Subject X, I could go in add to that subject matter and even add additional points. In WebCT, the reader has to read through multiple posts to get the entire subject discussion (quite a cumbersome and time consuming task).
- The wiki software keeps track of edits made. This came in helpful as I had posted in another area with a student and was wondering why no one else had contributed by mid-week. I found the “history” tab and realized that students were contributing, just not in the same area. In WebCT, the student and I would have continued on wondering where everyone was, not knowing we were lost in cyber world.
- Ease of use. I found the Wiki software much easier to use than the WebCT software and users don’t have to enable HTML to get WYSIWYG editing. A small benefit but nevertheless a benefit.
Disadvantages
- Wiki isn’t really “Conversation based”. There were times when I wanted to add a small comment to someone’s post in the wiki but acquiesced because I didn’t feel it was significant enough to add to the collaboration. In WebCT, I feel comfortable adding just a quick point or idea without compromising the integrity of the initial post. Although one of Wiki’s advantages is that any user can add to a subject, one of the disadvantages is that user’s might feel their point isn’t significant enough to add to the collaboration.
- Time – Because this was a group collaboration with several students contributing at different times, I felt anxious and waiting for other students to contribute as I like to get right down to my assignments. In WebCT, I just post my opinions and contributions and patiently wait for students to post and comment. In Wiki, I was worrying about “over contributing” as well as “under contributing”, both sensations I do not feel using WebCT.
- As I already indicated, there was a point when myself and another student were posting in an area that was different from the rest of the class. Had I not found the “history” tab, this would have been futile experience.
Overall, I enjoyed using the wiki for this Unit but prefer the give and take nature of WebCT. If it was a small group collaborative effort (3 or 4 members), I’d certainly like to use Wiki again.