I did not realize previous to this week’s reading but I have
worked on an additional wiki and not even know it until now. In a previous
class I had, our group utilized Google Docs to share our ideas with one another.
At the time, I thought it was a great way for our group to collaborate and for
each to contribute to our project (which seemed to go very well, by the way). I
guess I did not really realize fully what a wiki was.
There are many pros for adult learners to use wikis. The wiki
allows for the sharing of knowledge between collaborators (Biasutti &
El-Deghaidy, 2012; Romeo, Brennan, Rothman, & Mitchell, 2010) as well as
engaging learners (Hazari, North, & Moreland, 2009) in a web-based format.
By using a wiki, the adult learner is able to work with others in a
collaborative way. Each person involved in the wiki project has the ability to
add, edit, or make changes so that each participant has a larger stake in the
project. It seems much easier to work on a collaborative project by using the
wiki rather than another method such as a discussion board, which also results
in “higher quality submissions” (King & Cox, 2011, p. 126). An interesting
study by Altanopolou, Tselios, Katsanos, Georgoutsou, & Panagiotaki (2015)
found that a student with a lower initial performance (based on a pretest)
scored significantly more improvement (based on a posttest) than a student with
a high initial performance even though the student’s role within the activity
showed no affect. The authors concluded “the results strongly indicates that
students learn with wikis regardless of the activity’s class and subject”
(Altanopolou et al, 2015, p. 519).
I have tried to think of a con regarding adult learners
using wikis and having a hard time with really coming up with anything other
than the learner may be afraid of messing something up as I was during my last
class. The learner may be a bit apprehensive and nervous of using technology
he/she is not familiar with, but that goes away with practice and becoming
accustomed to the program being used.
References:
Altanopoulou, P., Tselios, N., Katsanos, C., Georgoutsou,
M., & Panagiotaki, M. A. (2015). Wiki-Mediated Activities in Higher
Education: Evidence-Based Analysis of Learning Effeciveness Across Three
Studies. Educational Technology &
Society. 18(4), 511-522.
Biasutti, M. & El-Deghaidy, H. (2012). Using wiki in
teacher education: Impact on knowledge management processes and student
satisfaction. Computers & Education.
861-872.
Hazari, S., North, A., Moreland, D. (2009). Investigating
pedagogical value of wiki technology. Journal
of Information Systems Education. 20(2), 187-198.
King, K. & King, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information
Age Publishing.
Romeo, L., Brennan, M., Rothman, T., & Mitchell, D.
(2010). Innovative cooperative learning. The
Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin.
I'm interested in your experience with Google Docs. I read about it in the readings for this week, but have never tried using it.
ReplyDeleteReading about wiki features in West and West make me curious to know if Google Docs will let you set up widgets and RSS feeds? I use RSS feeds for professional newsletters at work and might be interested in integrating those into a future wiki.
Sorry. Honestly, I really do not know for sure. I only used it the one time. I think DeAnna has had much more experience at using it. It was very easy to use though for what I used it for.
DeleteReading your first paragraph, it is almost identical to mine. My mind was blown when I realized Google Docs is a wiki. I use Google Apps all of the time and had no idea it was classified as a wiki.
ReplyDeleteIn reading your response the idea that a student can learn so significantly in whatever subject through the wiki experience is really interesting. I'm going to have to read that article to see how they were implemented. I would assume it was the implementation that made the learning more effective as I know sometimes in using it with my students there are some who gain a lot from collaborating on a Doc, but they are doing more of the work than other group members which is oftentimes an issue in collaborative work.
Where was Google Docs classified as a wiki? I really need to know because it does not meet any of the definitions or base requirements for a wiki that I am familiar with.
DeleteHi Ashley,
DeleteI saw it referenced on page 128 under "Wiki Resources" in the King & Cox textbook. It is also on page 7 under "Free Wiki Services" in the West & West textbook.
I'm completely intrigued now to try Google Docs, thanks for the reply DeAnna.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, the comments in your posting are thought provoking. The study that Altanopolou et al. did and showed an increase in post test results has a great deal of application potential in education. Involving learners in creating their own learning can pose some risk, but in a setting where someone is moderating the process, that latitude to arrange information in a way that makes sense to them is not only exciting, but assists them in doing their own scaffolding of learning. Thanks for sharing that one, I'll have to go look it up.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification here, it makes sense. Wondering why the authors posted that as correct information?
ReplyDeleteI agree, Ashley. Google Docs is certainly not a Wiki in the sense that it is now used. My hypothesis is that when this research was posted, Google Docs were much more limited in their capabilities. I have only been using Google Docs for 5 years, whereas, if I remember correctly, these articles were posted 7-8 years ago. At the time of publication, it is likely Google Docs was only useful as a collaborative document. Today, I liken Google Docs to Microsoft Word or other word processor. I actually encourage my students to use it for writing if they cannot afford Microsoft Office.
ReplyDelete