Definition
A wiki is a collaborative Web site allowing you to add new content and delete and edit content that has already been published. Because of its existence on the Web, you can log in to a wiki from any computer with Internet access; you can work at any time of the day or night; and you can collaborate with others without a physical meeting.
Wikis in your classroom
These are all positive benefits of using the technology, but also consider the pedagogical benefits of using a wiki in your classroom. How might you incorporate it into an assignment? What would you need to consider? How would it support your students' learning or your own teaching?
Will Richardson (2006), a proponent of wikis in the classroom, states that
early implementations of wikis in educational settings have shown that the more autonomy teachers give to students in terms of negotiating the scope and quality of the content they are creating, the better. It's a very democratic process of knowledge creation. In using wikis, students are not only learning how to publish content; they are also learning how to develop and use all sorts of collaborative skills, negotiating with others to agree on correctness, meaning, relevance, and more. In essence, students begin to teach each other. (p. 65)1
