Having infrequently used a Wiki for work purposes, I know they are not entirely simple to use as originally thought – that is if you want to format the appearance to include bullet points, tables and headings. However, having said that, the Internet in its bounty provides if you ask. Here are some links to some cheat sheets I’ve used before. If you’ve had a little experience with HTML coding in the past (or present) it will be a lot easier for you.
However, the ease in which one can create a space through which multiple contributors can create a page of information is invaluable. The challenge for educators, as it ever is, is to devise solid assessment tasks, criteria and marking. I am currently toying with the idea for a class of which I teach for 6 weeks to create an ongoing wiki of how to research with the library.
To ensure the success of the wiki one would of course need to ensure all students;
1. Know what a wiki is
2. Know how to use and edit the wiki
3. Monitor the wiki for unintentional deletions, inappropriate comments and intentionally incorrect information.
4. Carefully lay out to the students the criteria for marking the wiki exercise.
I know from prior reading and experience that peer based instruction is often more valuable than straight instruction from an educator. At this point, it is an idea only, one of which I will be investigating further, probably without too much difficulty if my quick Google Scholar search has indicated. Any experiences, both positive and negative, you would like to share with me would be gratefully received and I will let you know in a follow up post what I find. Kind of like a building a Wiki (^_^)
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