Trends and Issues

Wikis in Education

Created by Brendon Wadewww.bwade.com.au

Introduction 1• What is a wiki?

-Online Web 2.0 collaboration tool-Easy to use-Asynchronous-Hyper linking ability-Trackability-Example

• Research -ERIC and EdITLib databases-Peer Reviewed Literature-Limited amount in primary and secondary education

Introduction 2• Distribution of articles across the education sectors

Primary (4)

Secondary (2)

Higher Education (1)

Cross Sector (1)

Introduction 3• Distribution of articles by country of origin

Hong Kong (2)

Australia (2)

UK (2)

Japan (1)

Spain (1)

Trends 1• Diversity in learning tasks across research

Researchers Educational Sector and Year Level

Learning Area Task Title Sample Size

Hastie, Casey and Tarter (2010)

Secondary: Year 10/11 Physical Education PE Invasion Game 28 students

Mak and Coniam (2008)

Primary: Year 7 Literacy: Writing School Brochure 24 students

Tokito and Kubota (2011)

Primary: Year 3 Culture Intercultural Understanding

32 students

Grant (2009) Secondary: Year 9 History Innovation in Technology since the 1950s

45 students (estimate)

Piffaré and Staarman (2011)

Primary: Year 3/4 Science Colony on Mars 25 students(12 students in depth)

Woo, Chu, Ho and Li (2011)

Primary: Year 5 Literacy: Writing Text About an Animal

38 students

Thompson and Absalom (2011)

Secondary/Tertiary: Year 11/12, undergraduate students

Italian Italian Regions 45 students (estimate)

Ruth and Houghton (2009)

Tertiary: undergraduate and graduate students

Workforce Technology

Mobile Workforce Technology Textbook

86 students

Trends 2

• Common thread of collaborative writing

• Trends categorised as-Collaborative / Social-Cognitive-Pedagogical-Technological

Trends 3

• Collaborative / Social Trends-collaborative nature of wikis-equality

Trends 4

• Cognitive Trends-higher order thinking-Thinking Together:

Neil Mercer video

-reflective tool-collective ownership of co-constructed work

Trends 5

• Pedagogical Trends-motivation and engagement-authentic tasks-Experts in the Field-assessment-scaffolding learning-shift from consumers to creators of knowledge-variety of learning areas

Trends 6

Physical Education

Writing

Cultural

History

Science

Italian

WorkforceTechnology

Learning areas represented

Trends 7

• Technological Trends-24/7 virtual classroom-Trackability function

Issues 1• Trends can also present as the issues• Solutions can be found for many issues

• Issues categorised as-Collaborative / Social-Research Related-Pedagogical-Technological

Issues 2

• Collaborative / Social Issues-difficulty with editing work of peers-social conflicts

Issues 3

• Research Related Issues-limitation of available research-limitation of primary school related research

Issues 4

• Pedagogical Issues-prior skills needed

Issues 5

• Technological Issues-technology mediated learning environment-slow loading problems

Conclusion

• Harnessing the affordances of wikis• Finding solutions to issues• Future research opportunities• Future potential is immense

References

Grant, L. (2009). ‘I don’t care do ur own page!’ A case study of using wikis for collaborative work in a UK secondary school. Learning, Media and Technology, 34(2), 105-117.

Hastie, P.A., Casey, A. & Tarter, A. (2010). A case study of wikis and student-designed Games in physical education. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 19(1), 79-91.

Herrington, J., Reeves, T.C. & Oliver, R. (2010). A guide to authentic e-learning. Routledge: London and New York.

Mak, B. & Coniam, D. (2008). Using wikis to enhance and develop writing skills among secondary school students in Hong Kong. System: An International Journal of Educational

Technology and Applied Linguistics, 36(3), 437-455.Pifarré, M. & Staarman, J.K. (2011). Wiki-supported collaborative learning in primary Education: How a

dialogic space is created for thinking together. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 6, 187-205.Ruth, A. & Houghton, L. (2009). The wiki way of learning. Australasian Journal of Educational

Technology, 25(2), 135-152.Thompson, C. & Absalom, M. (2011). Working with wikis: Collaboration, authorship and assessment in

higher education. In S. Barton et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Global Learn Asia Pacific 2011 (pp. 375-384). AACE.

Tokito, J. & Kubota, K. (2011). A study on effect of inter-school collaborative learning with overseas through using ICT. In S. Barton et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Global Learn Asia Pacific 2011 (pp. 385-387). AACE.

Woo, M., Chu, S., Ho, A. & Li, X. (2011). Using a wiki to scaffold primary-school students’ collaborative writing. Educational Technology & Society, 14(1), 43-54.

Thanks for watching this presentation!

~Brendon