Wikis: a journey of a sandbox

Wikis Defined
The word, wiki, as you may or may not know is the Hawaiian word for "quick," and the concept of the word has definitely been embodied in the web application as we know it. Fast it is. But what is a wikis? What is Wiki defines it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work." Wiki is a piece of server software that gives users the freedom to create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. "Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly."

A 2006 clip on the online growth and tech support of Wikepedia in the last 4 years (55 min.)

In the Beginning
So who first used wikis? According to 7 Things You Should Know About Wikis, scientists and engineers in the mid 1990s used wikis as dynamic knowledge bases. Wikis were considered to be "on the fly," and could be seen by everyone online and commented on by anyone as well. Faculty and staff in academia have also taken advantage of this instructional application by using wikis as repositories of their meeting notes. At the time of this writing, institutions were experimenting wikis as e-portfolios.

What's Out There
The greatest thing about wikis is that it is for everyone. You have Wikipedia, which has gained recognition as the people's encyclopedia, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's the end of the road when it comes to wikis. There's a rather extensive wikis' list that wikipedia provides to show you the extent to which wikis have taken online community by storm. To name one wiki that is not on the list is PBWiki, which has changed names to PBWorks. The reason for the change in name is because several new functions have been added on that have redefined the site and as a result have gone beyond traditional wiki function. The change in name seemed appropriate to them, and it does make more sense to do so when the reason is presented.

The Issues
Wikipedia
So are there any issues with wikis? Maybe not among them but perhaps with them there is. The big word that was thrown around back in the day was "credibility." I remember back to my undergraduate years when just about all my professors would raise their eyebrows in skeptical annoyance when any of their students even mentioned the word "Wikipedia." I remember one particular classmate, incessantly mentioning wikipedia (this one particular classmate had a habit of mentioning the new and latest web app). My professors weren't the only ones questioning the credibility of wikipedia. Stacy Schiff, a writer for the The New Yorker, also raises the question of whether Wikipedia will ever gain expertise. In her extensive article about everything wikipedia (from history to the finer detail of users), Know it All, talks about accuracy with a comparable note that for every 3 errors found in Britannica, 4 were found in Wikipedia. Schiff says the problem is provence. Most of the information that is provided in Wikipedia is not found in the stacks but from the Web, which she writes, "offers up everything from breaking news, spin, and gossip to proof that the moon landings never took place." Schiff goes into the greater detail about Wikipedia, but I want to pause for a moment and come back to the bigger picture. The image of Wikipedia has perhaps become the poster child for wikis back in 2006, and indirectly corrupted the view of wikis in the eyes of some professionals and academia, however, will this change? I think indirectly it might. Wikis, in of themselves, are gaining momentum in the professional world. Wikis, not Wikipedia. Big difference. Wikis serve whatever community size, be it big or small, and it is perhaps it is in size that the difference can be found.

So, will Wikipedia ever clean up its act? Perhaps in the long run, when more professional voices start participating in the creation of content on the site, perhaps than there will be an eventual status of credibility.

Wikis
Using wikis is fine and good, but the thing is that eventually, people in their collaboration want to use an identifier and often times, Wikipedia comes to mind. Eric Oatman in his article, Make Way for Wikis, talks about wikis in the classroom and the good it serves students and teachers, yet he brings to light the pros and cons with wikis in that if wikis are to present in the school, proper sourcing is needed when establishing wikis. Librarians have noticed holes in the information presented on Wikipedia, and Oatman wants to raise awareness that teachers should perhaps use Wikipedia as an example of what not to do when writing and sourcing information. It is better to use Wikipedia in such a way since students will be accessing Wikipedia at home in their own time. It is better to make them aware of the quality of information they are accessing and allow them to get involved in the critiquing.

Implications for Teaching and Learning
But Wikipedia aside, what are the implications of the wiki in the education system? Numerous. Endless. Countless. Oatman recognizes that wikis are starting to become an consistent presence in the classroom. One example he mentions, Olde Columbine High School in Longmont, CO, used a wiki to teach writing. The teacher acknowledge that the improvement in students' writing was noticeable and credits it to students now having an audience to write to. The teacher wanted to empower the students by giving them the flexibility the explore themselves.

Will Richardson in his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classrooms, presents a chapter on wikis in the classroom. Richardson mentions that wikis work best when a teacher "loosens the reins a bit" and let the students be the manager of content on the site. It is in this sense that Richardson writes that the teacher needs to examine their role in the wiki process. By giving power into the students hands, the teacher also has to recognize that students will begin to teach themselves. By placing a right or wrong on the processing it could actually undermine the entire situation. But wikis are also good places for equality. It allows the students to be on equal footing with teachers since both parties are contributing to the overall success of a wiki. The use of the wiki in the classroom can be teacher/teacher focused, teacher/student or student/student focused. It really depends on the goal that the teacher wants to accomplish with each wiki project. Teachers might want to create online text for their curriculum where students and teacher can add to. Teachers might want to create online content for other teachers where one source might be lacking.

But wikis don't have to end in the classroom. They are also found in libraries. Chad F. Boeninger writes a chapter in Library 2.0 and Beyond and talks about wikis as research guides. When libraries do not have specialized web-authoring software or HTML coding skills, wikis serve in place nicely. Another problem arises often times with library websites is that the need to update information often takes time. A web manager is the intermediary to the web content, and this can cause a serious lag in how often information gets update especially if a library is constantly making changes. With wiki format, the librarian can make the changes themselves.

Boeninger talks about three best practices for library wikis. The first being to question "whether or not a wiki is really needed." Is a wiki going to really serve the needs of the library? Is a library using a wiki because its the "cool" thing to do. Secondly, if there is a need for a wiki, its good to shop around to see how other wikis work. What are some of the ideas out there for library wikis? How are they organized? What is the structure like? Thirdly, investigation of software. What software is out there? Which software would be easy to navigate and publish content on? One must also take into consideration that self-hosted wikis require some knowledge of MySQL and PHP and some experience in web administration would be a good thing as well. Having one's own wiki does allow for more flexibility in structure and look but you have to take into consideration the other side of the coin such as resources and finances in establishing and maintaining an in-house wiki.

---

Sources: Richardson, Will. "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, And Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms." Thousand Oaks; Corwin Press; 2009.
Courtney, Nancy. "Library 2.0 and Beyond." Wesport, Connecticut; Libraries Unlimited, 2007.