A relatively old technology (10 yrs.) wiki's are becoming more widely used in education as a collaborative tool since they allow many users to access, edit and contribute in one location.
The pros of the wiki:
- They are collaborative and community building (King & Cox, pg. 124) which means they allow for groups of people with like passions and subject interests to meet and explore ideas together. It's not just a web page or a blog that provides a one sided view of information
- Group assignments are more thorough by allowing the entire group to work on the same document. It also can track who has contributed which material that aids the instructor to grade student participation.
- It provides the students with the ability to create knowledge as opposed to just consume knowledge as from a blog or web site.
- A wiki reflects the personality and views of an entire group. The input from others brings breadth and depth to the overall document due to the groups various backgrounds and experiences.
- I was personally involved in a research project and was required to use a wiki. No instructions were given or understanding provided as to what a wiki was. I never really became comfortable using it. A major con is that adult learners may be apprehensive to use a wiki due to their misunderstanding of its use and ability.
- Since wiki's are open source and anyone can edit your document, there is a concern for the lack of accuracy or malicious modifications being made.
- King & Cox also mentioned the members of the wiki's fears of the hidden audience. (King & Cox, pg. 123) There is a fear of opening up their creativity when "visitors" to the wiki can visit the site without ever revealing their identity. However, this can be eliminated by requiring password only access to the wiki.
- I mentioned that the wiki taking on the views of the entire group as a pro but I also mention it here as a con because once the wiki has taken on the bias of the group it is nearly impossible to return to the original intent of the wiki creator.
References:
King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The Professor’s Guide to TamingTechnology.
Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
The issue of group bias has come up a couple of times that I have read and I think that it is a very real issue. I have strong opinions about some things (my wife will agree with this statement) and that causes me to relate and associate with others who tend to share these feelings. I assure you, if we were to create a wiki about certain topics it would look very much like cable news, lopsided in one direction. It is critical in a wiki based learning environment to stick to facts, or at least statements that can be backed up with research or peer reviewed material.
ReplyDeleteThis brings up another issue, much of the material available in the field of adult education is not research based. Many of the main trends of thought are based on earlier works by authors like Houle or Lindeman and tend to further the same theories without conducting research or developing material with statistical analysis. As we move forward with wiki’s in this course we must be very careful to avoid this common bias pitfall.
Agree with points by Texan Hunter and Andrew, specifically group bias becoming prevalent in certain projects. Group think can be a good or bad thing depending on the context.
ReplyDeleteTex, your second point I am not sure I fully agree. There is new research going on in Adult Education. I attended the Canadian Society for Training Development conference last fall and it had Donald T. Stuss (I believe,will verify with program at work) who was doing research on brain plasticity and actually disproved several former myths about adult cognitive development (e.g. the adult brain is capable at learning at any age, it just slows down). However, I do agree that some things are a bit stale, for example Kirkpatrick is still making the Learning conference rounds hawking the same ideas for 30 years (no offence to any Kirkpatrick fans). And some authors ideas, like Knowles, I believe have stood the test of time. The US Army had done and continues to do great research in the training field and I have not seen the any research that has disproven Knowles. Please let me know if I have missed something? I know some Cognitive Constructionists have different views on schema development but I think they still generally agree with basic adult learning principles but just approach it from a different way. Again, please let me know if I am incorrect here.
Site for the Canadian Society for Training Development (similar to the ASTD but with a way smaller budget)
https://cstd.site-ym.com
It's unfortunate that your last wiki experience was difficult due to weak facilitation provided by the instructor. The instructor must provide adequate an frame of reference, or some sort of a starting point for the learners to begin, especially when using projects like wikis that may not be familiar to everyone. In a group collaboration, communication between members is a must, so you can share knowledge between group members. Wikis, when created in a group, emphasize collaborative learning, which is key to adult education.
ReplyDelete"In collaborative learning, the instructor builds upon knowledge, personal experiences, languages, strategies and cultures that the learners bring to learning." Also stated, "The focus is on student learning rather than instructor knowledge" (Kasworm, Rose and Ross-Gordon, 2010, p.149).
Kasworm, C., Rose, A., & Ross-Gordon, J. (2010).Handbook of adult and continuing education. (1 ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE publications.
Hello, Fellow Week 3 Bloggers! I enjoyed reading all the above posts and thought provoking comments; great discussion!
ReplyDeleteI would like to add that clear direction and access to easy-to-use references regarding the creation of the Wiki is crucial to the comfort level and eventually the final product of the Wiki. I am a fairly slow learner when it comes to some aspects of technology, as evident by some of my own blog postings! :) Therefore, even though I am a "self-directed" learner, I appreciate having the needed tools to work with in order to gain the needed information for the desired outcome.
One of my most favorite textbooks used during this "journey" of adult education is that of Wlodkowski's, Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn. As we look into the motivation of the adult learner and how the Wiki, Blog and even the Message Board can be used to enhance learning, the value of the following quote is evident "Qualitatively, adults have had more time and seen the benefits and outcomes of a greater variety of experiences. Neurologically, their brains are more developed and capable of judging, planning and making decisions about their experiences in a manner that is more integrated, stable and reflective and future oriented" (p. 99). Meaning, in my humble opinion, that as adults begin to use more variety both inside and outside of the classroom, we begin to have more freedom of direction and are able to see the "big picture" on a more personal level.
The above statement opens the door for another "bag of worms" so to speak, one that I will not expand on, but ask the question; while more and more technology is integrated into the classrooms of today, from K-12 and beyond, how are we as future adult educators going to keep up with the need to present new and challenging educational opportunities and tools for these up-and-coming adult learners? Just something to think about while you cannot sleep or while you are in the shower! :)
Happy Blogging...
Alicia
References:
Wlodkowski, R. J. (2008). Enhancing adult motivation to learn. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass.