Using wiki’s in the classroom

Kay Teehan (2010) offered several suggestions on what type and how to implement wiki’s in the classroom in her book Wikis: The educator’s power tool. She suggested a library wiki, a reciprocal wiki, a student-produced wiki, and activities to implement them. I work with adult learners who have experience and opinion to share. Although they may vary in their technical skills, I believe a wiki would be a good alternative to the Blackboard threaded discussion system. Threaded discussions do not provide a final product. They are more like a collection of public emails threaded together in a message board. Wikis offer the ability to create a final product. In my class I could use a reciprocal wiki. Teehan (2010) defines a reciprocal wiki as one, which “invites user participation in completing a task, making lists, collecting documentation, and exchanging ideas.” I would setup a case study situation on a particular leadership situation or ethical dilemma commonly faced by leaders. I would break my class into groups of four or five and assign them roles. I would present the problem and ask open-ended questions to help them evaluate the case. They would be required to use the wiki to discuss and argue their points of view. I would require they cite their sources in APA format and to present supporting evidence for their ideas. The wiki would allow the groups to see how their case research and discussions evolved over time. They would be able to track how thought processes changed and were influenced by others.

The future leaders could take the knowledge of using wikis to their professional organizations. They would be able to use the principles learned as an alternative to the email project management system. Wiki’s are transferable from the classroom to the corporation. The problem solving skills and collaborative, critical thinking platform are practical in both sectors.