Working with wikis:Collaborative writing in the 21st

Century Katina Zammit

School of Education

KCKS 2010

Brisbane, Australia

Wikis• The word ‘wiki’ (from the Hawaiian wiki wiki) is translated

as ‘to hurry’, and wikis certainly enable rapid and easy authoring direct to the Web (Parker & Chao, 2007; Wheeler, Yeomans, & Wheeler, 2008 )

• enable students to collaboratively construct knowledge beyond just information gathering and sharing. (Lamb & Johnson, 2009; Wheeler, Yeomans, & Wheeler, 2008)

• ‘architecture of participation’ (O’Reilly, 2004 cited in Wheeler, Yeomans, & Wheeler,

2008, p. 989)

• ‘wisdom of the masses’

• publish content direct to the Web, including text, images and hyperlinks; to edit existing content; track changes; to return to previous versions (in history function). (Hazari, North, &

Moreland; Morgan & Smith, 2008; Wheeler, Yeomans, & Wheeler, 2008)

Katina Zammit

Benefits • Develop a community of practice

– help student groups communicate and develop their "paper" more effectively. (Malaga, 2010, p. 53)

– Learners participate in collaboratively building resources. (Parker & Chao, 2007)

• allows the instructor to provide continuous early feedback.

• help students learn about an important information technology trend.

• students shift from being consumers of the Internet to creators (Lamb & Johnson, 2009)

Katina Zammit

• energizes reluctant learners, promote group synergy, and encourage authentic learning. (Lamb & Johnson, 2009)

• help students with reading, writing, reflective, and collaborative learning skill across content areas (Lamb & Johnson, 2009; Leight, 2008, cited in

Hazari, North, & Moreland, p.190)

– students are more engaged with the writing process. (Morgan & Smith, 2008)

Katina Zammit

• students tend to protect their ideas– happy to post their contributions for other group members to

read, – resistant to having their contributions altered or deleted by other

group members. (Parker & Chao, 2007; Wheeler et al 2008)

• the limited capacity of the free wiki software has a detrimental effect on multiple user editing. – unable to cope with the simultaneous posting. (Wheeler et al 2008)

• students contribute only when in class. (Wheeler et al 2008, p. 993)

• students tend to read only those pages to which they had contributed (Wheeler et al 2008, p. 993)

• the time to learn how the wiki works. (Ruth & Houghton, 2009)

Katina Zammit

Issues

Wikis in education• stimulate writing ('fun' and 'wiki' are often associated);• provide a low-cost but effective communication and

collaboration tool (with an emphasis on text rather than software);

• promote the close reading, revision, and tracking of preliminary work;

• discourage 'product oriented writing' while facilitating 'writing as a process'; and

• ease students into writing for a wider audience • Lamb (2004, cited in Parker and Chao, p. 61)

• cost, complexity, control, clarity, • WYSWYG (Malaga, 2010, p. 50)

Katina Zammit

Katina Zammit

Research question

• What is the educational impact of integrating wikis into a classroom?– What changes occur to a teacher’s pedagogy?– What is the impact on students’ learning and

engagement in learning?– What are the benefits of using a wiki to create a

multimodal information report in comparison to a paper-based medium?

– What are the issues of using a wiki?

Katina Zammit

Theoretical frames

• Educational linguistics• Semiotics / Multiliteracies and multimodality• Technology and literacy

Katina Zammit

Methodology• Qualitative

– Multiple case studies– Action research cycle– Constant comparative

• Data sources– Work samples: electronic and paper– Criteria based assessments– Teacher interviews– Field notes and Observations – Student focus group interview– Student questionnaire

Katina Zammit

School context

73% LBOTE – 38% Chinese speaking, 29 different language groups– 42% of students have been learning English for three years or less– 17 indigenous students

260 students 11 classes7 specialist teachers

Katina Zammit

Classroom Contexts

• 2 classes– Year 5 (11 year olds) and year 4/5 (10 and 11 year

olds)– 2 teachers: experienced (female) and new graduate

(male)

• Computer acess– Laptop trolley (x14)– 4 PC– Year 5: Interactive Whiteboard

Katina Zammit

Writing - term 2

Information report

- Country

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Wiki - term 3/4#1 [9/9/09]

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#4

[30/10/09]

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# 7 (final)

Katina Zammit

Best aspects• Process

• Location (anywhere)• To take notes• Compare work with others work• Working with others• Not carrying books etc around• Typing (is better/ is easier)• People help each other• No paper, use computer • Send emails to each other • Remember info more when type • Easy way to learn • Paragraph from notes

• Content• about Antarctica• Know more: than if writing; can remember information better

• about specific section of wiki • new facts

• Technology• Technical: fonts, colour, adding media, hyperlinking• Use of tech increased/ better• Website visiting• Improve typing• About wiki

Katina Zammit

Katina Zammit

Outcomes• Collaboration

– Working with a partner– Helping others– Asking for assistance via email - to students / teacher

• Teacher input– Explicit teaching of e-note taking– Assistance with content -

• in class; on wiki via questions or email

• Student input– More involvement of disengaged students– More input from students from ESL and with learning difficulties

Katina Zammit

• Use of technology to create text– use of e-note taking– Information placed, re-worked on wiki– Direct input of multimodal texts (written, visual, audio

and video) onto wiki page– Hypermedia - use of hyperlinks– Typography: fonts, colour, – Location of working on text

• Knowledge of the content area

Katina Zammit

• Assessment – Students can compare their work– Rubric

• Not just based on final product• Included content, process and collaboration

• students tend to protect their ideas• the limited capacity of the free wiki software has a

detrimental effect on multiple user editing. • students contribute only when in class. • students tend to read only those pages to which they

had contributed• the time to learn how the wiki works.

Katina Zammit

Issues??

Katina Zammit

Issues

• Getting students to change information on someone’s wiki page/s – the text or layout of partner– Changing, adding or moving the texts of other’s

• Working on the wiki simultaneously– Student solutions

• Work on 1 computer at school• Work in Word while partner working on wiki page

• Limitations of design features– Of Wikispaces

• Access for use– System controls and permissions– Portal for students

Katina Zammit

Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D. Investigating Pedagogical Value of Wiki Technology. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 187-198.

Lamb, A., & Johnson, L. (2009). Wikis and collaborative inquiry. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 8(April), 48-51.

Malaga, R. (2010). Choosing a wiki platform for student projects - Lessons learned. Contemporary Issues In Education Research, 3(2), 49-54.

Morgan, B., & Smith, R. (2008). A wiki for classroom writing. The Reading Teacher 62(1), 80-82.

Parker, K. R., & Chao, J. T. (2007). Wiki as a teaching tool. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects, 3, 57-72.

Ruth, A., & Houghton, L. (2009). The wiki way of learning. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 25(2), 135-152.

Wheeler, S., Yeomans, P., & Wheeler, D. (2008). The good, the bad and the wiki: Evaluating student generated content for collaborative learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(6), 987-995.

Katina Zammit

Katina Zammit

Thankyou

k.zammit@uws.edu.au