Presentation

1. Wikis and the Proposed Benefits of
Collaborative Communities on Learning
Brittany A.
Spring 2015

2. Presentation Outline
 Van Dijck’s Key Points
 60 Minutes Segment on Wikipedia’s
Collaboration
 Collaborative Learning Theories
 Wikis and Collaborative Learning Research
[Methods, findings, implications, and relevance]
 Conclusion
 Questions/Discussion

3. Van Dijck’s Key
Points

4. Jose van Dijck & Wikipedia
 Wikipedia as a collaborative environment:
unique, peer-produced system
 Generalists and experts collaborate on site
pages
 “we need both”
 Guidelines for Contributors:
 Verifiability
 No Original Research
 Neutral Point of View (NPoV)

5. 60 Minutes Segment: Understanding
Wikipedia’s Collaborative Culture
 Described Nature of Wikipedia:
 Collaborative community of
translators, editors, fact-
checkers
 Experts and generalists
 Edits on Wikipedia in a Day:
 100,000 people around the
world
 Three times a second
 12,000 times an hour
 Taking Precautions:
 Vandalism detection bots
 Designated editors

6. Collaborative
Learning Theories

7. Collaborative Learning
Theories
 Prior cognitive psychology research details the
benefits of collaboration on learning
 Lev Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism (1978)
 Increased learning occurs in social environments
and active collaboration
 George Siemens’s Connectivism (2005)
 Importance of making connections, experiencing
diversity, and hearing varying opinions

8. Wikis and
Collaborative
Learning Research

9. What is a Wiki?
 Online collaboration tool
 Often used in educational
environments
 Allows users contribute, edit,
and delete site information
 All changes are tracked on
page history

10. Wiki and Threaded Discussion for
Online Collaborative Activities:
Students’ Perceptions and Use
 Authors:
 Andri Ioannou and Anthony R. Artino
 Journal:
 Published in the Journal of Emerging Technologies in
Web Intelligence in 2009
 Research Question:
 Investigate how online tools such as Wiki support or
promote collaborative learning

11. Methods
 Population:
 15 graduate students enrolled in Education Technology
program
 Enrolled in a learning theory online course and used
Wiki for group activities
 All students were K-12 teachers
 80% had 1-5 years teaching experience
 20% had more than 6 years experience
 Wiki Use:
 1 week of online class time dedicated to using the Wiki
 Warm-up activity: creating personal biography on site
 Group activity: Collaborating in groups of 3-4 in
response to class prompt

12. Methods
 Measurement:
 After use of Wiki site, students were surveyed
 Asked to evaluate their experience:
 Perceived learning, communication and reflection,
and satisfaction with the learning experience, and
frustration with technology
 Variables often associated with collaborative
learning studies

13. Findings
 Main Findings:
 Perceived Learning
 Other posters’ ideas provided insight into topic
(supports CL theories)
 Wiki was easy to use
 Facilitated collaboration
 Participants enjoyed seeing others' edits and hearing
other opinions
 Drawbacks:
 Users felt slightly “uncomfortable” or hesitant to
edit/delete another users’ post
 Afraid of offending others

14. Limitations
 Self-report method
 Short study (only one week)
 Control group
 There was no offline group for comparison
 Focused on perceptions of the platform
 Collaborative learning theory results come from
outside observers

15. Why Wikis? Student
Perceptions of Using Wikis in
Online Coursework
 Authors:
 Faye Deters, Kristen Cuthrell, and Joy Stapleton
 Journal:
 Published in the MERLOT Journal of Online Learning
and Teaching in 2010
 Research Question:
 How do students perceive online platforms such as
Wikis? Do they find these tools promote
collaboration?

16. Methods
 Population:
 40 graduate students enrolled in a graduate distance
education course for teachers
 Large Southeastern College of Education
 Wiki Use:
 Case study
 5 weeks during summer session
 Participants worked together in small groups to
research information (on assigned topic) and create
Wiki entries
 Participants created, revised, edit, responded to all
entries

17. Methods
 Measurement:
 After the 5 week session, data was collected via
surveys and written reflections
 Surveys used a mix of Likert-scale and open-ended
questions regarding:
 perception of Wikis to complete assignments
 Comfort with Wikis
 Effectiveness of Wikis
 Potential uses of the platform (in education)

18. Findings
 Overall positive perceptions of Wikis
 Students reported benefits to the use of Wikis
including:
 Collaborative problem solving (24/37 strongly agree)
 Teaching (28/37 strongly agree)
 Learning (28/37 strongly agree)
 Facilitating group learning (30/37 strongly agree)
 Fostering experimental learning (30/37 strongly
agree)
 Easy to use (20/37 strongly agree)

19. Limitations
 Self-report method
 Participants were already comfortable with
online institutional systems before the study
(35/37)
 Although only 13 participants had used Wiki, the
others had used some type of collaborative online
platform
 How would results have differed if participants
needed to learn the basics?
 Focused on perceptions of the platform
 Collaborative learning theory results come from
outside observers

20. Summary and
Implications for
Future Research

21. Summary and Implications
 Collaborative research environments have been
argued to promote learning
 Wikis seen as online collaborative tools
 Studies show Wikis as a useful tool for
collaboration and learning
 Research studies support Collaborative Learning
theories (Siemen and Vygotsky)

22. Discussion Questions

23. Discussion Questions
 What are your thoughts on collaborative
networks and learning environments?
 Do you believe collaborative environments are
always beneficial or do they have their
shortcomings?
 Can you think of any similar platforms (such as
wikis) that promote collaboration?

24. References
 Augar, N., Raitman, R. & Zhou, W. (2004). Teaching and learning online
with wikis. In R. Atkinson, C. McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer & R. Phillips (Eds),
Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE
Conference (pp. 95-104). Perth, 5-8 December.
 Deters, F. Cuthrell, K., & Stapleton, J. (2010). Why Wikis? Student
Perceptions of Using Wikis in Online Coursework. MERLOT Journal of
Online Learning and Teaching, 6(1).
 Ioannou, A. and Artino, A. (2009). Wiki and Threaded Discussion for
Online Collaborative Activities: Students’ Perceptions and Use. Journal
of Emerging Technologies in Web Intelligence, 1(1), 97-106.
 Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning theory for the digital age.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance
Learning, 2(1).
 Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher
psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.