My notes on this article can be viewed here.
After many years of watching web based writing and information management tools take shape, I am itching to hear about some “best practices.” This article about web sites called “wikis” that are easy for multiple users to edit together describes the wiki software, but then moves past techno-gazing to ask how people (especially educators and their students) are using wikis and how wikis are changing the way people think about web-based information.
The article mentions the following uses to which wikis are being put:
- Classes use wikis to create their own reference materials (knowledge base)
- Students in writing classes use wikis to write newspaper articles together
- A wiki may be used as a dynamic conference program or community meeting place and/or bulletin board
This article also lists some wiki hosts:
As wikis have become more popular, more people have questioned the value of information that is authored by many hands. The accuracy of information to be found on wiki sites (sites such as Wikipedia) is in dispute. However, many wikis employ responsible editorial policies and oversight and have been shown to provide accurate and up to date information.
I invite the members of the CSCW class to try editing a wiki page to see what it’s like (I’ve emailed you the password in WebCT). Maybe we should use a wiki to write our first article?
