Research Proposal- It's a Wiki World: Using Wikis to Prommote Collabortive Learning

I have always considered myself a little behind the times when it comes to technology. I know enough to get by, but have never fully taken the time to understand the benefits certain technology can offer. Last semester I took a technical writing class in which we operated a large portion of the class through a class wiki. Up until that moment I had never heard of a class wiki and while I was familiar with wikipedia, I had never actually used it. When I first learned that I would be required to post my ideas, papers and feedback to my peers on our class wiki I immediately disliked the idea. At the time I believed that putting my work on a wiki was not only more public than I wanted to be, but the fear of learning the new technology and how to manage my wiki space caused fear that it would be much more difficult that what I currently knew how to do on the computer. However, as the semester rolled on and each day the wiki became more a part of our class I realized that the initial fears I had about wikis were actually what I grew to value about them. The sense of publicly sharing my work on the class wiki allowed for my peers and I to view what everyone was working on, generate ideas from this open forum, and share and respond to each others writing in a positive, easy-to-use environment. Beyond the benefits I experienced by having my peers view my wiki, the technical aspect of functioning a wiki was not difficult at all; even for me, someone who typically does not extend beyond her box when it comes to technology. The result was that I walked away from this classroom experience with vital experience outside the classroom as well, in an online environment conducive to sharing and collaborating. If I had not been exposed to such an experience through my education, I may have never understood the value that rests within publicly shared online writing spaces and how a class wiki can encourage a greater sense of community by offering a forum for communication and collaboration. For this reason, I want to explore the use of wikis further and research in detail how they encourage collaborative learning and sustain an environment centered on shared and created knowledge. As was the case with me, I needed to be forced outside of my box in my educational world to learn and appreciate the value of online public spaces. I think this is also true with many other students and because of this it is my hope that by examining the ways in which wikis benefit classroom experiences, more teachers and students will recognize the value they may contribute not only to a writing classroom, but to all classrooms. I think it is important for educational practices to always consider the future as far as technology goes so that students gain the knowledge they need to enter an increasingly digital world. The use of a class wiki provides one outlet where teachers can promote a positive learning experience and allow expose to students to new multimedia processes.

My working thesis so far is to focus on an argument that classroom wikis within a writing class lead to greater collaborative learning and provide a space for students to create shared knowledge both with each other but with the teacher as well . While my angle on wikis sits in a positive light right now, I have discovered several readings discouraging the use of wikis in the classroom. While I have not read through this information extensively yet there are certainly valid points bought up in them that illustrate the negative aspects of classroom wikis (i.e. no censorship, could be unreliable, etc.). I am interested in understanding what doesn’t work with wikis as much as what does work so that I have a clearer understanding of what I want my argument to be. But as of now, I want to concentrate on wikis being a positive attribute to writing classrooms, as a form of collaborative learning.

While I am still in the initial stages of research, I have discovered more on the topic of wikis than I originally thought I would. I began with Google Scholar which unearthed many helpful articles. Some of the more colorful titles include “Wiki While You Work,” “Wild About Wikis,” and “Make Way for Wikis.” Much of the information I have gathered so far addresses wikis in general and do not go into detail specifically relating to collaborative learning. However, I have discovered a few that are directly relatable including a book titled “Wiki Web Collaboration.” I have also explored other online resources such as ERIC and the EMU databases. My method for continuing research is to investigate more intensely my internet sources, locate any additional books that may be relevant, scour recent articles (I’m thinking mainstream articles here—I believe I just read one in TIME magazine not that long ago about the emergence of wikis), and find journal articles. Ideally the content I want to find specifically concentrates on the use of wikis in the classroom (even as narrow as the writing classroom) and how it has the power to lead to collaborative learning. Beyond looking for this specific information, I also want to focus my research on studying the use of wikis in general so that I can become more aware of how they function and research values embedded within collaborative learning. My hope is that by touching upon these three primary areas of research I will be able to develop some of my own conclusions about how wikis promote collaborative learning in the writing classroom. Additionally, I would like to interview several teachers who currently use wiki in their writing classrooms to gain a personal sense of how shared knowledge is occurring through the medium of wikis. I may even go so far as questioning students what their experiences using wiki in a writing classroom were and may draw some reference to my experience as a student user.

So far I feel I am off to a good start on my research. Once I read more of the works I’ve collected, my argument may become more defined or may be subject to change. For now, I plan to continue on focusing on positive elements of wikis in the writing classroom with particular emphasis on shared knowledge and collaboration.