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Creating Wikibookian Projects to Facilitate Collaborative Learning in the Classroom

Research Analysis Paper

By Erlyn D. Fukushima

In Partial fulfiilment of the requirements for EDU 710

Erlyn D. Fukushima

Touro University

College of Education

April 2010

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Abstract

This review seeks to show the findings of using a wiki (an interactive site that allows a person to

add and edit content that has already been published), more specifically a Wikibook, as a class

activity to enhance student writing, as well as collaborative learning between students who have

never met face to face. The premise was that students were given a writing assignment and were

then asked to post their work on Wikibook site in hopes of getting feedback and comments from

outside readers to help improve their assignment. The effects of having an “outside reader”, or

someone they were not familiar with, were in some cases, positive for the writer, but the findings

show some hesitation and uneasiness of having someone edit your work.

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Creating Wiki Projects to Facilitate Collaborative Learning in the Classroom

With the vast diversity of information found on the internet today, the internet has opened

up an abundance of learning opportunities for today’s students. Because of this, many

universities throughout the nation have now added a technological part to their teacher credential

programs, with the hopes of readying educators for the students of the twenty-first century.

The use of a wiki is one type of Web 2.0 site that offers educators and students the ability

to publish, edit and provide feedback to those who use it. Lai and Chang wrote “Integrating

Wiki into a class, as a learning activity, allow students to benefit from the power of technology

and share knowledge and skills collaboratively. (pg. 1)” Students from different universities were

given the assignment to create a chapter for a Wikibook, an online site where you can publish

educational books, with the intent of collaborating with students from other universities to edit,

comment and critique their work. Most students had never met face to face with the class they

were partnered with.

Method

Subjects or Participants

The project was assigned to university students. A class at one university, worked

collaboratively with a similar class from another university. Students were given the task to be a

writer; to write an individual chapter for their class Wikibook, while other students chose to be

editors of the chapters. In some cases, students took on both jobs as writer or editor. After

publishing their chapters onto the online site, students from the other universities were allowed

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the opportunity to read, comment, and provide feedback to the authors of the chapter. In some

cases, the readers were allowed to edit the chapters.

Results

. Expert Wikibookians, ones who have used wikis before, or who have grasped the idea

of the wiki, were very successful with this assignment. They understood the norms of

collaboration using the wiki, and gladly welcomed the feedback from the readers. They often

checked their pages to see comments or remarks made by others, and appeared to be confident

and interested in the collaborative outlet that using a wiki provided.

For Wikibook novices, modesty appeared to be a factor in the success of this project.

Sajjapanroj et al wrote that these “students [were] hesitant to share rough ideas, even at a

password protected site” (2006, pg.2). The reason behind this was that most students were used

to only submitting what they felt were completed and polished work. Students did not grasp the

idea that the use of a wiki allows for the virtual collaboration with others and that wikis, at times,

are works-in-progress. Some of the novices were reluctant to accept the feedback from others

they had never met, while most felt a sense of violation when their text was altered by another

reader.

Discussion

Overall, it appeared that most students felt positive about doing this project once they

accepted the true idea of online collaboration. In one case, some students had yet to publish their

final and completed chapter but still felt positive about the process thus far. The authors

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provided clear results based on surveys they had students answer, as well as the completed

Wikibooks online.

Based on these articles, I now have a clear view of some obstacles I may face when doing

a similar project with my middle school students. I would most likely use a wiki, instead of the

Wikibook, due to the educational level of my students.

The hesitation that the university students felt about having others critique their work is

definitely something I would have to address with my self-conscious middle school students.

Modeling what would be appropriate critiques or appropriate suggestions of improvement would

be something I would have to do, as well as clearly state consequences of inappropriate behavior.

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References

Lai, F. & Chang, C. (2008). . Wikibook Writing for Collaborative Learning. In C. Bonk et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2008 (pp. 977-982). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Sajjapanroj, S., Bonk, C., Lee, M. & Lin, G. (2006). The Challenges and Successes of Wikibookian Experts and Want-To-Bees. In T. Reeves & S. Yamashita (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2006 (pp. 2329-2333). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.