Wikis are websites where which users can add and edit the content. Thus the content created is collaborative. In the classroom, wikis gives students control of their projects. In researching and creating their content, students become prosumers, both consuming and producing information. They develop deeper understanding of their topic and cognitive and critical thinking skills as they find patterns and linkages, consider the facts they have collected from different sources and select which to use, and look for creative ways to present their projects. In the process, information becomes knowledge.

A wiki can be used for a group project, with students adding links on the main page to pages with sub-topics or different topics. Videos, audio clips and illustrations add colour and interest. As students add, share or change information, a project becomes a collaborative learning process, producing richer content and developing the social skills of the group.

Although they have control of their content, younger students need guidance. The teacher is the facilitator for a group project wiki, explaining first how to use the wiki host and then providing the scaffolding in the form of guidelines, such as the objectives of the project; the timeline for the project, rules for behaviour (such as respecting others’ contributions); what can or cannot be edited; how to make content interesting for other users. Simple sites are easier for everyone to use. Google Sites (https://sites.google.com), PBWorks (https://www.pbworks.com/education) and Weebly for Education (https://education.weebly.com/) are examples of accessible sites that are either free or have free basic options.

Teachers at Cuniffe Elementary School in Mssachussets, US, used a video, Themed wiki spaces in the classroom, to demonstrate how they used wikis for a project on animal adaptation.

Screenshot from video "Themed Wiki Spaces in the Classroom"

Before students start the project the teacher should also explain the areas she or he will be evaluating, according to his or her prepared rubric. The Center for Teaching (CfT) at Vanderbilt University (Center for Teaching, n.d.) recommends considering quality of content and writing, appearance, references and citations, and collaboration among the students. Introducing young students to the concept of crediting sources of information and media will stand them in good stead. As for collaboration, CfT points out an advantage inherent in wikis – the page history allows the teacher to track the evolution of the content and see what students have added or revised.

Most of the writing on wikis I found while doing this assignment was dated from 2014 or earlier. This does not mean that wikis are obsolete, but underlines the importance of backing up any wiki project. In looking for a widely recommended wiki host, Wikispaces, I discovered that it had been defunct since 2019. Users were given the chance to transfer or save their content but now that the site is down, any content that had been not been saved somewhere else is now lost.

Center for Education (n.d.). Wikis. (Web page). Center for Education, Vanderbilt University. Accessed https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/wikis/. Accessed 10 April 2022.

Cuniffe Elementary School (2010). Themed wiki spaces in the classroom. (video). WatertownHighSchool YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07hE7EQ7VHo. Accessed 11 April 2020.

Green, M., & Maxwell, G., September 2022. Wikify your course: Designing and implementing a wiki for your learning environment. Educause Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2010/9/wikify-your-course-designing-and-implementing-a-wiki-for-your-learning-environment

Huijuan Fu, Samuel Chu, & Wenxia Kang. (2013). Affordances and Constraints of a Wiki for Primary-school Students’ Group Projects. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(4), 85–96. http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.16.4.85

Kurt, S. (updated February 2020). Wikis in education: how wikis are being used in the classroom. Education Technology. https://educationaltechnology.net/wikis-in-education/

Pappas, C., 2013, How to Use wikis in the classroom. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/how-to-use-wiki-in-the-classroom. Accessed 8 April 2022.