Wikis are websites that allow easy creation and editing of interlinked web pages. They encourage collaboration through spatial organization rather than a predetermined structure. Wikis can be used in education for collaborative projects, knowledge sharing, and presenting results. While they provide flexible collaboration, technical and pedagogical barriers must be addressed, and content cannot be considered fully reliable or authoritative due to open editing. Assessment of student contributions also presents challenges due to the collaborative nature of wikis.

1. Wikis in education A brief introduction by Sylvia Moessinger

2. 01.01.2011 Sylvia Moessinger Wikipedia was founded 2001. Jimmy Donal Wales and others helped launch Wikipedia, a free, open content encyclopedia that enjoyed rapid growth and popularity. While wikis have been around since 1995 when Cunningham developed the first wiki, WikiWikiWeb, they became hugely popular circa 2003.

4. Which wiki tool/service? 01.01.2011 Sylvia Moessinger Google docs, sites http://bit.ly/cppaPd Wetpaint - http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/ Wikidot – http://www.wikidot.com/ Wikispaces - http://www.wikispaces.com/

5. Ideas and examples for wiki use 01.01.2011 Sylvia Moessinger http://www.slideshare.net/jasondenys/wikis-and-blogs-in-education http://sites.google.com/site/wikisinhighered/Home

9. Cons of wikis (part 2) 01.01.2011 Sylvia Moessinger Pedagogical barriers One of the most noted E-learning problems is related to pedagogy. Technology is mostly used to support traditional modes of teaching while many E-learning environments are content-driven, being mostly used to deliver course materials on-line. Teachers are still seen as experts, acquisition instead of participation metaphor often dominate the daily routines in classrooms, individual written assignments are still prevalent, and the pedagogical value of new technologies is often ignored. However, E-learning 2.0 is more active and participatory and the learners are not simply consumers of material which has been compiled by instructors. A change towards new learning theories like (social) constructivism and connectivism are required. Learners need to become agile consumers and creators and take greater ownership in the information-rich Web 2.0 world with its emphasis on user-generated content, communication and collaboration. The social constructivist model favours problem solving in a collaborative environment. The three main characteristics of the social constructivist approach is the use of complex, realistic problems, group collaboration, interaction and cooperation and learners are responsible and set goals, while teacher provide guidance. Hence, the use of wikis requires a change in pedagogical thinking.