Collaboration plays an important role in today’s workplace. Students then need to be prepared for this. Often, teachers use group work to encourage this skill. However, with the help of the internet, our world is becoming more global. As Richardson mentions in his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, wikis are a great way to practice collaboration online, with others who do not necessarily have to be in the same location or even the same school! One of his examples includes having teachers and school districts start a wiki to share teaching ideas—one more example of how workplace collaboration is taking place online.
One popular argument against wikis, and in particular Wikipedia, is that since anyone can edit them, their accuracy in questionable. I myself have used this argument. However, Richardson makes a valid argument for the use of wikis, and despite my previous thoughts, I believe wikis have a place in the school. Examples of class wikis that I have viewed seem to work well in encouraging student learning. Plus, I think that through the class participation on a wiki, students will walk away with a better understanding of how Wikipedia works and why evaluation of its information is important. We need to expand views on wikis and consider that their benefits might just outnumber any existing arguments against them.
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