Using Wikis in Education

by

Andre Loxas

Wikis are one of the softwares that are part of the Web 2.0 that can be used to improve the learning process.

A wiki is a web software that allows communication and collaboration that can be used to assist students in learning with others within a collaborative environment.

Wikis are a major component of Web 2.0, and they have a the potential to engage, complement, enhance and add new collaborative dimensions to the classroom.

Web 2.0 technologies like wikis, blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds have been called \’social software\’, they are perceived as being connected, for allowing users to develop content for the web collaboratively and open to the public.

Social software offers unique and powerful features for information sharing and collaboration, acting as reflection and amplification tools for cognition, aiding the construction of meaning through self design of knowledge databases

Wikis involve learners in their own construction of knowledge and social software helps to put in practice the original vision of the Web

as a space where anyone can participate.

Some texts that deal with wikis in education show us how a wiki can support a particular

approach to learning.

The commonly listed learning paradigms are the cooperative or collaborative learning paradigm and the constructivist paradigm, although others are referenced.

If you do some research for literature it will reveal the current state of wikis in education, rwith a fair amount of applications, primarily for writing assignments, group projects and online or distance education, although innovative uses are not uncommon and can be found as well.

Wikis and other emergent web technologies are beginning to fill a gaping void in existing practice as they enable extremely rich and flexible collaborations that have positive consequences for their participants and powerful competitive ones for their organizations.

Communication and collaborative creativity trough web 2.0 software and social software, promises to be a vital business skill in upcoming years.

Educational institutions add immense value to their courses and students, by familiarizing them

with the technologies that make collaborative networks possible.

Our students will not only manage business innovations in the future, but also will drive them and they rather learn the skills of the future than being limited with today\’s skills.

Educators have to teach what wikis and other social web software can do for business, as it is not just as a phenomenon, but

also a skill .

By integrating wikis into the classroom, educators can prepare students to use and make innovative uses of collaborative social software today.

Hi, my name is Andre Loxas and I am a begginer writer about technology both in english and portuguese –

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