Wikis: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners

    The rise in internet usage since the early 1990’s has produced a wide range of tools to process a continuously expanding amount of information.  One of these tools, Wiki, developed in 1994 by Cunningham provides” collaborative web space where anyone can add content and anyone can edit content that has already been published” (Richardson, 2006, as cited by West & West, 2009, Loc. 214).  The growth of the ability to not only read the internet but also “write”/create data revolutionized internet usage and acted as a springboard for today’s constantly evolving internet.  In adult education, Wikis allow individuals to collaborate within a group on the same project/assignment which produce mixed results which I will explained below.

PROS

    I believe the benefits of Wiki’s outweigh the disadvantages when used in an environment with adult learners.  One of Knowles (1984, as cited by King & Cox, pg. 122) tenants of andragogy, state that adults perform better when they are presented with self-directed learning.  Wikis help create the opportunity for self-directed learning as the instructor generally only provides an initial prompt and the group creates the knowledge contained within the Wiki.  In this group learning environment, adult learners are able to participate in a community of practice.  The instructor can help facilitate this by grouping students together with varying levels of expertise.  Initially the more experienced members will instruct the less experienced members on how to use a Wiki or how to gather/develop/create knowledge for the Wiki.  As time progresses the previously less experienced members can join the group as fully functioning members.  This process also mirrors Pratt’s (1998) Apprenticeship Perspective when teaching adult learners.  The teacher or other group members can help facilitate learning by providing a scaffolding for newer/younger members.  This scaffolding builds on previous knowledge in order to create the knowledge required for the current class/project/wiki.  Communities of practice and the Apprenticeship Perspective both provide opportunities for learning outside of the traditional teacher lead discussions.  Wikis provide an excellent opportunity for adult learners to shift to student directed learning rather than a teacher directed learning environment (Hazari et al, 2009).  As the opportunities for adult learning to participate in formal education continue to grow in the online space, the student-directed learning becomes even more important.  For online or asynchronous education options, the teacher is often not available for a traditional “chalk-and-talk” (King & Cox, 2011, pg. 5) lesson.  Warlick (2007, as cited by King & Cox, 2001, pg. 125) also highlighted 3 areas where Wikis offer a huge advantage for adult learners.  In terms of facilitating learning they are, practical, political, and timely.  Wikis provide the ability to generate a lot information in a short time using a format that allows for everyone to contribute.

CONS

The disadvantage of using Wikis are few but should not be ignored.  The most glaring example I noticed was the study Raman et al. (2005, as cited by King & Cox, 2011, pg 128) completed, stating that Wikis were mostly “used for managing and updating information rather than collaboratively creating new knowledge.”  The results from this study goes against Knowles tenants of andragogy, especially the one stating that adult learners are self-directed.  I believe further study may be needed in this area but the study was done at an undergraduate level and the students were given the opportunity to use it as they saw fit.  This study also highlights the importance of how the Wiki is implemented within the adult learning structure.  The teacher needs to ensure it is set up to provide collaboration between group members while creating new knowledge rather than only being an area to store additional information.  Mader (2007, as cited by King & Cox, 2011, pg. 128) concluded that while there is no correct way to use a Wiki, patterns are particularly important when building them.  In a graduate level program with classes only a few weeks long, creating a pattern can be difficult to do.  I have created a Wiki in three prior classes and every time the process for creating Wikis have been different.  This continual change disrupts the pattern that Mader discusses and hinders the learning within the communities of practice as each member tries to figure out the new process

Resources:

Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D. (2009). Investigating pedagogical value of Wiki technology. Journal of information systems education. 20(2). 187-198

King, K. P., & Cox, T. D. (2011). The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology. [Kindle PC Version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com.

Pratt, D. (1998). Five Perspectives on Teaching in Adult and Higher Education. Malabar, FL: Krieger.

West, J. A. and West, M. L. (2009) Using Wikis for Online Collaboration. [Kindle PC Version].  Retrieved from Amazon.com