JOLT Article Reflection

I selected an article from the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching entitled “A case study of wiki’s effects on online transactional interactions” by Wen Hao David Huang from the University of Illinois.  I selected this article because I feel that wikis can be a very valuable tool in the online teaching process and I wanted to learn how to effectively implement one based on an actual case study finding. 

I learned from this article that wikis allow users to review and modify content synchrously and asyncrously creating a virtual online shared learning environment among students and the instructor.  A big determining factor in online learning effectiveness is what is referred to as “Transactional Distance” which is the perceived proximity with the instructor and students in a class.  High levels of dialog among students and the instructor and students to students decreases this “Transactional Distance.” 

 Wikis allow students to take part in dialogue, learn content, and have autonomy in how they construct products from their knowledge.  There are three basic types of interaction that occurs on wikis.  The first is the interaction between the learner and the content being presented in the course.  The second is the learner and teacher interaction.  The third and final interaction is between the students in the class.  High levels of learner-teacher and learner-learner interaction creates a satisfactory learning experience and therefore instructors should focus on the design of their class and collaboration techniques.  This communication with the instructor and peers contributes to higher level thinking skills and it allows users to co-create course structure leading to increased autonomy and problem solving skills. 

The benefit of wikis compared to other Web 2.0 formats is that they are organized by topics of interest rather than a chronological order format.  They are created using a large group of contributors and they integrate all the users input to form comprehensive documents.  Wikis also have a nice feature in that they save the time and date of posts along with user identifications.  Wikis can be private through a semi-open format that is great for classrooms.  Perhaps the biggest benefit of wikis is that they provide students with a format in which they can collaboratively solve problems at their own pace.  In the process they receive feedback, and construct a knowledge base on the topic being discussed. 

Some problems with wiki formats is that they tend to be very complicated for students in how they are set-up.  Students need to have a background in collaborative writing.  In addition, teacher-student interaction may diminish with a wiki in a classroom setting.  This was especially evident as the course went on throughout the semester.  Another problem is that students generally delegated tasks early on in the semester and did not bother to revisit this later on.  Reviewing and editing wikis also seemed to falter as the semester wore on possibly due to the students perceived lack of an ending to the assignment.  Therefore, when teachers design an online course implementing wikis they should encourage regular participation with grades. 

I learned a great deal from this article and plan on using the knowledge I have gained in creating my online learning community utilizing wikis.  Wikis can be a great format but teachers should also be aware of the inherent weaknesses present in them as well.