Wiki

Although wikis are one of the least used tools within the TILA project, they present some obvious benefits for learning in an intercultural context. But first of all: what is a wiki?

A wiki is a tool that allows pupils to write a text together and to keep track of the contributions of each individual pupil. It is an environment in which the registered people have the same writing and editing rights. This allows them to add new text and to change parts that seem incorrect to them. The tool has various other options, one of which is the Comment function (for teachers) that makes it possible to give feedback to the authors of the text. Another useful function in the TILA wiki is History, which allows to see who has made which change, and when. Also, as a teacher it is possible to eliminate specific text versions.

At a first glance it is not easy to make arrangements about who will take care of which part of the text, but the wiki tool also contains a handy Files tab. There one can store all kinds of files, such as task instructions or an image library - or an overview of the division of labor throughout the project. This will surely help the pupils keeping the overview and knowing for which part each one is responsible.

There is just one problem with wikis: it can be problematic to work on them with bigger groups at the same time. The reason is that people cannot edit the document at the same time as others, yet this is more likely to happen when working with a bigger group. So, if pupil 1 opens version D of the text in order to change it and thus create version E, pupil 2 may have exactly the same idea at the very same moment. If he too opens version D, two people are working on a new version and this will generate an error.

Last modified: Thursday, 9 July 2015, 2:14 PM