Methods of Communication: Wikis

WIKIS

MediaWiki logo by en:User:Anthere (flower) and en:User:Eloquence (combination, concept). 

The flower is Image:Tournesol.png. Retrieved April 15, 2015. 

The word wiki derives from the Hawaiian "quick," and relates to the characteristics of wikis--that they are websites that can be collaboratively edited in real-time (quickly, at the moment) by users. 

Although Wikipedia is probably the most well-known and used wiki, there are numerous wikis that are created for and by special interest groups (i.e., music-based, anime-based) and that are education-based (i.e., interactive fiction, flipped learning). Many learning management systems also come with a wiki plugin now so that students can practice creating wikis in their courses. 

According to Zach LeBar (2014), wikis allow users to: 

• Make it quick and easy to write information on web pages.
• Facilitate communication and discussion, since it's easy for those who are reading a wiki page to edit that page themselves.
• Allow for quick and easy linking between wiki pages, including pages that don't yet exist on the wiki.

Reference

LeBar, Z. (2014). "What are wikis, and why should you use them?" Retrieved April 10, 2015 from http://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/what-are-wikis-and-why-should-you-use-them--cms-19540.