I think motivation and collaboration are two key benefits to using a wiki. One draw back that has been discussed is the ability to vandalize wikis or delete parts of wikis. Wikipedia, which is the most widely known wiki, has been criticized by experts, teachers, and librarians for its inability to control postings and its credibility problems. This two drawbacks to wikis are common responses to the incorporation of wikis in the classroom that many teachers express. The future of wikis though is developing and the longer wikis are being used the more controlled and credible they will become. The future of wikis is sites like Citizendum, which was created by the co founder of Wikipedia. Citizendum attempts to address the credibility issues with Wikipedia and is a good example of how over time wikis will continue to evolve. I think the same is true with wikis uses and integration in education. The longer wikis are around and the more teachers that begin to understand the collaborative power of wikis the power benefits and uses we will find for this new piece of technology.
Citizendum Article: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2007/04/wikipedias_new_competition_cit_1.html
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The idea of having a tool that helps us create “real higher order learning” is so exciting and motivating to me as a teacher. As you noted it is how we use it that is the key. Dr. Ferdig addressed this element (the importance of pedagogy) in technological tool design within the classroom in the paper he shared with us (Assessing technologies for teaching and learning). I think wiki’s will begin to evolve into a more dynamic tool that has other features within it… but I am not a futurist. I see the benefits as it stand now – and it’s exciting to me.
Megan,
I was going through the website and I found the idea of using real names and "gentle moderation" intriguing. Going by the cases of identity theft these days it seems that forging a name online is more easier than sending an email :-P. But at least it's a step towards a better wiki and I think wikis will be more moderated by "us" - the users as time progresses and they become more common.
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