Fostering Online Collaborative Learning Using Wikis: A Pilot Study

Abstract: A classroom that operates as learning community should not be bounded to one weekly face to face meeting. Collaboration and social interaction are enabled to continue online using Web 2.0 technologies. We examined the affordances of wikis to support online collaborative learning within a learning community. The study was conducted with 24 students in an educational psychology graduate level course. Purpose of the Study Wikis are Web 2.0 technologies that allow every visitor to become an editor of a given topic at any time and from any location. The largest and perhaps most well-known wiki is Wikipedia. Wikis might have the power to transform classrooms into online learning communities unbounded by time and space constrains. Nevertheless, empirical evidence to support or refute this argument is currently lacking. In this study we examined the affordances of wikis to support online collaborative learning (CL). The wiki environment became our means for online collaboration and social interaction in addition to our face to face (F2F) meetings. Our purpose was twofold: (a) assess students’ attitudes about their CL experiences using a wiki (RQ1), and (b) investigate the CL processes evident in the wiki environment, as well as characteristics of a wiki that may support online learning communities (RQ2). Theoretical Framewor