Wiki in school libraries : A case study of using a wiki as support in teaching information searching

The purpose of this Master’s Thesis is to examine and describe how a wiki can be used in the information seeking education. We believe that the preconditions for education and learning are changing; technology and Internet has introduced new tools for the learning situation. To examine this we will describe how the wiki technology can be used in the information seeking education, describe how the goals of the information seeking education are reached when using a wiki and lastly investigate the school librarian’s pedagogical role in wiki-based education. In our research we have used qualitative interviews, observations and study of the artifact. We have interviewed the school librarian and her seventh grade students, observed the learning situation in the class room and studied their use of their wiki. We learned that the wiki was used as a platform in the education and that the school librarian found it easy to implement and use. The students found it easy and fun to use most of the time. We found that the school librarian’s role were twofold; tutor and intermediary. When using the wiki the learning situation is changed, there are new roles and the teaching moves away from the teacher’s desk. We also came to the conclusion that the wiki was not used to its full potential in terms of collaboration