This week's workshop has really been an eye-opener for me. I now know that 'Wikipedia' is merely one example of a wiki and that 'wiki' refers to a collection of inter-linked web pages that allow the editing of materials.This means that, there is no such thing as a final product of a 'wiki', as it is always a work-in-progress.It is definitely accurate to then say that wikis rely on a pool of collective intelligence which is distributed intelligence collaborated by many.
Wikis if used appropriately are beneficial in education. Collaborative information learning is presented as 'tag clouds' on web pages, which highlight the descriptive terms used frequently by users. By clicking on the words, users are brought to another web page that contains definitions and examples of the term. Another interesting fact of the wikis is that anyone with information, new perspective and knowledge can share their thoughts. The 'history' function on the web page which allows past pages to be recovered minimises vandalism or dispute of content. In this manner, students (possibly at a university level) can use wikis as a platform to draft and work with their peers collaboratively, while extending one another's thought process and make changes to it in the light of feedback from teachers and other users.
Knowledge is collaborative. However, one of the dangers of wikis, is anyone from anywhere is allowed to add content onto the world wide web, just like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Online materials should be always viewed with a 'pinch of salt'. Users, especially students need to be aware that just because people agree with an idea, it does not necessarily mean its true. Users need to develop Information literacy, where they have the skills to evaluate and compare ideas from various sources.
