E-learning and the power of wikis. Pt 3

Wiki study groups

This is an interesting concept. I remember back in the late 70s during my brick and mortar college days that I actually participated in a few study groups. I did not go to many and I really do not know how much studying actually took place. Anyway study groups are a part of the learning process.

Usually a groups of students would decide to get together to study; collaboration is not a new concept but the way that we go about doing it has changed in some ways. The important things to decide when forming study groups is who will attend, what will be studied, what time it will take place and where it will be held. When using wikis the last will be omitted because it will be conducted online. The person organizing the study group will initiate the wiki and do the invites.Chances are the people and subject will have already been determined.

There are a number of ways to approach this but I will give what I believe to be two of the main ways. First would be an on going study group over the course of the class. After the first or the second week of the class a wiki could be set up. This wiki would run the length of the class. The other way of approaching this is to set up a "cram" session two weeks before the end of the class.

Some things to think about would be setting up a FAQ page for questions on the course material. In wikis that run the length of the class, there might be a separate page for each week that would be a review of that week’s material. There might also be a page to review and discuss class assignments. A page could also be set up to review and discuss study habits and other learning techniques. The possibilities are only limited by the imagination.

Wikis offer a new dimension to an old concept, collaborative studying. Often students can learn a great deal from other students. Also, even though many instructors make themselves available to students, sometimes the connection just cannot be made. An integral part of the learning process is students helping other students to review and understand the lessons. Wikis and other social networking tools will give this old concept a new depth.