Design Alternatives for a MediaWiki to Support Collaborative Writing in Higher Education Classes

Sumonta Kasemvilas, Lorne Olfman
InSITE 2009  •  Volume 9  •  2009
Constructivist learning mechanisms such as collaborative writing have emerged as a result of the development of Web 2.0 technologies. We define the term mandatory collaborative writing to describe a writing activity where the group has a firm deadline. Our study focuses on how a wiki can fully support mandatory group writing. The motivation of this design science research study emerges from a graduate Knowledge Management class assignment to write a wiki book. The project outcome shows that the wiki instance used for the project, MediaWiki, could better facilitate the process with a set of extensions that support discussion, evaluation, and project management. We outline designs for these mechanisms: 1) a discussion mechanism that changes the way users discuss content on a wiki page and increases group awareness; 2) an evaluation mechanism that provides a tool for the instructor to monitor and assess students’ performance; and 3) a project management tool that increases awareness of the status of each component of the writing project and provides an overall summary of the project. A demonstration of the principles to a focus group provided a basic proof of the validity of these mechanisms.
awareness, collaborative writing, constructivist learning, design science research, discussion, evaluation, MediaWiki, project management, Web 2.0
6 total downloads
Share this
 Back

Back to Top ↑

This website is using cookies
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy.
I AcceptPrivacy Policy
x