Wikis and blogs are both powerful collaboration tools that I was previously not familiar with. Wikis and blogs not only promote critical and analytical thinking, they are also constructivist tools for learning (Richardson, 2006).
The main distinction that I notice between wikis and blogs are that wikis can be updated by a collective group, (Commoncraft, 2005) but, blogs are a collection of ideas and comments from individual authors. Wikis and blogs are the same in that they focus on a particular topic.
Prior to the class I am currently taking (Computer Technology and Multimedia), my experience with wikis has been using Wikipedia to gather additional information on a topic that I was previously unexposed to, and to gather seminal information and links to other references. I had never before blogged.
I also looked at how blogs and wikis can be used as training tools in the corporate context and discovered there are multiple issues when using these collaborative tools. For example there are concerns regarding security; copyright and intellectual property; and the fit with using these types of educational tools in the existing corporate culture (Dellow, 2005).
As a result of my research I would like to further explore the usage of blogs and wikis in the corporate training environment. I would like to know what tools other organizations use for training that do not compromise security and proprietary information.
Dellow, J. (2005). Blogs and wikis for trainers. Retrieved September 28, 2008, from http://www.slideshare.net/chieftech/blogs-wikis-for-trainers/
Commoncraft (2005). Wikis in plain English. Retrieved September 27, 2008 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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2 comments:
“As a result of my research I would like to further explore the usage of blogs and wikis in the corporate training environment. I would like to know what tools other organizations use for training that does not compromise security and proprietary information.”
Dr. Toledo clarified in last week’s discussion that “when you create your wiki you control who adds and changes the pages. It does not have to be open to everyone. No one changes this info unless I allow them to become a member” (p.1).
If designed according to your criteria a wiki may provide the stage you need for making training information available to those who need access to it. If it is an internal document then outsiders would not have access to it and this may get around concerns regarding security and proprietary issues.
Toledo, C. (2008). Computer Technology and Multimedia in Education. EDUC 8823. Course discussion. Retrieved October 3, 2008 from, http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=3070882&Survey=1&47=3259877&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
I too have had limited use of both wikis and blogs. The continued use of both has definitely opened my eyes to their educational advantage. I was very resistant to blogging as I have always viewed it as personal spew; basically an online diary. Reading these and other professional blogs has opened my eyes to the use as both a research tool and also as a view into a wider perspective of topics pertinent to me.
"As a result of my research I would like to further explore the usage of blogs and wikis in the corporate training environment."
I'm excited to implement these into the classroom. My biggest fear rests in the total failure thereof, but I guess all I can do is try!
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