Advantages+and+Disadvantage+of+Wikis


 * __Advantages__**
 * Allow multiple users a true web-based collaborative interface to content- the wiki software allows for generation of and changes to pages, and adding links between them.
 * It keeps a record of the changes on a page and allows for backtracking of changes and locking pages so changes are no longer possible.
 * Online sharing and user collaboration.
 * No need to wait for a publisher to create/review your papers.
 * Accessible from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
 * Free!!
 * Student as teacher
 * Interactive lessons


 * __Disadvantages__**
 * Monthly fees for User Control add on (Teacher control).
 * Ads pop up (annoying) have to pay subscription fee to be removed permanently.
 * Anyone can edit so this may be too open. However it is possible to regulate user access.
 * Open to Spam and Vandalism if not managed properly.
 * Can become disorganised, as a wiki grows. Hard to retrive information-need to perform routine maintenance.
 * Easy for wikis to live beyond a project's life, to become orphaned or to live as a sounding for half-informed, unsure and speculative ideas.

//You may or may not want to use wiki for your class project. The list above may help you to decide if a wiki is appropriate for your class project.

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//**Wikis in the Classroom:**//

As with any teaching strategy, Wikis can exist as:

1. Teacher-directed - teachers choose to use classroom wiki to seed their student's learning. Example: Finding several websites or videos online and linking or embedding them into the page for a particular topic. Teachers control the wiki, maybe even locking the page to prevent students from editing.

2. Student-directed: teachers use the same idea, but allow their students to scour the Internet for the information. This allows students to choose what information is important to their learning.

3. Using the wiki to summarise class information. For example:

After completing a section on global water system, Student A goes in the wiki and post information about each of the stages. Student A happens to not be your most studious child, and he mixes up the concepts of evaporation and condensation. Student B logs on and read the water cycle page, catches the error, and is immediately able to go in and fix the mistake. Student C may also log in and edit what B wrote down....

The great thing about a wiki is that all changes are archived. As the teacher, you are capable of seeing just who made each and every change, when they worked on it, and go back to a previous version of the wiki.

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 * __Summary__**

In summarry, Wiki is a very quick and easy tool. The implications for education are immense.
 * Relevance of the topics
 * Make classroom content relevant as well as technology content.
 * Collaborative experience

However, Wiki is an open source for people to input information. Thus not all Wikis are appropriate for learning as virtually anyone can go onto a wiki and put up whatever they want. This means that people with no qualifications in a particular field can still write information about it, including a lot of people who really have no idea what is going on. Because of this fact, most educational institution do not accept Wikipedia as a reliable resource.