Making it from point A to point B with a wiki on your back…

How would one assess student learning if they used a wiki to do a collaborative task?

Interesting question… It almost sounds like one of those wordy math problems that draws the students’ attention away from the basic formula. Forget the fact that the train is carrying Hannah Montana and Zach Efron and calculate when it will arrive! My daughter would be so happy to hear that both Hannah and Zach are on the same train that she would begin figuring out how she could make it onto the train and forget the original problem. So how does this apply to assessing students’ learning if they used a wiki? The use of a wiki should not overhaul or significantly change how I would assess learning or collaboration. In my opinion the “wiki” is a tool that allows the learning and collaboration to occur at any place and at any time. It facilitates the process for the learner and allows them to experience an assignment in a way that would not be easy or convenient without the technology. The same benefits apply for the teacher. Remember traditional group work before email? It either involved a lengthy phone call or a face to face meeting. For the teacher, it was not easy to be aware of all the revisions and meeting that went into a group project outside of class. When used appropriately, wiki technology makes it easier to enable and track collaboration.

As with almost any assignment, clear and detailed instructions are important in assisting the learner in reaching the assignment goals. When assigning an assignment using wikis, it is important to inform the student of the procedures that you would like for them to follow when using the tool. If I were using Wikispaces.com for one of my high school classes, I would make every effort to:

• Request that students reflect and document the thoughts that motivated additions or changes through the discussion tab;

• Inform students of the requirements for logging into the wiki and the expectations for participation (i.e. alternate contributions between partners, or discuss and reach consensus before editing the wiki.)

In essence, I would work towards making the presence of the wiki technology transparent. I don’t want the assignment to be a cool use of technology; it needs to serve a better purpose. Think of essays that are word processed… do we grade the content or the use of features (technology)? Wiki facilitates the process and should not dictate the grade.

So back to the original question, how would I assess student learning if they used a wiki? Essentially the same way I would any other group project; through a rubric that evaluated the objectives of the assignment. The difference is that the wiki facilitated the students’ collaboration and provided everyone with detailed documentation.