Wiki is an adaptation of the Hawaiian term for fast. Originally created for fast collaboration and communication via the Web among programmers, a wiki site is a web site that content is written collaboratively so that anyone with a computer and Internet access can edit and add to the information provided. A wiki is a free collection of information that anyone can edit.
One of the largest wikis, the Wikipedia, is published by the Wikimedia Foundation along with its sister wiki web sites, with Wikitionary, Wikibooks, Wikinews, and Wikiquote among the most popular. Wikipedia is not a forum for personal opinion, as is a blog, but is a collaboratively developed encyclopedia of information. Wikipedia articles offer links, cross references, and citations contributed by people that are interested in that topic.
In education, wikis provides a space for brainstorming and collaborative writing. They offer an online, easily accessible area for debates, group projects, and shared resources. Teachers can have students author and edit articles on assigned topics or provide space for the creation of a collaborative booklet on a topic of interest. (Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2007).
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Im guilty of using wikipedia for quick answers. I love it! I use it in moderation though, since I know all the info might not be reliable. Any time there is open editing, somebody is going to disagree. As a teacher in the 21st Century, I very seldom use a set of encyclopedia books. They seem so out-of-date. I like having instant information at my fingertips via the world wide web. Anyother plus of using the internet is I can use my encyclopedia bookshelf for other books!
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