What can be done to improve students' learning in a wiki? Here are several techniques that you can use immediately to increase the learning in your wiki. These techniques are based on the experiences of this author who has used wikis for numerous semesters in his classes and on conversations with educators who use wikis in their classes.

When students see and then practice with the mechanics of adding information in the wiki, they feel more confident. As the educator demonstrates to them the do's (Make sure to put your information in the appropriate section and in the appropriate order) and dont's (Do not copy a Web site and dump it into the wiki since it destroys the wiki format), the students learn how to function in a wiki. Often without such explicit instruction and a follow-up handout, students create a wiki learning environment that is so disorganized it blocks learning.

Students benefit from exemplars of good wiki entries such as summaries, reactions, questions, or annotated websites. She can tell about the new learning goal and then show the students samples of the high level of thinking and the comprehensiveness required for the activity. A social studies teacher shows students an exemplar that contrasts three news articles on the same current event to help them realize the bias of the media; she demonstrates what makes the contrast of these articles exemplary. Next, the students pick their own news topic, analyze three news articles for bias, post their articles, and react to the classmates' analysis.

If the students simply put information up on a wiki without having to interact then they see the wiki as nothing more than a one-sided archive. For a wiki to be Web 2.0 technology, educators need to build in interactivity. An educator may ask students to read two different articles on the same topic that other students have put up on a wiki and then to compare and contrast the articles. Students can be asked to evaluate information found on the websites found by their classmates. They can integrate the individual research done by others in their classroom to create their own position paper on a topic.

Students like to build on what others have done. For example, the first student may do a summary of the chapter. The second students adds real life example to each major heading. The third student adds Internet videos, podcasts or interactive websites. Each student has to read what has been done previously and add more and different content; each student knows he or she is contributing additional information. This educator has had Speech students add to the wiki class material created over several previous semesters so that the material gets more refined and improved each semester to be a more powerful learning tool. Student feel that they learn more from reading the wiki than the textbook.

When students see the wiki as a source of help to them, they use it more often. This educator has experimented with having business students leave questions they have about textbook chapter content and having other students answer the questions for them. Likewise, students can ask each other for help in their assignment. A writing student who needs more examples for her reasons for legalizing assisted suicides leaves a request for her classmates in the Classmate Help section of the wiki. She also answers the help requests of a student who needs to find a person to interview.

Group work becomes more transparent through a wiki. If each group lists its learning goal and the role of each student, then each student is held more accountable. No student can say that she or he did not know what they were to do. Furthermore, if each group member has to contribute a specific part, each group member can easily see what each member has done. Since group members have a common repository for their work, everyone has access to the work regardless of whether any group member is sick or out of school.

As the scope of the wiki increases, the students have more interest and learn more. A class-only wiki benefits the class members but a class wiki which includes another class, several classes or outside experts, adds a richer dimension to the wiki. When two classes work on an environmental project together such as a class from Syracuse, NY and one from Dublin, Ireland, the wiki becomes a hotbed of different ideas for a common learning goal. Educators can use Twitter to find partner schools or experts.

Use these techniques to make your wiki a more powerful learning environment.

Dr. Harry Grover Tuttle focuses on assessing and improving student learning through low- and high-tech tools.

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