The wiki is a relative new collaborative writing tool that exists in the cloud.  The writing that happens in a wiki sits in a database on a server, and is not stored locally on a student’s computer or disk.   The term wiki apparently comes from “wiki wiki,” a Hawaiian word for quick.  The wiki is designed for multiple authors to quickly work together on a document.

Writing teachers, and teachers using writing process pedagogy in their classes, should take a close look at the ways a wiki might help them achieve collaborative learning and writing goals in a hybrid, online, or even face-to-face course. There are certainly many free wiki tools available to a teacher, and Blackboard has a wiki plug-in available to faculty.

Wiki Pedagogy

Wiki Pedagogy is a fairly comprehensive web-based article on wiki pedagogy published by Renee Fountain at Dossiers Technopedagogiques. I particularly recommend the section on Pedagogical Potential.

The article does not recommend any specific wiki platform and is focused on the tool and its pedagogical uses.