Article 12

Huett, J., Huett, K. & Bennett, E. (2010). The Way of the Wiki: Using a Wiki as a Management Tool for Online Programs. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 13(3).

The Way of the Wiki: Using a Wiki as a Management Tool for Online Programs

Summary:

Jason Huett, Kimberly Huett and Elizabeth Bennett write of the benefits of using wikis to allow for collaboration. They write of a online graduate program in which the faculty tried using a wiki to discuss the curriculum. Huett, Huett and Bennett (2010) write, “Wikis promote collaborative knowledge convergence” (p.1). With this graduate school the use of wikis has been a tremendous asset to the program. Faculty and staff were able to collaborate in order to create the curriculum for the online component of their program. Huett, Huett and Bennett discuss the issues facing online education programs, specifically surrounding the sometimes overwhelming administration issues. “As an online program develops, it can become progressively more difficult to manage information, resources, and people. Email and infrequent face to face contacts can become increasingly inefficient and do little to promote the kind of real-time, collaborative knowledge management and strategic planning needed to insure program health and vitality (Huett, Huett & Bennett 2010 p. 1). The authors go on to discuss how this inefficient management of online programs results in communication gaps and lack of understanding of program objectives by interested parties. The authors found that utilizing wikis created an environment in which collaboration was valued and an egalitarian culture was created instead of the traditional top-down management style.

Response:

Using Wikis to engage in collaboration is a great idea. I can see how this would work well in educational institutions. One concern I run into is communicating via email. It seems as though I can send out dozens of emails and never get a straight answer. Using a wiki to collaborate with colleges would solve this problem and create an atmosphere of mutual respect. This is something that I have recently come across within my position as the graduate assistant with the CCE program at WWU. We are currently working on a wiki for developing a new format for the new student orientations. The graduate student advisory committee had a face to face meeting in which we discussed the goals of the orientation and identified the content areas we wanted to cover and then began working on the format and agenda via a wiki. Committee members who were not in attendance were able to participate and we have begun work on this project. My experience so far is quite positive. I have no doubt that this will become a grand asset to many different industries.