Online collaborative learning: the promise of wikis

Abstract

This manuscript presents a pilot study investigating the affordances of wikis to support collaborative learning in online settings, compared to current asynchronous threaded discussion tools. The study was conducted with 21 graduate students enrolled in an online learning theories course. Innovative methodologies were utilized--computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) and chronologically-oriented representations of discourse and tool-related activity (CORDTRA)--to study discourse and technology use as students worked in groups to analyze a case. The study revealed results in favor of the wiki technology suggesting that wiki groups tend to be more collaborative, rather than cooperative, compared to threaded discussion groups.