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This paper investigates the potential of a wiki (FlexWiki) to support collaborative authoring of web resources in authentic coursework by two different sets of education students at different stages of their professional development. Research questions included: (1) how the selected wiki could be blended with curriculum activities and existing technologies to complete collaborative tasks; (2) student and tutor expectations concerning collaborative learning and whether these expectations were met; (3) the barriers and enablers of using the wiki and perceptions of the task-technology fit. Key findings included that tutors and students were able to use the wiki to complete tasks; tutors and students were positive about learning outcomes but collaboration was not as co-constructive as hoped for; there were tensions between expectations of collaboration and assessment practices that affected how students collaborated; differences between participants in their group interaction, degree of co-presence and familiarity with technology led to differences in perceptions of usefulness and actual wiki use; and version-tracking data from the wiki proved unreliable on its own for gaining insights into actual collaborative processes. These findings suggest the importance of considering detailed local contexts of use when deciding to adopt new tools for supporting collaboration.

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This paper analyses a sample of online discussions to evaluate the development of adult learners as reflective practitioners within a networked learning community. The context for our study is a blended learning course offering post-experience professional training to nontraditional university students. These students are parents and carers of people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). We use Lave and Wenger's 'communities of practice' as a theoretical framework for establishing how students develop a learning community based upon mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoires. Those three aspects are analysed according to two measures. The first focuses on learner appropriation of the professional discourse, values and goals of the ASD carer through the network. The second relates to changes in the quality of collaborative activity over time. Our analysis demonstrates that students belong to an overarching community of practice, with different subsets who work at sharing and co-constructing common understandings. This shared discourse and common notions of what constitutes good practice help create a safe interaction space for the students. Once group identity is consolidated, more challenging questions emerge and the group are able to define further common values, understandings and goals through processes of resolution.