Framework for Developing and Assessing Business Education Wikis

Abstract

The use of Web 2.0 tools is becoming widespread in business education and educators are increasingly exploring the use of Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts in their courses. For teaching and learning to be effective in new technology-based environments, there is a need to research and design Web 2.0 learning systems that are effective platforms for incorporating interactive tools to engage students in learning. Although Web 2.0 assignments are usually tailored to meet specific learning objectives of courses and instructions can be made available to students to address the technical nature of the environment, development and assessment of Web 2.0 assignments remains a challenge for most business educators. Using the context of wikis, this article proposes a framework for development and assessment of business education wikis to assist educators who want to explore the use of wikis in their courses.

Web 2.0 Technologies

“…The time is prime for researchers to continue to clarify potential advantages as well as disadvantages of the many Web 2.0 technologies, their applications, and implications for teaching courses online and otherwise. As Hazari (2010) suggested:…”

“…For example, the use of blogs and RSS feeds in mathematics journals (Marino & Angotti, 2011), the integration of online video sharing in course assignments (Sherer & Shea, 2011), free Web 2.0 tools for German language classes (Goertler, 2009;Lornsen, 2010), legal and ethical issues involving the use of Web 2.0 tools in community colleges (Diaz, 2010), and using Web 2.0 as an approach for peer tutoring (Westera, de Bakker, & Wagemans, 2009). Other technologies receiving positive reviews included using wikis in business education courses to maximize student engagment (Hazari & Penland, 2010), and a constructive appraisal of CoPe it!, a Web-based online collaboration tool, for argumentative discussions and decision-making (Karacapilidis & Tzagarakis, 2007).…”