Article Review by Lindsay L. Clements for LSTE 7330-990 Huett, J.B., Huett, K.C., & Bennett, E. (2010).

The way of the Wiki: Using a Wiki as a management tool for online programs. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 12(3). This article explains the collaborative processes at the University of West Georgia as they adopted the use of wikis as an administrative tool in their online graduate program. The universitys struggle to overcome communication gaps was solved with the gradual implementation of the wikis. Since the initial implementation of one wiki page in 2007, the use of wikis at the University of West Georgia has expanded, and numerous other departments are finding new and powerful ways to use wikis. This article also offers insight and considerations for other universities that are looking for ways to build a sense of community and collaboration among the faculty and a better way to accumulate, organize, and store such collaborative assets. Article Summary This article gives the reader a good description of what wikis are and how they have been traditionally used. The article states that wikis allow for users to collaborate, discuss, revise, and make otherwise meaningful associations all in an intuitive and easy-to-use format that resembles an editable webpage (Huett, Huett, & Bennett, 2010). The authors explain how wikis can be used as a management tool for online programs and how wikis combine technology with social engineering to yield a new type of convergence that produces high-quality content built on consensus (Cortese, 2003, p.2, as cited in Huett et al., 2010). The article then tells the story of how the Media and Instructional Technology Department at the University of West Georgia began using a wiki for collaboration purposes as

the faculty was creating a series of workshops related to their online programs. The initial decision to use a wiki was made after the use of a Google document (they were using to collaborate) quickly expanded to a mulit-colored mess that was difficult to track and was expanded to the point of being useless (Huett et al., 2010, p.3). The wiki allowed for asynchronous collaboration that was more efficient than email and more flexible than the Google document, and it also allowed the faculty to contribute to the collaborative efforts in a manner that did not conflict with busy schedules. The department chair begin to encourage the use of the wiki by inviting others who were less familiar with it by suggesting they log on using a generic name and password she created to give reluctant faculty a chance to try it out without having to commit to creating their own account. The goal was to warm the faculty up to the idea and let them just see for themselves how easy and beneficial using a wiki could be. Soon numerous wiki pages were created to help structure the online programs workshops. Faculty use increased and began branching out to other administrative areas, such as the creation of pages to record department meeting agendas and minutes, to gather feedback on faculty suggestions on content to be placed on promotional material, and other organizational concerns and matters. Over the next two years, the growth of the use of wikis surpassed mere encouragement by the department chair, and the faculty became expected to contribute to the wikis. For example, emails reminded the faculty to post on the wiki and included direct links to the wiki or the wiki pages discussion tab. Eventually, all members of the faculty were actively contributing and using the wiki pages. However, after the creation of over 70 pages and upon uploading over 100 files, the department decided to move beyond the provided [wiki] template with WikiSpaces and experiment with reorganizing the site to better meet its needs (Huett et al., 2010, p. 4).

Other departments at the university took notice of the effectiveness and benefits of using the wiki, and numerous other wikis have been implemented and are currently in use. Now, faculty members have grown comfortable using wikis and have begun to explore new and creative ways to use them in their teaching, service, and professional development areas (Huett et al., 2010, p.5). This article also addresses other organizations uses of wikis and offers advice for others that are considering using wikis as a management tool. Critical Reflections The quality of this article was good, as it provided insight from individuals that used and experimented with the capabilities of wikis for educational collaboration. The article explains to the reader the ways that wikis proved to be beneficial for the University of West Georgia. This article is relevant for those involved in distance education programs because as distance education grows, educators and administrators must stay abreast of the current trends in this area. Successes with such trends should be shared and encouraged among the educational community. The authors presentation of one organizations story of success could spark inspiration and guidance for others that may be unfamiliar with wikis or uncertain as to how they could be useful. This approach to the construction of an information repository and facilitation of asynchronous collaboration is particularly important for anyone involved in the development and management of distance education programs. Such collaboration is essential for building a sense of community and shared responsibility for all involved. The gradual implementation and constant encouragement described in this article allowed for even the most un-tech savvy individuals to grow accustomed to the use of wikis without feeling inadequate or feeling left out of the collaborative processes.

Although this was a quality article, it viewed the use of wikis from a case study-like perspective. I believe that more research is needed that is experimental in nature to compare wikis as a program management tools to other tools currently in use. Experimental comparisons would produce numbers that are concrete, and those considering the benefits of using wikis would not have to rely solely on the current users perception of the success of using wikis as a management tool.

Reference Huett, J.B., Huett, K.C., & Bennett, E. (2010). The way of the Wiki: Using a Wiki as a management tool for online programs. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 12(3).