A wiki is an editable web site that
allows any visitor to participate. It has tools that enable its users to edit
the site without any prior knowledge. Anyone whom has access can post anything
to a wiki. Wikis are used online publicly. That is, anyone outside the school
classroom can access them. Some users collaborate together and share
information. This might include family information and photos, technical
information from products, data from a research and development project, or
projects. 
Wikis can also be used for free
expression. One example can be from my class, Educational Technology 486. We
have been using a wiki site to work together to find sources for our teaching
content area. On my Resources Section page, there are many resources listed for
subjects in the Language Arts- such as Literature, Creative Writing, and
Grammar. Students in my class collaborated and found multiple sources to
support different aspects of different content areas. The Wiki allowed us to
all participate and contribute to the assignment. It also enabled us to easily
submit our sources and link them to the designated website.
There are many differences between
a wiki and another online publication, such as a blog. A blog contains “posts”
or entries written by one author. People can view posts and leave “comments,”
or responses to the post by the author. The difference between a wiki and blog
is that only the author can edit the post of a blog. No one can go and change
what has been written in a blog. In a Wiki, however, anyone can change what has
been written. It is more communally written. It has more structure and allows
for openness.
