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Wikis in the classroom

15.Jan.08

Eric Baber looks at how wikis can be used in teaching business English.

In reading my daily dose of blog entries one thing struck me – a lot is being written about wikis at the moment. Whether this has been building up or suddenly happened today I'm not sure, but I thought it would be a good time to write a column about wikis. I'll start by describing what wikis are and how they work, and will then give a few examples of business English specific wikis and ways in which wikis in general can be used by business English trainers.

First of all, let's take a look at what a wiki is. A wiki is very much like a website but with a twist: instead of one person or organisation setting up a website for others to read, a wiki is a website which can be edited by anyone visiting the wiki. So instead of one person doing all the work and disseminating a particular opinion, a wiki enables the collection of ideas and thoughts. The most well-known example of a wiki is probably Wikipedia – an online encyclopaedia to which anyone can add content or edit existing content. If you take a look at any of the entries on Wikipedia, you'll notice that there's an 'Edit' button on each page. This is the magic button that differentiates a wiki from a regular website, since it allows the visitor to edit the page they're currently reading.

Wikis in general are particularly good at two things. Firstly, collecting a set of information from different users. For example, putting together a dictionary, encyclopaedia, glossary, or links around a common area of interest. Secondly, they allow a group of people to collaborate on one document, enabling them to update a communal document with a specific purpose.

And here's where we come to a couple of good examples of wikis for business English trainers:

beo-businessenglishonline.wikispaces.com – a collection of resources and ideas for business English learners and trainers. A great list of authentic websites in sectors including banking, franchising, retailing, etc. .
en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Business_English – a collection of language tips (using idioms and phrasal verbs for example), advice on improving the skills areas and links to further materials.

In addition to BE-specific wikis there are a number of ways in which you can use more generic, or even your own, wikis with your learners:

Start a glossary for your own class. Go to www.wikispaces.com and set up a free wiki for your class. Set your students the task of adding one (or two, or three) new pieces of vocabulary every week. Ask students to check their colleagues' entries and correct any mistakes they find, either in terms of content or in their English.
Find a wiki on a subject area of interest to your students (either by doing a Google search on, for example, 'legal English wikis', or by asking your students for pointers). Ask students to review at least three entries in areas they are particularly knowledgeable, and to update the entry if they come across any mistakes. Ask them to contribute one new entry, and have your students check each others' entries) .
Use wiki.idebate.org/index.php to get your students to prepare for a debate of their choice or yours. This wiki is particularly good for advanced students.

For a nifty video on what wikis are, what they're good at and how to use one, take a look at the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY – it's very well done and entertaining.

Over to you – do you use wikis in your business English teaching? If so, how? Do you find them useful?

All the best for this week

Eric