What is a Wiki?

What is a Wiki? Most everyone has heard of Wikipedia (wikipedia.org), which is the most recognized model of a wiki. A Wiki is an assortment of interlinked WebPages making it possible for any participant/user to freely add and edit information. It is a database where information is accumulated and easily modified by the user. From the educational perspective, a wiki makes available to the student a globally shared space where he/she can put together and develop their personal understanding on a subject/topic with the use of digital editing and revisions tools. One example of a global wiki is the Flat Classroom project, which uses Web 2.0 tools to communicate between students and teachers in geographically separate classrooms and was founded by Vicki Davis in Georgia (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay in Beijing, China (Qatar Academy, Qatar). Their goal was to find out how today’s turbo-charged information age contribute to the major social and economical changes occurring across the globe (Peters, 2009).