The use of a wiki to boost open and collaborative learning in a Spanish university

Abstract

Spanish universities are attempting to offer a more flexible and higher- quality education that is adapted to new social demands. As a result, they are offering a series of technological resources in both university management, as well as, in teaching and research - developments which are encouraged by the educational convergence process, occurring within the European Higher Education Area. In this article, we analyze how a group of university teachers seeks to promote an experience of active collaboration and open education amongst their students through the creation of a Wikipedia site. The goal was to promote a different, more flexible teaching system, where both the teacher and the students break away from their classic roles. This experience was started in order to achieve the following results: 1) motivate learning, 2) encourage active-collaborative learning 3) create a dictionary of the terms related to political science that helps to explain key concepts to students and the public, and 3) improve the quality of education. Despite facing certain obstacles, the results were positive: the students became committed to this practice, learned to collaborate in groups, and solved problems by interacting with their classes; their interest in subjects was increased, and useful tools for other people were created. Moreover, the teachers introduced new pedagogical methods in their classes and made learning relate to their students in a different way. In short, the results show that the use of wiki is effective in improving university teaching.