Using Wikis as a Teaching Tool for Novice Teachers – Pedagogical Implications

Abstract

The present study reports on research conducted on novice teachers’ use of wikis with their high school students. These teachers had been previously exposed to wikis as a collaborative learning tool during their teaching preparation programme. The aim was to explore whether their experience with wiki usage helped them in their teaching. Participants included fifteen novice teachers in their first year of teaching foreign languages in Albania, who held their teaching partly online during the school year 2020-2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected through in-depth interviews include their own reflections. These reflections indicate that the use of a wiki at the university level helped them feel at ease in using wikis in their online teaching. The study proved the use of wikis to be a feasible means of online collaboration, which facilitated constructing new knowledge for their students. As a result, wikis provide a collaborative medium of technology integration into their teaching.

Keywords

• wiki, teacher preparation, online collaboration