Having recently done some cleaning and maintenance on several wikis to ready them for the spring quarter, I thought I’d pass on what I’ve learned. Bear in mind these thoughts represent what I’ve learned building and administering premium workspaces in PBworks; other wikis may have different features and protocols.

Make sure you need a wiki. This is first in my list because sometimes (and I’m guilty here) wikis are added to a course without a compelling reason to use them. Do you have a real need for a collaborative workspace for your students? Do they need to be able to share and edit documents, images, files, and the like? Great: a wiki is just what you need. Do you want to use one because it seems like it’d be a handy way for students to submit media-rich documents? If you’re using Blackboard or another leading LMS, don’t bother with a wiki. Use the features built into your LMS; you’ll have fewer headaches and your students will be much happier.

Assume nothing. Really, just don’t. I should know better, but each term I’m surprised that some of our users are stumped when it comes to using a wiki. My online program has fewer issues with faculty use and administration since we made it policy that all faculty teaching a course that includes a wiki must show competence with the tool, but there’s still confusion among faculty and students alike about access, permissions, logins, password resets, editing, and the like that must be addressed each term. Oh, and don’t assume that every request for access to the workspace is from an enrolled student. Or that everyone you give access to the wiki will stay enrolled. You need to monitor users and their status throughout the term.

Communication is key. I can’t stress this enough. Faculty need to know their responsibilities (like adding users) and how to carry them out. Students need to be told early on how to access and log in to the wiki if it’s external to the LMS (like PBworks). They also must be made aware of whatever level of access other students will have to their work; this is a real privacy issue that can’t be overlooked. And students need to have their own responsibilities spelled out, with clear directions how to fulfill them. The wiki isn’t an add-on to the course; it should be an integrated component with its use and policies included in the syllabus. Finally, if you’re administering wikis for multiple courses (like I am), and you don’t create a new wiki for each term, you’ll need to contact faculty well before the start of the upcoming term to let them know the wiki has to be reverted to its original state for reuse and to determine who will be responsible for doing so.

Wikis can be a valuable part of an online course, but they need more care and feeding than other components, especially if they’re external to the LMS. If you make sure you’re using your wiki appropriately, don’t make assumptions about your users (or your design), and communicate objectives and responsibilities with all stakeholders, you’ll create a less stressful and more productive online learning environment.