Constructing democratic learning environments the wiki way

Abstract

This study explores the ways in which wikis used in higher education contexts created communities of practice when driven by the instructor's need to create a democratic learning environment. Based on data from the integration of wikis for three and a half years in qualitative research methods classes, this paper establishes the ways in which students collaborated in projects, created safe learning environments, resisted certain expectations about collaborating using wikis, and negotiated the ways in which they were becoming independent learners. This study highlights instructional strategies for incorporating wikis and offers examples of students' work to discuss the ways in which construction of knowledge occurred.