Keywords

Wiki, English as a Foreign Language, Taiwan, Online Learning, Diffusion of Innovations, Cooperative Learning

Abstract

Incorporating technology into learning has brought major benefits to learners and has greatly changed higher education. Since there is limited number of experimental research investigating the effectiveness of applying wikis, this study collected experimental data to investigate its effectiveness. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of applying wikis in terms of students' learning outcomes, to investigate the changes regarding students' attitude towards language learning, to explore the communication channels in wikis that facilitate students' interaction in the e-learning environment as well as students' experience of using wikis. Results showed that there existed statistically significant difference between the group with and without wikis, which means the group applying wikis performed better in listening and reading abilities. When compared with the non-wiki group, the wiki group had a more favorable attitude towards the class, their English ability improvement, and cooperative learning. Moreover, the students agreed that wikis helped them complete their assignment, they felt comfortable in the wiki environment, and it was easy for them to use wikis. From the experiences of using wikis shared by the students, they provided recommendations about the interface and the edit functions in the wiki environment. Their interaction with other team members and the course material increased but they expressed that the main interaction was through face-to-face and instant message software. Finally, the wiki environment allowed students to fulfill their role duties, cooperate, negotiate, manage their contribution, and modeling from each other.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2008

Advisor

Witta, E. Lea

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Education

Department

Educational Research, Technology, and Leadership

Degree Program

Education

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0002227

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002227

Language

English

Release Date

September 2008

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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