Using wikis to collaborate online

I while ago I participated in a phone conference with an expert on using technology in ministry, Jerry Michalsky.

One of the things I learned from Jerry is that there is a free Internet featurecalled a wiki that permits users to read and edit a web page. It's like having your own white board in cyberspace.

If you only desire one-way Web communication, then regular web pages will do. But if you want two-way communication then wikis are better than traditional web pages.

One nifty use I see for a wiki is for committee members to use a wiki page to develop a document together online. With a wiki you and your colleagues can work either synchronously (that is, in real time), or asynchronously (each on his/her own schedule). In real time the committee members can arrange a telephone conference call. As they talk, they can view the same wiki page online and make changes to the page (any of the members can). So, it is like meeting in the same room, using newsprint or a chalk board, except that the members need not leave their homes.

At the basic level wikis are free (although there are pay wiki accounts which offer more features). But, a committee could surely make do with a basic, free wiki account. In that case, they would need to pay only for their phone conferences. This is a super cheap way to collaborate over the Internet! I understand that some rudimentary distance learning programs are now using this technique.

You can register for a free wiki at Public Wiki. There are pages there that explain how to make and edit wikis.

Incidently, wikis are the basis for the free online encyclopedia known as Wikipedia which anyone can edit!

This article written by TCDavis

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