‘You still need that face-to-face communication’: drawing implications from preservice teachers’ perceptions of wikis as a collaborative tool

This study involved 78 preservice teachers who were enrolled in a core technology course. It examined their (1) prior experiences with wiki technology, (2) enactments of the reader, writer, and editor roles in a wiki community, and (3) perceptions of the wiki as a tool for collaboration. The data revealed that participants’ prior experience with wikis outside of using Wikipedia to access information was rare. The preservice teachers reported comfort with the software, yet they did not regularly (weekly) read, post, or modify information. Modifications were limited primarily to format, grammar, and aesthetics. Failure to modify the narrative sections was attributed to discomfort in editing the work of others. They agreed that the use of wiki technology promoted collaboration between members, although the depth of that collaboration varied within wiki communities. The reasons cited were the lack of comfort with communicating online with someone they did not know and the inconsistent participation of some me...