Technology_Report

A wiki is a type of website in which pages can be easily created, edited, formatted and linked, using a web browser. These basic tasks can be performed far more efficiently than with a traditional website, where individual files must be updated and uploaded to a server before they can be accessed. Wikis provide users with facilities for page editing and creation in the browser window. Most employ a simple markup language that users must learn in order to perform the most common tasks. These include formatting text, inserting internal and internal hyperlinks, and embedding media. Alternatively, a subset of HTML markup tags are used for the same purpose. In both cases, only the most basic text layout and formatting is possible, which forces users to focus on content and structure over aesthetics. Many wikis employ 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' (WYSIWYG) editing; in these cases, the need to learn a markup language is avoided.

Wikis also allow for multiple users to edit and create pages, simultaneously. Generally, users have an equal level of privilege on a wiki and can modify each others' articles. This can provide a wide user base, who serve as both content creators and site maintainers. Most wiki software includes features for users to monitor and manage the frequent and often uncontrolled editing that can ensue. These include 'Recent Changes' - a wiki page with an automatically updated chronology of page creation and modification, and tools for reverting pages to previous incarnations. In addition, the users responsible for changes are listed.

Some users may be granted additional privileges; amongst other abilities, these users can protect individual pages against modification, and ban users from the website. These powers are often necessary, as the freely-editable nature of a wiki leaves it vulnerable to vandalism.

Their ease of use, capacity for multiple editors, and features for monitoring and access control make wikis suitable for collaborative learning in the science and mathematics classroom.