elearningpost links to a story in the US's Washington Post on the emerging use of Blogs and Wikis by university students. They say about Wikis that:
"Some course sites read like journals, some like debates and some shimmy in and out of topics with music, photos and video pulling readers along... Wikis can encourage creativity, remove the limits on class time, give professors a better sense of student understanding and interest and keep students writing, thinking and questioning."
However, still suggesting there is a lot of existing know-how about collaborative technologies that can be applied to these new technologies they also comment that:
- Professors who use blogs and wikis said they have had to set ground rules early on and act quickly to stamp out problems; and
- They warn that as the technology goes mainstream, universities will have to think about libel and intellectual property issues.
Within the business environment we are already aware of issues relating to employees self-publishing with respect to problems with copyright, information security and inappropriate content. These same issues will need to be addressed when any kind of organisation provides or supports self-publishing through Blogs and Wikis for staff, clients or other stakeholders.