Open Wikis and the Protection of Institutional Welfare

Abstract

Much has been written about wikis’ reliability and use in the classroom. This research bulletin addresses the negative impacts on institutional welfare that can arise from participating in and supporting wikis. The open nature of the platform, which is fundamental to wiki operation and success, enables these negative consequences. A finite user base that can be determined a priori (e.g., a course roster) minimizes the security implications, hence our discussion in this bulletin primarily concerns open or public wikis that accept contributions from a broad and unknown set of Internet users.

Citation for this Work: Andrew G. West and Insup Lee. “Open Wikis and the Protection of Institutional Welfare” (Research Bulletin). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research, February 7, 2012, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

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