Encouraging Digital Writing for Computer Students with Wikis

My First Wiki
I feel fortunate that I have a lead computer programming teacher who wants his students to engage in digital writing. He comes from the IT industry and fully understands the value of written communication for computer professionals. Especially for two-year college graduates, strong communication skills are vital in this down job market.

To support his efforts, and that of his colleague who teaches network management, I created this wiki: http://mbccomputers.pbworks.com/.

As you will see if you visit the mbccomputers wiki, the sidebar is organized by the courses our students take, which are discreet IT subjects (Windows XP, Java, Linux, etc.). Sidebar topics are listed chronologically from the first class of the year to the last class of the year. This intuitive structure will make use of the wiki easier for students and teacher(s).

Wikis for IT Students
A wiki seems particularly well-suited for computer helpdesk topics for many reasons:

1. My school's network has particular quirks to it, so helpdesk topics can prevent others from experiencing well-documented stresses and pitfalls.
2. Some problems may be wider or deeper than the first collaborator recognizes, so users can update/edit/augment entries.
3. Many companies use some sort of centralized repository of IT help topics so that this experience will prepare students for the workplace.
4. Practicing writing for technically savvy and not technically savvy audiences is vital for a successful career in IT support positions.
5. If students visit the wiki first when they run into roadblocks, this will create more self-reliance than just putting up their hand. And if they find useful material at the class wiki, they will likely return. If they don't find useful material, the teacher will need to encourage them to make an entry.

Potential Challenge
The potential challenges I see regard getting the wiki off the ground. For example, getting students to share their knowledge for the betterment of the community may be a value shift for them. Students are often looking out for their own interests. The teacher may need to reward students for adding to the wiki.

I am hopeful that once entries are made and edited over and over and over in the course of several terms and years, the notion of "ownership" will fade away--subsumed by the pride in identifying a new or updated solution to a problem. So once the wiki is off the ground, it should take on a life of its own. If users continue to access the wiki even once they are in the workplace, then we will know we have created something special.

Getting students into the habit of using it while we are starting will also be an initial challenge. The teacher will have to be prepared to remind students to contribute to the wiki when they solve a problem or refer to the wiki when they run into a roadblock.