A summary of each tool's functioning, similarities, and differences uses in education.

A Comparison Table

Wikis and Blogs in E-Learning Context

https://www.sciencegate.app/document/10.5772/29574

 

Function	Blog	Wiki
Definition	A blog is an online journal which allows users to add, edit, delete, and maintain their records by sharing knowledge, information, images, and video similar to a wiki (Godwin-Jones, 2003; Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht, & Swartz, 2004). Furthermore, blog is considered opinion sharing among users and one-to-many content (Wooster, 2019).	Several studies (Choi, Ra, Jung, & Boo, 2017; Jones, 2007; Karasavvidis, 2010;is a website which allows students to create, edit, and delete pages collaboratively. Ward Cunningham is the founder and creator of the wiki, and this has led to the creation of Wiki Web (Laughton, 2011). Recently, wikis have massively enhanced the speed to which information is exchanged and revised and renewed on the web, since the main purpose behind wiki technology is knowledge sharing and many-to-many communications (Wooster, 2019).
Authors Owners	A blog is owned by an individual. A blog can have an author or multiple authors who contribute information to the blog.	A wiki can have multiple authors and can be edited by a group. A wiki can be updated by many people from a local group or from many difference places remotely.
Timeline	The timeline of the blog posts and the comments are more important.	In a wiki, an article’s publication date is not as important because articles update as new information is updated.
Content	The author, will post and the reader will provide feedback or comment on the post. This type of blog tends to share the knowledge, expertise, or news.	The Wikis articles represent a general view or opinion of a particular topic and can have a discussion page.
Similarities	Academics have begun to use technology tools such as wikis and blogs as part of their assessment approach to impart and improve students’ skills for their studies as well for the workforce in the future (Aral, 2013; Chuttur, 2009; Cole, 2009; Issa, T, Issa, & Chang, 2012; Karrer, 2008; Mahruf, Shohel, & Kirkwood, 2012). Wikis and blog tools have been introduced in the higher education sector to advance and expand students’ professional skills, namely, reading and writing, research, information and technology, critical thinking, decision-making, digital oral presentation, and drawing (i.e., concept maps), and students’ personal skills including motivation, leadership, negotiation, communication, problem-solving, time management, and reflection.	These tools facilitate and encourage greater interaction, participation, debate, and conversation among students and lecturers when they are utilized for various assessment tasks, class events, and activities (Issa, T, 2014). Additionally, several studies (British Medical Association, 2004; Chu, Reynolds, Tavares, Notari, & Lee, 2017; Mi & Gould, 2014; Novakovich, Miah, & Shaw, 2017; Ruge & Mccormack, 2017; Sancho-Thomas, Fuentes-Fernandez, & Fernandez-Manjon, 2009; Taraghi, Ebner, & Schaffert, 2009; Zein, 2014) have confirmed that the use of technology such as wikis and blogs will encourage students to become independent learners and will improve their academic and personal skills, particularly since it enables them to frequently access their teachers’ feedback.
Differences	The major difference between wiki and blog is that in the blog, user cannot modify the original posts made by the blogger. Some blogging systems do not allow users to download a backup of their blog.	This means blog is a more personal website compared to the wiki which is a collaborative website (Kung, 2018; Zein, 2014). Users can overwrite each other’s changes if they are editing the same page at the same time.
Educational Uses	Currently, wiki and blog are increasingly appealing the attention of academic to integrate these tools in the assessments and to increase students’ personal and professional skills and their independent learning. Several studies (Alor-Hernández & Álvarez-Rodríguez, 2018; Barbosa Granados & Amariles Jaramillo, 2019; Dinger & Grover, 2019; Kung, 2018; Nardi et al., 2004) indicate that the use of wiki and blog tools in higher education will encourage students to express their opinions and ideas and share cutting-edge knowledge and information with their peers and form and maintain their teams.	More and more academics are now beginning to integrate these tools in their assessment strategies to facilitate information sharing and encourage student creativity and collaboration via the Internet. Wiki and blog are platforms for hosting information, text, videos, images, and music. They are interactive forums since students can easily contribute material and work with their colleagues to generate new information and content (Alam & Mcloughlin, 2018; Choi et al., 2017).

Reference

Bakardjieva, T., & Gradinarov, B. (2012).Wikis and Blogs in E-Learning Context. 

Methodologies, Tools and New Developments for E-Learning. doi:10.5772/29574