Wiki work: can using wikis enhance student collaboration for group assignment tasks?

Dissatisfaction with the quality of student group work, in terms of content and process, from both academics and students, is a constant challenge to the development of appropriate teaching, learning and assessment strategies. Developments in Web 2.0 technology could potentially offer a solution. This paper explores the experience of full-time undergraduate students using a wiki to support group assessments. The results suggest that student preference for traditional face-to-face co-operative working is a key limiting factor to the effective introduction of on-line tools. The paper questions whether wikis can enhance the experience of collaborative working in the absence of strategies for developing students' collaboration skills and without addressing their motivation to use wikis.