Wiki
The name "Wiki" comes from the Hawaiian word for "quick," and the term is generally attributed to Ward Cunningham, who, in 1995 set out to create "the simplest database that would work."
WIKIS PROVIDE UNIQUE COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES for education. Combining freely accessible information, rapid feedback, simplified HTML, and access by multiple editors, wikis are being rapidly adopted as an innovative way of constructing knowledge.
The characteristic that has most strikingly set wikis apart from other web based forums and discussions is that of multiple contributors. Unlike a blog, for example, which has one main identifiable author, a wiki web page may be authored and edited by a number of people. Not only may an individual contributor edit their own work, but also the work of others. Some speak of wiki pages in their purest form as never being finished and always in the process of being edited and expanded.
Retrieved from Encyclopedia of Educational Technology http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/