Media Art Wiki: Use of Wikis for the Interdisciplinary and Multimedia Teaching of New Media Art in Virtual Learning Environments

Abstract

This chapter undertakes the analysis of a pilot project based on the use of a Wiki to teach new media art practices. The project titled Media Art Wiki constitutes then a resource for teaching New Media Art and Aesthetics in the context of virtual teaching-learning at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). The initial objectives of the project were on the one hand, the creation of a dynamic and multimedia environment of new media art practices, and on the other, the design of an open and collaborative space that could be nurtured through participative action by the students from the different courses involved, contributing in this way to an interdisciplinary focus of a common subject of study. The aims of Media Art Wiki are to innovate within the virtual classroom in four different aspects: in the process, the format, the structure and the contents, in order to respond in this way to a pedagogical approach that would link each of the activities involved in the Wiki with several programs and courses. This current chapter will take into account the previous implications, which are derived from the use of this type of tool in the academic context. Thus, the chapter is structured in different sections: firstly, we trace the context where the project has been developed; its needs and objectives, considering the theories of significative learning, and its application to the teaching-learning model at the UOC. Secondly, we proceed to describe the design process of the Wiki, defining both its contents and techniques, and the didactic strategy –activities to be fulfilled by students- in the short and long term. Finally, we present the evaluation of this experience from the perspective of the scholars and students in order to conclude with some remarks and possibilities for future development.