Wikipedia in the Classroom

Introduction

Wikipedia, the online, user written encyclopedia, is the most public example of a wiki being used by the general public. Despite this popularity, its place in the schools is open for debate. Still, even those who doubt the overall acuracy of Wikipedia can find valuable ways to use this wiki in the classroom to foster discussions of accuracy, trustworthiness, and scholarly voice.

Using Wikipedia

Because anyone can edit a wikipedia entry, each entry can only be as good as the person who last edited it. However, the wikipedia community keeps tabs on edits. The conversations that take place discussing edits is a public part of the wiki.

For example, go to the entry on Missoula and click on the "Discussion" tab at the top. The conversation revolves around which parts of the entry are worthy of inclusion, making a serious effort to maintain the neutral point of view and tone of the article.

All entries also include a "history" tab. Following this link will display a list of all the previous versions of the page. This allows visitors to go backward through the revisions; it also preserves versions in case of mistake or vandalism.

Some Benefits of Wikipedia

• No physical constraints - Wikipedia is not limited by size or printing, so its content can be both wider and deeper than traditional encyclopedias.
• Timeliness - Wikipedia entries can be updated the moment something changes. During the Hurricane Katrina and tsunami tragedies, Wikipedia entries were being updated frequenly to reflect the changing situation.
• Corrections - Mistakes, once they have been discovered, can be corrected immediately instead of at the next edition. The next visitor to that entry will see the corrected information.

Other Reading

• Nature magazine did a study comparing Wikipedia to Encyclopedia Britanica.

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