Wikipedia

One example of collaborative hypermedia is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an online, open source, free encyclopedia that can be edited by anyone ("Wikipedia"). Students tend to flock to Wikipedia because it is easily accessed and has a wealth of articles. Some educators worry that students are already relying too much on Wikipedia at the expense of other, traditional research skills. University of California, Santa Cruz professor Dan Wirls banned the use of Wikipedia in his classes, saying that students who come to class ready to use Wikipedia are “entering college with almost no research skills beyond their rudimentary use of the Internet” ([|Sideman]). But some educators are moving to embrace Wikipedia in the classroom by using the collaborative and sometimes inaccurate nature of wikipedia as a “teachable moment” that can reinforce the importance of fact checking sources. Some college professors are prompting students to "triangulate" their sources by confirming Wikipedia facts with other, traditional resource sources ([|Sideman]). While most students still seem to be using Wikipedia as a one-way source – only getting information from it instead of creating new articles – some are starting to embrace the collaborative nature of the medium. One of my former students at North Lincoln High School realized there was no Wikipedia article for our school and decided to create one. This was not a part of a class assignment. When I found the article I made some edits and sent the student an online note discussing the changes and praising his initiative ([|"North"]). This form of asymmetrical collaboration could have many applications as students and teachers become more familiar with hypermedia.

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