Wikipedia
Definition
Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project. The name Wikipedia is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia. Wikipedia's articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information. (Wikipedia:About, retrieved 15:55, 10 October 2007 (MEST).)
See the wiki article for some information about wikis in general and a little discussion about wikis in education.
In education
Mediawikis can be sucessfully used as content resource in various subject areas (in the same way that one use paper encyclopedias and other on-line resources)
Mileage a teacher can from mediawiki varies a lot. In some areas, cover of Wikipedia is very good, in others it is not. As an example, coverage of color is very good.
An other issue is research and debate. Teaching at university level (in particular in research universities as opposed to some teaching universities) also exposes students to research and debate. Contents that refer to current research are not allowed in Wikipedia and debates only a little bit...
Software
Software developed for Wikipedia can and is used for many different purposes. This Wiki is just one of the many examples. Portalware, i.e. wiki technology used is redistributed under the label of [MediaWiki]. So our wiki is not a wikipedia, but a mediawiki.
Links
- L. Endrizzi, L'édition de référence libre et collaborative : le cas de Wikipédia, INRP, Dossiers de la veille scientifique et technique, 2006 (http://www.inrp.fr/vst/Dossiers/Wikipedia/sommaire.htm).
- R. Rosenzweig, Can history be open source ? Wikipedia and the future of the past, in The Journal of American History , vol. 93(1), pp. 117-146, juin 2006 (http://chnm.gmu.edu/resources/essays/d/42