Christopher Foster wrote: . . .
Most of the people who work on Wikipedia are white, male technocrats
from the US and Europe. They're especially knowledgeable about
certain subjects - technology, science fiction, libertarianism, life
in the US/Europe - and tend to write about these subjects. As a
result, the resource tends to be extremely deep on technical topics
and shallow in other areas.
I think this problem will correct itself over time. I think it reflects the development of content on the WWW. When the web was young, most of the content was oriented towards the hard sciences. For instance I searched for Alports Syndrome and got one hit. A few years later, the same search provided almost 500 hits. The sites available covered treatment, history, support groups and related diseases. It took awhile for the social sciences and general public to become aware of the web and to exploit it. We're seeing the same thing with Wikipedia.
Personally, I think it is a great educational resource. It offers students the opportunity to do real work, make a real contribution to society. The jargon is "authentic assessment". Language arts teachers have a source of text for editing and discussing grammar. At senior levels, the discussion could get into accessible text and global language. Social studies students can either add to or correct existing articles or create entries describing their communities. Students in other disciplines can add entries, verify facts and add references. While elementary and secondary students may not be expert in any field, they can become expert about a particular entry or portion thereof.
On a more esoteric level, students can learn what it means to become part of a learning community. The Wikipedia community has guidelines, expectations, and sanctions. This will aid their entry into any community in which they wish to pursue their vocational or avocational goals. This is important to me, because I believe that the purpose of education should be to help students acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to be a part of the communities in which they pursue their goals. The article "One Child -- Many Communities: Recasting the Purpose of Education" at http://www.ecn.ab.ca/~ljp/edarticles/onechild.htm
-- Larry Phillips
FutureCraft http://www.ecn.ab.ca/~ljp
Quantum 2000: Education for Today and Tomorrow http://www.ecn.ab.ca/quantum
Alberta Consumers' Association http://www.ecn.ab.ca/consumer
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