“Wikipedia is an encyclopedia compiled by the voluntary contributions of hundreds of writers and editors. Anyone can write an article and post it to the Wikipedia; anyone else can come along later and edit the article. It is a kind of open, voluntary, work in progress. As such, it is the most up-to-date encyclopedia you will find” (Lengel, 2006, para.6). With these functions, I agree that Wikipedia is a good stage to create an educational system, to broaden people’s horizon of knowledge, and to provide a studying method.
The first reason to leap on the stage is the educational system. Students will not only study in school, but also absorb knowledge on Wikipedia. School can not provide various expertise of fields, so the site is another social school to fulfill students’ curiosity. Also, it is a world library to provide plenty of resources. For example, when people graduated from school, they can continually advance their education in their professional province. And they can share their knowledge, discuss their opinions, and practice their abilities on the website. “Seven percent of all Internet users now visit the site every day” (Martin, 2008, para.13). Due to the statistics, it has become a social library that builds an educational system for everyone around the world.
With the educational system, people can also broaden their horizon of comprehension. “Literacy in modern society means nor only being able to read a variety of information formats; it means being able to participate in their creation, with Wikipedia serving as the marquee example” (Parry, 2008, para.9). It is a world stage to provide a variety of materials; users can open a new learning chapter to discover different cultural knowledge and aspects. For example, if people do not understand some cultural background or they need more definitions about their research, to explore on the website is the best choice.
The last factor is a new studying method. According to David Parry (2008), the website has enlarged into an abundant resources for basic information on scientific subjects, and people can search for any knowledge from there. Also, it can record the debate and discourse, when users write an article and post it to the Wikipedia. For instance, it has become a interactive activity that continually encourages people to research their expertise or supplement common knowledge. Then, the central advantage is that people can learn what they need by themselves.
To learn knowledge from the Wikipedia is a convenient and useful way. It is an educational website to boost people’s knowledge, to share their efforts, and to encourage study. Although some experts think that it is not professional and correct, I still agree that it channels all resources around the world into a sharing vessel. It is a global library that provides various knowledge of fields.
References
Lengel, J. (2006, February 7). Teaching with Technology. Authority. Retrieved on April 23, 2008, from http://www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/article.shtml
Martin, N. (2008, January 21). Wikipedia clamps down on unreliable editors. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on April 23, 2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/man.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/20/wiki20.xml
Parry, D. (2008, February 11). Wikipedia and the new curriculum. Science Process. Retrieved on April 23, 2008, from http://scienceprocess.org/2008/02/wikipedia-and-the-new-curriculum
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