Wiki In The Classroom

A long time ago, in a California that had not met the Governator, there was Cox Cable. Cox Cable made a program called Cable in the Classroom. Cable in the Classroom gave school districts access to educational programs on cable. Now it's time for the next generation. Enter Wiki In The Classroom.

As many people know, Wikipedia has revolutionized the concept of the encyclopedia. Now every man/woman/small child with Internet access can access information on the Defenestation of Prague without cost. Fewer people know that the Wikipedia phenomenon branched out into free e-books, a free dictionary, a free news service, and a free media repository. This is all overseen by an entity called the Wikimedia Foundation. Countries are encouraged to establish local organizations or chapters. These organizations fill in where the Foundation can not. Currently there is a major debate as to whether or not chapters will be extended to th United States. As such, State chapters are on hold, including Wikimedia California.

What if the schools could harness the power of the Wikipedia phenomenon? Think of the benefits of free textbooks, at this time when districts need every penny they can get. This is where Wikimedia California would come in. One of our first projects would be to open a discussion with school districts across the state about potential partnerships.

The first step in such partnerships would be presentations about what a wiki is, what Wikimedia is, and what we are proposing, which is outlined below.

Wikibooks is working on producing completely free online textbooks. If enough teachers each wrote a small portion, the textbooks would be finished quickly. If teachers had their classes collaboratively write sections, usable free online textbooks would be done even faster. In addition, due to actually having to apply their knowledge, the students would retain more information. The school gains more than Wikibooks actually, because Wikibooks only gets free textbooks. The school gets not only free textbooks, but a place to slim their budget without firing teachers, and students who are better educated. Also the teachers can add to their resumes that they helped write textbooks, which makes them more valuable as hires.

Wikibooks isn't the only project though. There is also the classic of wikis, Wikipedia. Through collaborative improvements to articles, students will retain more knowledge. In addition, this will decrease the amount of vandalism to Wikipedia that comes out of schools, because people are less likely to destroy their own work. This is also a plus as it reduces vandalism and leads to better educated students.

Wikibooks and Wikipedia are not the only wikis in the classroom. Budding photographers can submit photographs to Wikimedia Commons, the free Media Repository. If the photographs qualify as the best, they will be featured on the front page. In addition, their work will be visible to people from all over the Internet, increasing their status.

Journalism can get in on the action too. Wikinews serves news from around the world. By writing articles on local events, reporters would be gaining practical experience, English skills, and a worldwide reputation. Wikinews would gain an increased scope of coverage.

The key to the above is better education, which can be backed with real results. This has been tried before quite successfully. Conservapedia started out as a private encyclopedia for homeschooled history students. Class met once a week and part of the instruction involved writing articles. When the students took the AP tests they consistently placed in the 5 range. This was partly because they actually had to apply the knowledge, which according to educators is the best way to ensure retention.

Partnerships between Wikimedia California and the schools could radically change our educational system and make it better, while decreasing costs. This benefit in itself makes Wikimedia California worthwhile.