Submissions/Wikipedia as a learning tool at schools, is it effective?

After careful consideration, the Programme Committee has decided not to accept the below submission at this time. Thank you to the author(s) for participating in the Wikimania 2015 programme submission, we hope to still see you at Wikimania this July.

Submission no.: 6038

Title of the submission: Wikipedia as a learning tool at schools, is it effective?

Type of submission: Presentation and Discussion

Author of the submission: Venus Lui

E-mail address: venuslui629@gmail.com

Username: venuslui

Country of origin: Hong Kong

Affiliation: Wikimedia Hong Kong

Personal homepage or blog: No

Abstract

In the presentation, I will talk about the Wikipedia as a learning tool at schools. Nowadays, most students would like to get information from Wikipedia when doing their assignments. Students can search the information they want easily on Wikipedia and it can help them to gain more knowledge. However, there was a scandal in Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination 2013 where some students were caught with plagiarism. They copied the information from Wikipedia directly and were caught by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, thus the students were disqualified and they lost the opportunity to study in university.

The question is: What is the role of Wikipedia for the students? Indeed Wikipedia is like a teacher to students because it shows the information the students need and it saves time for the student. I believe that is effective for students to learn the new knowledge. The students can learn faster and efficiently through Wikipedia. Also, students can learn by themselves. However, here is another question: can student look for everything they want on Wikipedia? The answer is no. The articles about arts and literature are not as much as the articles about science and it would be difficult for the students who study in those subjects to search for the information they want. I think that it is understandable because there are definitions in science but there is no in literature or arts. It is necessary to work on those areas in order to make Wikipedia a more effective learning tool for students.

The presentation will focus on the effectiveness of Wikipedia being a learning tool at schools. At the same time, I would like to explore the possibility of increasing the amount of the articles related to arts and literature. The presentation will follow up by a discussion for the audience to respond.

Track

Education Outreach

Length of session (if other than 30 minutes, specify how long): 30 minutes

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: No

Slides or further information (optional)

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Tsugiko (talk) 10:46, 21 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Tsubame257 Samuel Chan (talk) 10:48, 21 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]