Case Study

Case Study 1: Wikipedia


Introduction

I chose to take a look at Wikipedia. I decided to do this after reading Curtis J. Bonk’s book, The World Is Open How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education (2009). Bonk dedicates a section of this book to Wikipedia and names it “Wikiwiki” (p. 235). Bonk mentions how Ward Cunningham came up with the name wikiwiki after taking a trip to Hawaii and heard the word wiki and was told that it meant fast in Hawaiian. Cunningham had been working on a web document that allowed participatory learning and allowed members to edit and update information but originally called it QuickWeb. After hearing the Hawaiian word, Cunningham then changed the name to wiki. Bonk doesn’t make it clear, but sometime after this Jimmy Wales came up with a search engine called Bomis in 1999. Bomis was designed to be a multilingual encyclopedia Web site. Bonk reports that this website was too slow so Wales then decided to launch a peer-reviewed open content encyclopedia called Nupedia. Editor-in-chief, Larry Sanger, came up with the name Wikipedia in 2001. Sanger departed Wikipedia in 2002. Bonk reports Sanger’s leaving as two-fold, 1) his position was no longer funded, 2) Sanger preferred a web encyclopedia edited by experts. The Wikipedia that is in use today is an open format that anyone can update. Wikipedia soon became the dominant website leaving Nupedia behind. Bonk states, “the new approach, like the wikiwiki, was quick!” (p. 237).

I found this interesting and decided to take a look at Wikipedia. Previously, I had not been interested in Wikipedia because of hearsay information I had heard about the website. After reading about Wikipedia in Bonk’s book, I thought it was important to take a closer look. What I found was quite amazing. I went into the site and decided to take a look at all the different possibilities. I was also curious how they keep track of all the different articles and information as well as how they maintain the website. What I found is that anyone is allowed to access and make edits to this information and the information is monitored by administrators (Wikipedia, 2011).

Type of Community

Wikipedia is a knowledge-based website that is powered by over seventy-five thousand active contributors with participants from all over the world in more than 250 different languages (Bonk, 2009, p. 237). Follow-up on Bonk’s book, Wikipedia’s About section claims to have more than ninety-one thousand contributors and 270 or more languages with some seventy-eight million visitors in the month of January 2010 (Wikipedia, 2011). Riel and Polin (2004) state that the “knowledge-building learning community does not complete a product, publication, or gallery as an end point of effort. Instead, members work on living documents or databases of ideas, which form a living, changing record of their shared mind” (p. 34). The goal is knowledge as Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. “Members actively seek to evolve the practice of knowledge building as well as content” (Riel and Polin, 2004). The needs are met through continuous updating and editing of knowledge. This includes current information and new information as well as past information. It appears to have formatted and maintained a website that serves as a vital source of information. If you are an individual who likes history, news, events, or are an information maniac who loves to read and share your knowledge with others, Wikipedia is definitely a place you’ll love. Anyone who wants to can contribute. Under the About section explaining Wikipedia, they explain what Wikipedia is and what type of information they are seeking. It is also recommended under this section to read this information and become familiar with this information before submitting new information or trying to edit. (Wikipedia, 2011).

Structure of Community

This is an open on-line virtual learning community that is knowledge based. It is an open structured, editable encyclopedia. The definition of Wikipedia per the About section from Wikipedia defines Wikipedia “is a multi-lingual, web-based, free-content encyclopedia project based on an openly editable model. The name “Wikipedia” is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning “quick”) and encyclopedia (Wikipedia, 2011). Wikipedia is a not-for-profit trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia, 2011).

Design Features and Roles of the Technology

Wikipedia’s articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information (Wikipedia, 2011). An example, the contents page for About Wikipedia is set up in ten parts. Those parts are 1) About Wikipedia 2) Making the best use of Wikipedia 3) Contributing to Wikipedia 4) Technical attributes 5) Feedback and questions 6) Related versions and projects, 7) Sister projects 8) See also 9) References 10) Further reading (Wikipedia, 2011). It has built in features to ensure reliability of the content. Those features include editors and administrators that are trusted and are approved by the community to edit and undo edits as necessary to maintain credibility. There are also bureaucrats who have technological “ability to add or remove administrative rights, approve or revoke “bot” privileges, and rename user accounts” (Wikipedia, 2011). There is an Arbitration Committee which is described as their Supreme Court and Stewards who retain technical permissions within the upper echelon along with a Wikimedia Board of Directors. (Wikipedia, 2011). The website has thoroughly described it purpose and also provides a detailed disclaimer. The features of this website make it reliable and trustworthy in my opinion. The administrators and Board of Directors have crafted an incredible on-line learning encyclopedia.

Conclusion and Implications

In conclusion, Wikipedia is an open content encyclopedia, knowledge-based virtual learning community emphasizing knowledge sharing. The goal is free open content information available world-wide. The implications are for access to and knowledge sharing for everyone everywhere. It is quite amazing!

References

Bonk, C.J. (2009). The world is open how web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

KnowledgeForum.com (2011, March 18). Welcome to knowledge forum [On-line knowledge- based community]. Retrieved from http://www.knowledgeforum.com/Kforum/prodcontent.htm/

Outcome. (2004). Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition). Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

Renninger, K.A., Shumar, W. (2002). Building virtual communities: learning and change in cyberspace. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press.

Riel, M., Polin, L. (2004). Online learning communities: Common ground and critical differences in designing technical environments. Retrieved from http://www.ou.edu/D2L.

Wikipedia (2011, March 18). Wikipedia:About [On-line encyclopedia]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About.