I have never encountered real hostility towards Wikipedia, mostly just concerns that, with a little education, can be answered. Inevitably, when I do a workshop and mention Wikipedia, I get one or two questions about accuracy. How can we trust something that we all create together? So, I give them some time to browse, reading articles in their particular areas of expertise. We look at the history of a page, how it is built by consensus and then monitored and maintained by its creators. And, since Tom Friedman’s book came out, I share with them his comments about how he used Wikipedia regularly in writing his latest book, The World Is Flat. These practices help them understand how Wikipedia works and the community that has developed around it.

I loved Andy Carvin’s idea for incorporating Wikipedia in the classroom that he suggested over the summer. Since then, I have shared his ideas with several groups and most have found it a great idea that they planned to implement during the school year. Again, giving people time to understand and explore is important if they are going to be supportive of Wikipedia.

I am using my own wiki (http://www.simplykaren.org/wiki) as part of the pre-service education classes I am teaching. Small groups are developing entries related to technology topics that we don’t always have time to cover in class. My special education class is working on an entry about assistive technology. I explained to them that this really is an experiment in a new way of writing and creating. You can watch the development of these entries at the wiki. Later in the semester, I will have them reflect on the process, which is actually what I’m really interested in!