Wikipedia's usefulness comes in the form of a reference resource. While teachers must always be weary that in the classroom setting Wikipedia can be inaccurate, incomplete, or vandalised, there is an opportunity to use the references down the bottom of the page of any topic to further investigate. Perhaps the best use for Wikipedia is the task we give students that relate to it. An assessment task that involves editing Wikipedia could seem like a really worthwhile task as the students will be able to own a piece of Wikipedia themselves if they were to do sufficient research and editing.
If I were to use such an activity, students would be required to work in teams, where they would be assessed on communication, planning, and management of team efforts. The modern workplace, and universal to all jobs, demands that people possess these skills, however schools have had a trend towards assessing students as indivuduals. "Research on collabarative learning suggests that in the process of collabaration, students are forced to clarify and verbalise their problems, thereby facilitating solutions. Collabaration also increases the motivation of students to learn, a significant consideration in relation with high drop-outrates. Furthermore, when students work in teams, they often have the oppurtunity to work with others from different backgrounds and this facilitates an understanding of diversity and multiple perspectives."
Kearsley, G & Shneiderman, B (1999, April), Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning, Maryland, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
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