The Elephant in the Room: A Place for Wikipedia in Higher Education?

The article departs from a pilot survey among Norwegian teacher students that mapstheir usage, skills and attitudes in relation to the web based encyclopedia Wikipedia.The survey shows that the students are heavy users of Wikipedia content yet show alow level of knowledge as to how content is constructed or the ways in whichWikipedia differs from traditional, paper-based encyclopedias. The students alsoexpress little interest in parttaking in creating content or maintaining the site. Thesecond part of the article argues that a way to remedy both lack of knowledge andinterest among students is to bring Wikipedia actively into the classrooms and enable students to take part in creating and maintaining Wikipedia content. This way,Wikipedia may serve as an effective tool with which to address and enhance a rangeof central 21stcentury skills.