The world’s largest user generated wiki encyclopedia Wikipedia attracts a lot of users – not only as readers, but as contributors. A global survey has shown that the contributors’ motives often are related to aspects of sharing knowledge (Glott, Schmidt & Ghosh 2010). This suggests that Wikipedia is a place for learning and that the engagement can lead to competencies that become part of the individuals’ lifelong learning. The intention here is to show how Wikipedia might work as a context for learning and how the engagement on Wikipedia becomes part of the individuals’ lifelong learning. Examples from three Featured Articles on the Swedish Wikipedia – the articles Fri vilja [Free will], Fjäll [Fell] and Edgar Allan Poe –are used as the point of departure for a reasoning about learning with Wikipedia. Concepts from Ramsden’s (2003) model of the logical structure of approaches to learning are applied to describe Wikipedia as a learning context. The model presents two main approaches to learning: one dealing with the structure (how), and the other with the search for meaning (what). Originally, this model focused on students’ approaches to learning, but in this case, it works as a source of inspiration. Further aspects to be taken into consideration here: the users’ collaboration and co-production, different roles and actions, and the articles’ development.
Utbildning och lärande. Tidskrift