Learning in and with an open wiki project: Wikiversity's potential in global capacity building

• Tere Vaden, Juha Suoranta, Teemu Leinonen
• First Monday

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05 March 2009There is a chance that Wikiversity will become the internet's free university just as Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia on the Internet. What are the philosophical and practical implications, ask the authors of this paper.There is a chance that Wikiversity will become the internet's free university just as Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia on the Internet. The building of an educational entity demands considering a number of philosophical and practical questions such as pedagogy and organization. This paper addresses some of these, starting by introducing several earlier approaches and ideas related to wikis' potential for education. It continues by presenting three commonly used metaphors of learning, acquisition, participation and knowledge creation - and presents the main principles of two existing alternative educational approaches: free adult education and free school movement. To test these educational approaches and practices on Wikiversity and increase our understanding of the possibilities of this initiative, in the spring of 2008 the authors implemented an experimental course in Wikiversity. They conclude with several recommendations essentially advocating for Wikiversity and the use of wikis in education. However, more than just presenting their opinions, the authors aim to make an educated - traditionally and in the wiki way - contribution to the international discussion about the future of education for all in the digital era.