Spoken Text:


Wikipedia and Multiliteracies

The internet has dramatically changed the way that we learn and teach. There is now so much information available to us instantaneously that it can be over whelming trying to find what we are looking for. Not only is there an enormous quantity of information to sort through but the majority of information on the internet has the potential to be inaccurate. This is caused by the same feature that makes the internet so powerful; the fact that anybody can create their own webpage.

As a learning tool the internet can be extremely valuable but it is important that children who are still unsure of how to judge the validity of a website have access to information sources that they know they can confidently trust.


Wikipedia (Click Here) is an online encyclopedia that is ideal for classroom use. Although the articles can be created and edited by anyone, the sheer number of users ensures that any false or inappropriate information is removed almost immediately after being posted. This makes Wikipedia a very safe environment for browsing without being too restrictive of the range and depth of content available.

Due to the breadth of the content on Wikipedia it can be used by any stage group, however the navigation of the site does require a certain amount of reading ability so would probably be best suited as a tool with children in stage 2 and above.

Wikipedia Main Page:

At first glance the layout of the main page appears uninteresting and complicated. This is because of the amount of text that is present there. There is not much salience with this page; what there is draws you towards the image for the featured article, however because this image is usually fairly small it does not hold interest for very long. The interesting part of the page is that the content changes daily, this includes a featured article, current news, a 'did you know...' section, and an 'On this day...' section.

In terms of multiliteracies Wikipedia is rich in images, diagrams, maps, and text. I found it interesting when looking at the page about UK Prime Ministers how the images of some are low angle images where the subject is looking directly at you, giving a strong feeling of power, where as some (such as Tony Blair) are on a more even level and the subject is looking past you, trying to give a more friendly image.

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As a general purpose tool there could be a computer permanently logged on to Wikipedia available to the children at anytime to look up information, giving them some independence in their learning. The potential use of Wikipedia within the curriculum is endless.

I have come up with the following activities which I think would suite a grade 5 or 6 class.

Activity 1 - Wikipedia Quiz
A quiz for which the children must use Wikipedia to find the answers. This could link to a class topic already being studied. This activity will familiarise the children with Wikipedia and enable them to confidently search and browse the articles. The children will be told to think carefully about the language that they search with, not only in the fact that the best searches contain just a single word or concise phrase, but also thinking about the search engine specific language such as: + (all words), - (exclude words), * (wildcard), " " (exact phrase), and boolean searches (eg. "AND", "OR", and "NOT"). This kind of language knowledge is important not only while using Wikipedia but also for efficient browsing of the internet using search engines such as google (www.google.com).

Activity 2 - Designing an Article (3 or 4 sessions)
The children could design an article for Wikipedia about their school. The first step would be to interpret this flowchart diagram from wikipedia and decide whether it would be appropriate to create an article.

Next the children would need to read and discuss as a class the rules for posting an article on Wikipedia (Click Here).

Using Wikipedia the children find and print articles for other schools eg.:

• Jannali East Public School


• St. Gerard Majella Catholic Primary School


• Sydney Grammar School


• Abbotsleigh


• Warilla High School


• Arthur Phillip High School


• Baulkham Hills High School


• Kirrawee Public School


• Girraween High School

An example of a school's wikipedia article:

In small groups the children should discuss various features of the texts such as the text type, use of images (eg. placement, content, framing, colours, weather etc.), and noun groups (eg. "large public school", "small private school", and "high school students").

Using the guidelines for "WikiProject Schools" (Click Here) the class should decide upon a number of headings for the content. The class work in small groups to produce the agreed sections, which where appropriate should include photos for which the children must give a rationale for having and for the way in which they are taken (as discussed previously).

An example of image use:

Once a final content and design is agreed upon the final article is created on Wikipedia (using data projector at the front of the class), each group adds their information with help from the teacher (who has previously created a Wikipedia template).

(if the teacher is not confident creating Wikipedia articles then this activity could be done using a blog site).

SIMON HARVEY - 15990570