What it is: Wikipedia is often the first place students head when faced with a research project. While Wikipedia can be an excellent resource, content can be vandalized and is not always student appropriate. Wikipedia School is a free, hand checked, non-commercial selection from Wikipedia. It has about 5500 articles and is the volume of a twenty volume encyclopedia. It will fit on a DVD and can be downloaded for free thanks to the SOS Children’s Villages website. Topics were chosen that would be of interest to students and in accordance with the UK National Curriculum (but are appropriate for any English speaking country).
How to integrate Wikipedia School into the classroom: Wikipedia School is a nice alternative to using the Wikipedia website in a school environment. The ability to download Wikipedia School to DVD means that it can be used on computers that don’t have Internet access. Students can search freely and you will have the peace of mind knowing that with Wikipedia School, students won’t stumble on inappropriate content. Subjects for search include: art, business studies, citizenship, countries, design and technology, every day life, geography, history, information technology, language and literature, mathematics, music, people, portals, religion, and science. There is an outstanding selection of articles and pictures for each subject!
Tips: Wikipedia School can be accessed online or offline when downloaded.
Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Wikipedia School in your classroom.
