Professors who incorporate Wikipedia-editing assignments into coursework enhance their students’ digital literacy skills while broadening their own roles—from educating college students to educating society. When someone researches a topic online, the subject’s Wikipedia entry is often returned as a top result. The crowdsourced platform is well known for its depth and breadth, though also for its flaws, including uneven geographic, historical, gender, racial, sexual identity and cultural representation. Professors who make room for Wikipedia in their classrooms seize opportunities to engage students in conversations about how knowledge is constructed and shared, according to Diana Park, science librarian at Oregon State University.
