[Wikipedia-l] Dream a little...

Mon Oct 23 11:14:29 UTC 2006

I think that there is enormous untapped potential in colleges and 
universities. With the proper amount of funding, it would be possible to 
convince schools to force their students to contribute their collective 
knowledge to wikibooks/wikipedia as part of their classwork or homework. It 
would have to start out small, a few schools experimenting with the idea 
here and there. Students would have to login from a .edu address for 
accountability purposes in order to avoid plagarism/idiots. They would have 
to be distinct from the rest of the wiki community. Professors should also 
get involved somehow but I have not thought out their role yet.

It would also kill many birds with one stone. Students can contribute about 
subjects that are fresh in their mind as well as learn more about them as 
they write. They will also be able to write their own FREE textbooks that 
future students can use instead of paying ridiculous sums of money for the 
latest books. Just imagine the potential if we could get every school in the 
country (or the world) involved... Text books would constantly evolve over 
time. Schools can print out copies for students who prefer something 
physical at significantly reduced prices while they make a profit. It's a 
win-win situation for all (except publishers, poo on them)

Schools should create their own educational content instead of forcing 
students to fill publishers coffers. I believe that this would be the 
quickest and cheapest method for freeing educational textbooks.

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