[Foundation-l] Wikiversity

Tue Aug 15 17:11:56 UTC 2006

Cormac Lawler wrote:

>On 8/15/06, James Hare <messedrocker at gmail.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>Will Wikiversity even give out diplomas? Or will it be like Wikipedia's
>>"we're-good-for-learning-stuff-but-don't-use-us-for-school"?
>>    
>>
>Wikiversity will not be giving out diplomas (or at least, not for the
>foreseeable future). Some people are motivated to getting Wikiversity
>to be an accredited institution, but for now, the absolutely most
>important part is that we provide useful content as well as a way for
>people to consolidate their learning. So, to answer your question,
>James, we will attempt to be useful for people who want to self-study
>- as well as for teachers who want to use our content in their
>classes. So, people can use our content in their own accredited
>courses, but wikiversity will not be the place that they get their
>certification. (For the foreseeable future - in other words, I can't
>even see the course-giving option on the horizon.)
>
>*But*: Wikiversity is designed to allow for active learning
>communities to develop around the materials it hosts. So, people can
>use Wikiversity, not just for its content, but as a community of
>teachers and learners to further their learning (or to help others
>with their's).
>
I very much agree.  I think that it would be a big accomplishment if 
courses were brought to such a standard that "our students" could use 
what they learned at Wikiversity as a basis for challenging courses in 
their own respective schools.  It would be too easy to fall into the rat 
race of granting diplomas and degrees.  Wikipedia is a success because 
it dared to do things differently; I expect nothing less from Wikiversity.

Ec