Using the Internet for Gerontology Education: Assessing and Improving Wikipedia

Older adults, students, professionals, and the general public increasingly turn to the Internet and to Wikipedia for information. Wikipedia, the world's sixth most used website, is by far the most widely used open-source information site. Among its nearly four million English-language encyclope...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational gerontology 2013-10, Vol.39 (10), p.707-716
Main Authors: Infeld, Donna Lind, Adams, William C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging (Individuals)
Content Analysis
Educational Gerontology
Educational Quality
Electronic Publishing
Gerontology
Health education
Internet
Internet resources
Literature Reviews
Metadata
Older people
Open Source Technology
Technology Uses in Education
Usability
Web 2.0 Technologies
Web Sites
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Summary:Older adults, students, professionals, and the general public increasingly turn to the Internet and to Wikipedia for information. Wikipedia, the world's sixth most used website, is by far the most widely used open-source information site. Among its nearly four million English-language encyclopedia articles, how thorough is coverage of key gerontology topics? Focusing on 315 important terms found across four leading gerontology sources, almost 3 out of 10 terms had no Wikipedia article at all, including some surprising omissions. And another 3 out of 10 terms had articles that treated the topic without any specific mention of aging. Only about 4 out of 10 terms had articles with content focusing on aging; however, using various measures, the articles that were relevant rated comparatively high overall. This popular encyclopedia is a work in progress and was found to have considerable room for improvement in its coverage of gerontology. Interested parties can upgrade its content by working as individuals, as organized WikiProjects, or in academic courses. This paper describes how faculty can incorporate assignments where students expand and improve Wikipedia pages based on course research about specific aging topics. While educating their students, they can simultaneously help educate older adults as well as the general public about gerontology.
ISSN:0360-1277
1521-0472
DOI:10.1080/03601277.2012.734266