John Vandenberg wrote:
On Sun, Jul 26, 2009 at 3:27 PM, Henning Schlottmannh.schlottmann@gmx.net wrote:
And if there are kids with knowledge and understanding on these or other topics, they will be fascinated by Wikipedia and find the project on their own. We don't need to recruit these prodigy childs.
Contributors, both young and old, do not need to be interested in the topic they contribute to - they need to see the value of the skills that they acquire in the process. And we can help them learn about the benefits.
Well it certainly helps if you have a deeper understanding about the topics you cover. And Wikipedia once was about people who have certain knowledge and enjoy to share it with the world. It was originally not about recruiting people to do research into topics they would never have researched without Wikipedia.
On wikimedia, bilingual young people can improve their mastery of second languages by translating articles into different languages.
Oh yeah - that is how most translations look like. A bilingual kid trying to improve their mastery of a foreign language. Without even understanding the topic of the text he or she is translating. We already have too many of those "translations".
On wikimedia, young people learn how to properly reference an article, which will help them as they progress in their education.
Originally Wikipedia was about People, who could already write academic papers and did not need tutoring or learning those abilities on Wikipedia for their future life.
Young people have the most to gain from participating, because the skills that they acquire on wikimedia will stay with them, helping them in their many years to come.
And what does Wikipedia get from those young people? We don't have the man power to nanny them or teach them academic writing. We all are authors, first and foremost. I'm not going to change the diapers of any promising "young people" who would like to make their first attempts of focused writing on Wikipedia.
Ciao Henning