Finally, we can not ignore the potential benefits of large scale contributions coming from specific communities, specially from educational institutions at all levels. The potential applications of Wikipedia to learning environments has been also a matter of research, and some authors have shown that direct contribution approaches may have negative consequences for both the quality of content and the willingness of young authors to continue to contribute if the get strictly negative responses to their first revisions. All the same, semi-controlled strategies like providing a final version of the contribution, may have better effects for both the quality of content and maintaining the implication of young contributors. In this regard, providing special tools for highlighting these contributions could facilitate the work of experienced Wikipedia authors, who could then provide more focused comments.
How the new contributors are approached by the community is very important and it seems like they face a very hostile environment. How can we change this, both at a human level and with technical solutions? Is it somehow possible to let newcomers write articles together with oldtimers until they learn the most basic things? Perhaps it is possible to make personal sandboxes where they can get some guidance before the dogfight starts?
John