Explaining teaching uses of Wikipedia through faculty personal and contextual features

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore which personal and contextual factors affect the use of Wikipedia as a teaching resource in higher education institutions. This research question is approached by investigating faculty perceptions and attitudes in two large Spanish universities. For this purpose, a comprehensive empirical study has been employed, based on an online survey to faculty members and the inclusion of a decision-making model in the analysis.Data provide evidence that a combination of cultural, social and subjective factors influences the decision to use Wikipedia. This decision is not only associated with lecturers' individual characteristics, but mostly with surrounding influences. Teaching uses are more frequent when academics have close reference models and when they perceive that Wikipedia is being positively valued by their colleagues. The present study provides a creative framework to analyze the main determining factors of Wikipedia usage by faculty. The inclusion of both internal and external factors in the decision process has proved to be a valuable novelty. The study also detects the main factors affecting the negative or reluctant attitude towards Wikipedia and provides some recommendations to overcome these barriers.Finally, the research widens the scope of previous investigations supplying a new research framework and including, for the first time, a prominent online university in the analysis in order to discard the potential effects of digital and information illiteracy among students and faculty members.

Explaining how Wikipedia deals with credibility to university students: the case of Wikipedia in the Basque language

“…More studies must be carried out to learn about the opinions and performance of professors from different higher education institutions with regard to the use of Wikipedia in teaching and learning processes (Amina and Warraich, 2022, p. 17; Haslam, 2017; Lladós-Masllorens et al , 2017; Alcazar et al , 2018, p. 30) and to examine the influence of Wikipedia use on their perceptions of the credibility of Wikipedia information.…”

The Use of Open Educational Resources as Teaching Tools in Primary Education: Activities by Postgraduate Students of the Hellenic Open University

“…Regarding the limitations of OER, a high percentage (54%) stated the difficulty of quality control of OER as a primary limitation, a limitation mentioned in several studies (Admiraal, 2022;Huang et al, 2020;Lladós-Masllorens et al, 2017;Lo et al, 2022;Pounds & Bostock, 2019;Zaidi et al, 2022). Several postgraduate students (42%) reported limitations in terms of openness (e.g.…”

“…• intellectual property issues, copyright issues (Huang et al, 2020;Hylén et al, 2021;Ioakeimidou, 2018;Konkol et al, 2021;Lo et al, 2022;Papadimitriou & Lionarakis, 2013;Pounds & Bostock, 2019) • scepticism about their controversial, in some cases, quality, which may be low (Admiraal, 2022;Clements & Pawlowski, 2012;Huang et al, 2020;Ioakeimidou, 2018;Lladós -Masllorens et al, 2017;Lo et al, 2022;Papadimitriou & Lionarakis, 2013;Pounds & Bostock, 2019;Zaidi et al, 2022) • insufficient attention has been paid to improving and promoting them through specific policy decisions by countries, organisations, etc. (Andrade et al, 2011;Chen, 2020;Mtebe & Raisamo, 2014) • levels of OER uptake remain low, especially in primary education, resulting in a lack of policy development and sustainable models of OER-related utilisation (Lo et al, 2022;Tang et al, 2021) • a lot of time (time-consuming process) is required to search, select and process OER so that they can be used in teaching and learning (Admiraal, 2022;Christoforidou & Georgiadou, 2021;Hassall & Lewis, 2017;Lo et al, 2022;Stavriananakou, 2022;Sawyer & Myers, 2018;Tang et al, 2021;Zaidi et al, 2022) • lack of technological infrastructure -such as availability of computers, low broadband connectivity, etc.…”

“…(Andrade et al, 2011;Chen, 2020;Mtebe & Raisamo, 2014) • levels of OER uptake remain low, especially in primary education, resulting in a lack of policy development and sustainable models of OER-related utilisation (Lo et al, 2022;Tang et al, 2021) • a lot of time (time-consuming process) is required to search, select and process OER so that they can be used in teaching and learning (Admiraal, 2022;Christoforidou & Georgiadou, 2021;Hassall & Lewis, 2017;Lo et al, 2022;Stavriananakou, 2022;Sawyer & Myers, 2018;Tang et al, 2021;Zaidi et al, 2022) • lack of technological infrastructure -such as availability of computers, low broadband connectivity, etc. -for both students and teachers (Bansal & Joshi, 2015;King et al, 2018;Konkol et al, 2021;Lo et al, 2022;Tanou, 2019;Tlili et al, 2019;Zaidi et al, 2022) • the lack of training, sufficient technological skills, willingness and pedagogical knowledge of teachers regarding the value, use, production or integration of OER in teaching (Hassall & Lewis, 2017;Mtebe & Raisamo, 2014;Pirkkalainen et al, 2015;Schuwer & Janssen, 2018;Lo et al, 2022;Tang & Bao, 2020;Tlili et al, 2019;Zaidi et al, 2022) • the insufficient additional pedagogical value and questionable quality of OER content (Admiraal, 2022;Abramovich & McBride, 2018;Lladós -Masllorens et al, 2017;Lo et al, 2022;Luo et al, 2020;Mishra et al, 2017;…”

Wikipediaren pertzepzio eta erabilera DBH-ko ikasle eta irakasleen artean

“…Internetek, oro har, eta Wikipediak, zehazki, eragin nabarmena izan dute hezkuntzaren arloan eta teknologia berri hauek ikasteko eta irakasteko modua hartu dutela esan genezake, hainbeste informazio eta edukitara hain sarbide azkarra, erraza eta doakoa eskaintzen baitute. Nagusiki kontsulta moduan erabiltzen da Wikipedia hezkuntzaren arloan, eta horretarako gehien erabiltzen den webgunea da (Lladós-masllorens et al, 2013). Adibidez, Brox-en arabera (2012, apud Aibar et al, 2015 unibertsitateko ikasleek egin behar dituzten lan eta jardueretarako erregulartasunez erabiltzen dute baliabide hau.…”