Youth Perception and Usage of Wikipedia Export

@article{citeulike:4043379, abstract = {Introduction. This exploratory study investigated the perception and usage of Wikipedia among young people. Method. Fifteen respondents aged thirteen to twenty-four were selected for the study. The respondents were composed of secondary and tertiary students, and recent tertiary level graduates. An interview schedule was designed to explore user experiences at three levels: the initial encounter with Wikipedia, the time when the user felt comfortable with Wikipedia, and the user's current state. Questions were open-ended and semi-structured to allow for probing. Interviews were conducted over a span of two weeks with each interview lasting 30-45 minutes. Follow-up questions were asked of some of the respondents for clarification purposes. Analysis. Interview data was used to test Wikipedia, viewed as a technology, against the model of technological appropriation developed by Carroll et al. for their own study of mobile phone use among young people. Results. We found that although Wikipedia is initially attractive for young people, it generally fails to become deeply integrated (appropriated) into the everyday lives of users, instead remaining an instrumental tool for the fulfilment of a narrow range of tasks. We also found that over time respondents do become aware of the problems of accuracy that Wikipedia poses. Conclusions. Given that Wikipedia has not assumed the role of a key technology in the lives of the young people studied here, concern over its use by educators may be overstated. Also, the fact that the respondents were aware of the drawbacks to its use should make the message of the need for checking alternative sources an easier one to impart to students. The key conclusion, however, is the need for those wishing to design more popular information systems to take into account the deeper needs of users to experiment with technology in order to make it fit their lives rather than the other way round. This is something that even Wikipedia, it seems, has been unable to achieve.}, author = {Luyt, Brendan and Chia and Olivia and Yun, Tan S.}, citeulike-article-id = {4043379}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://informationr.net/ir/13-4/paper377.html}, journal = {Information research}, keywords = {adolescents, wikipedia}, month = {December}, number = {4}, posted-at = {2009-02-25 12:36:08}, priority = {5}, title = {Youth Perception and Usage of Wikipedia}, url = {http://informationr.net/ir/13-4/paper377.html}, volume = {13}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4043379 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4043379 N2 - Introduction. This exploratory study investigated the perception and usage of Wikipedia among young people. Method. Fifteen respondents aged thirteen to twenty-four were selected for the study. The respondents were composed of secondary and tertiary students, and recent tertiary level graduates. An interview schedule was designed to explore user experiences at three levels: the initial encounter with Wikipedia, the time when the user felt comfortable with Wikipedia, and the user's current state. Questions were open-ended and semi-structured to allow for probing. Interviews were conducted over a span of two weeks with each interview lasting 30-45 minutes. Follow-up questions were asked of some of the respondents for clarification purposes. Analysis. Interview data was used to test Wikipedia, viewed as a technology, against the model of technological appropriation developed by Carroll et al. for their own study of mobile phone use among young people. Results. We found that although Wikipedia is initially attractive for young people, it generally fails to become deeply integrated (appropriated) into the everyday lives of users, instead remaining an instrumental tool for the fulfilment of a narrow range of tasks. We also found that over time respondents do become aware of the problems of accuracy that Wikipedia poses. Conclusions. Given that Wikipedia has not assumed the role of a key technology in the lives of the young people studied here, concern over its use by educators may be overstated. Also, the fact that the respondents were aware of the drawbacks to its use should make the message of the need for checking alternative sources an easier one to impart to students. The key conclusion, however, is the need for those wishing to design more popular information systems to take into account the deeper needs of users to experiment with technology in order to make it fit their lives rather than the other way round. This is something that even Wikipedia, it seems, has been unable to achieve. IS - 4 JF - Information research TI - Youth Perception and Usage of Wikipedia VL - 13 KW - adolescents KW - wikipedia AU - Luyt, Brendan AU - Chia AU - Olivia AU - Yun, Tan PY - 2008/12// UR - http://informationr.net/ir/13-4/paper377.html ER -