Educational Tool Based on Topology and Evolution of Hyperlinks in the Wikipedia

We propose a new method to support educational exploration in the hyperlink network of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia. The learner is provided with alternative parallel ranking lists, each one promoting hyperlinks that represent a different pedagogical perspective to the desired learning topic. The learner can browse the conceptual relations between the latest versions of articles or the conceptual relations belonging to consecutive temporal versions of an article, or a mixture of both approaches. Based on her needs and intuition, the learner explores hyperlink network and meanwhile the method builds automatically concept maps that reflect her conceptualization process and can be used for varied educational purposes. Initial experiments with a prototype tool based on the method indicate enhancement to ordinary learning results and suggest further research.