Often, in school, students write only to prove that they did something they were asked to do, in order to get credit for it. Or, students are taught a single type of writing and are led to believe this type will suffice in all situations. Writers outside of school have many different purposes beyond demonstrating accountability, and they practice myriad types and genres. In order to make sure students are learning how writing differs when the purpose and the audience differ, it is important that teachers create opportunities for students to be in different kinds of writing situations, where the relationships and agendas are varied. Even within academic settings, the characteristics of good writing vary among disciplines; what counts as a successful lab report, for example, differs from a successful history paper, essay exam, or literary interpretation.
"Online collaboration is becoming more and more central to the way in which knowledge is created and assembled worldwide," said computer scientist Luca de Alfaro, who runs the UCSC Wiki Lab and led the WikiTrust project. "There are more and more services that simply cannot exist without some notion of user reputation and trust in the content."
