Wikipedia is one of the best tools available for students to exercise 21st century skills in an engaging way.

21st century skills, also known as transversal skills, are life skills widely transferable to different settings and not specific to a job, task, sector, discipline, or occupation.

With Wikipedia, students can see firsthand the process of how knowledge is produced. They can examine an article’s references, edit history, and talk page, to assess its reliability. They can explore new places, cultures, ideas, and philosophies from their fingertips.

All readers are also invited to then help improve the content. When editing, students can debate, discuss, and collaborate with others to determine how a topic should be represented and why. When students contribute to Wikipedia, they participate in service learning: their edits are part of a global digital public good that helps others get the information they need. It’s a learning experience like no other, and one that can take place in a physical or virtual classroom.

In 2020, the Wikimedia Foundation became a member of the Inter-American Development Bank’s 21st Century Skills Coalition, joined by nearly 30 public and private organizations to promote the development of transversal skills in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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