Introduction and Interests
I'm a computer science tutor at the University of Windsor. A variety of efforts were made to contribute to Wikipedia articles to help undergraduate computer science students and programming enthusiasts with algorithm comprehension through online interactive tracing tools but most were unfortunately rejected. A website at hightechdreams lists what I've tried to offer.
I'm trying to create highly interactive user interfaces that simulate tutor-student interaction. This should help students learn through 2-way communication instead of merely consuming text, graphics, and video that is currently available. At the same time, they learn with the confidence and efficiency that comes with learning on their own. By allowing the user to input into a document, the user can more effectively feed curiosity, test themselves and their predictions, and reinforce their correct thoughts.
Most Visitors Want the Fundamentals Instead of the Details
People frequently visiting articles on certain algorithms or common problems in computer science probably don't have an advanced knowledge of the material. They often have textbooks, lecture notes, and lecture slides to look at that give roughly the same information in the same format as an encyclopedia. Visitors may have other learning preferences. They may not be after more of the same medium which is why I've been working on something new.
Fundamental Comprehension Requires Focused Resources
A basic understanding doesn't come from the technical details and a huge vocabulary. Extra details often waste the reader's time and only lead to more confusion when one is after a fundamental understanding. Many publishers of information particularly on Wikipedia tend to be professors who have forgotten or never shared the experience of struggling with course material and have trouble finding an explanation that works for a struggling student. Students will naturally shy away from someone who can't put it in understandable terms and they'll do the same with a similar resource. It is important to recognize this problem and provide resources that are focused on the fundamental concepts and concise enough to help weaker students.
JavaScript vs Java Applets
People have made applets to visualize tracing of algorithms and operations on particular data structures but there are some advantages to using JavaScript to implement such visualizations. Java requires a plug in and loads slowly when it is already installed. Although Java and JavaScript can interact, Java applets tend to be programmed as isolated units and not make full use of the visual elements of the page. JavaScript, on the other hand, is natively supported by almost every web browser. JavaScript also has full control over a web page's DOM model and is easy enough to interact with a server that it can easily become part of a very sophisticated distributed system.
Contact
If you think some article could benefit from this interactive style of document, please send an email. I look forward to having something of high demand on Wikipedia.