July 23, 2007
Last week I read chapter 3 & 4 of his book. Chapter four was all about Wiki's. I must say that I am still a little skeptical of the information on Wiki's. If you are looking at information that you are unfamiliar with, who's version is correct. Since anyone can go in and change the information it is hard to know which is fact or which is opinion. Even though you can revert back to older revisions there is know telling which is the correct information. Although Wiki's and their popularity are new to me, I would have to say at this infant stage of my knowledge I wouldn't be inclined to use the information in a Wiki.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Pam,
You bring up some great points about wikis. When I have students look at wikipedia I ask them to use wikipedia as a starting point in research and not as a definitive source.
It is important to teach critical thinking skills around wikis. Who are the editors? What are they changing? Can you confirm this information? Students can not accept anything written on a webpage implicitly and wikis are no different.
Wikis are evolving quickly. Don't completely give up on them.
I share some of your skepticism of wikis. But I am finding that more I learn about them, the more comfortable I am becoming with them. As with any source, critical thinking is going to be important.
Pam...I also think that we ought to be asking these questions of traditional media as well...who wrote it? editors? publishers? We've lived for too long under the belief that publishing means quality and truth. Those days are over be it, wikis, NY times or print books.
Pam,
You are correct in your assumption that the information that is located on wikis is not always reliable. Click on the post below to find out how college professors are having to deal the problem of students using wikis too.
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=c9f78c26-7c20-4a9b-94f8-2978b33fad16&f=00&fg=email
But, like mrichme said, Wikipedia is a good starting point for students, but you wouldn't want to use it as a definitive source yet. This is true of many places on the web though if students never learn to analyze web pages and the content they contain properly. It's all about the new literacy we as teachers are going to have to start preparing our students for in the 21st century. As long as you have a database of online sites where students can go to visit scholarly based information, I think you are fine to use wikis. If nothing else, it would be great for the students to return to the information on the wiki at the end of their research and see how they information they gained from non-wiki sites compares to the research contained within the wiki.
When the Virginia Tech shootings occurred (I was directly connected with the tragedy) the information on Wikipedia was more current and correct than anything put out by the news media.
Information in books and other publication are littered with incorrect information. All publications are subject to
invalid facts. Compare elementary science curriculum to high school-- talk about wrong information!
It's all about teaching our students to think and to validate information, a skill that will become more and more important in the 21st Century.
21st Century Collaborative
A wiki is a wonderful place to begin. Just be sure to do your research. After all, you are on the internet and resources seem to be endless.
Post a Comment