Daniel Ehrenberg wrote:
But we don't want a fork. In a firk, we'd have
to
rewrite (or copy) the whole encyclopedia. We don't
want to do that. We want to stay here. We just want to
make it *optional* to filter out objectionable
content.
-LittleDan
The problem you are mentioning is that school administrators will want
to ban Wikipedia on the grounds that students may look up material they
find objectionable. The problem is, the responsibility still lies on the
user to refrain from viewing it! As an optional system, users could
easily opt out of filtering, making this is a very ineffective solution.
Whereas, a fork would be very useful. Since we are working with open
content, anything on the Wikipedia can be used on the Edupedia. The
Edupedia could also have a different way of handling user submissions
(perhaps requiring a peer to OK an edit). Administrators can ban the
Wikipedia.org site knowing that Edupedia tries their hardest to remain
appropriate for educational institutions. And article forks can happen
and will be useful. (You had mentioned you felt a fork of
[[homosexuality]] would be more appropriate for school.)
A fork will make a site that is "appropriate" for schools. A filtering
system will introduce several problems. Someone posted that Jimbo would
support a project like this.
The high school I attended would probably have blocked Wikipedia on the
grounds that it was a "Chat/Message Board" site. Whether or not a logged
in user can see a photo of a clitoris would not help.
--
--cprompt