On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 10:14 PM, doc
<doc.wikipedia(a)ntlworld.com> wrote:
<snip>
The idea of wikipedia anywhere near a school
curriculum, except perhaps
in a brief IT lesson, horrifies me. The idea of children using wikipedia
to challenge the "official truth" of a qualified teacher with "but sir,
it says on wikipedia", is laughable.
Presumably, they would actually go: "but sir, I read the Wikipedia
article, and while checking the sources provided there, I did some
background reading and research, and the history presented in those
other sources is different to what you are teaching us".
i.e. Hopefully this hypothetical kid would credit the source behind
Wikipedia, and credit Wikipedia only in-so-far as it provided an entry
point into reading about the topic.
Carcharoth
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Which is about as likely as them reading the endnotes and sources
sections in the textbook the school is commending.
The notion that using wikipedia properly makes people think any more (or
less) than using any other media is flawed. At least the people
publishing the dead tree have put their names and reputations to the
work, and if it stinks of bias then they smell. The agenda of
wikipedia's nameless editors are, in fact, far more hidden.