Stan Shebs wrote:
Daniel Mayer wrote:
--- Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
I think that your stand on this is overly reactive, and not pro-active. These responses are a sign of success, not of failure. Your reaction to the teacher and the librarian is premised on their being right.
When they say that they do not trust Wikipedia, will not use it, and will go so far as warn others from using it, then they *are* right about that. I do not suppose that their reasoning behind those actions and positions are correct.
Ironically, telling students not to use Wikipedia is about the surest way there is to get them to look at it! :-) Sort of like corporate IT departments ordering people not to install Linux...
Many people will become convinced when they go to look at articles on subjects where they're knowledgeable, and find that the content matches what they know. My dad the retired research chemist looked at the Mossbauer effect article and found it pretty accurate, and it even mentioned a few technical details that he'd long forgotten about. He also had a couple relevant personal anecdotes, but alas, no published source to verify against.
There's also irony in what you say. People like your dad who are comfortable in their own area of expertise are able and willing to compare Wikipedia to what they know and reach favorable conclusions. The school teacher who lacks the detailed knowledge for verifying our facts seems more willing to reject Wikipedia without evidence. Instead of showing bias toward established resources, teachers should really be guiding children to question everything on the net, and to develop good critical habits.
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