Cormac Lawler wrote:
On 12/20/05, Ray Saintonge <saintonge(a)telus.net>
wrote:
I think that the key thing that would distinguish
Wikiversity from the
other projects is that it is about process while the others are about
product.
In considering your suggested three foci I think that as long as we
can't get past the first one Wikiversity is just as well in Wikibooks.
The third is very far ahead of where we are. It would be absolutely
forbidden in Wikipedia under the No Original Research rule. Making
that a part of Wikiversity before Wikiversity is ready for it could be
an invitation to all kinds of nutcase research that defies peer review.
Peer reviewers would need to be in place before original research could
take place.
Well, I think peer review would grow out of having research hosted on
Wikiversity. But until the research is peer reviewed, it shouldn't be
considered an appropriate source for Wikipedia/books. I personally
think the Wikimedia community is hampered by not having recourse to
publishing research somewhere within Wikimedia (even though we all do
- in Wikibooks!)
To make myself perfectly clear, I have never believed that "No Original
Research" should be a rule in an ideal wiki. It became a real issue
when one individual sought to publish his offbeat theories in physics.
The issue is really a matter of when, not whether.
Your second
focus is key to Wikiversity.but I would leave it simply at
"growing learning communities" without reference to specific tasks.
Getting tangled up in specific tasks and courses leaves too much room
for Wikiversity to repeat the educational model established by
traditional universities. The top down development of a course by a
"teacher" imposes a range of requirements on what's being done. It does
nothing about revolutionizing the entire learning process. "Courses"
are about the teacher rather than the learner.
I agree that top-down course development shouldn't be where we're
going, but I just meant that learning communities generally have to
have some sort of goal (ie writing a good article, exploring the pros
and cons of advertising, etc.) - that's all.
Yes, content will eventually escape from the process, but it must not
drive the process. To quote McLuhan, "The medium is the message."
The name
"Wikiversity" is just fine *because* it is about all learners
at all levels and all ages. That's what universality is all about.
It's about life-long learning from kindergarten to post-graduate. It's
about those who know a little bit more helping (not teaching) those who
know a little bit less. I think that it's very encouraging that kids
can go into seniors' homes to teach about computers. A book that I
recently acquired "What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and
Literacy" by James Paul Gee. He analyzes video game playing in terms of
36 "Learning principles". The first of these is the "Active, Critical
Learning Principle" - "All aspects of the learning environment
(including the ways in which the semiotic domain is designed and
presented) are set up to encourage active and critical, not passive,
learning."
Absolutely - the wiki-format is entirely geared towards active,
critical learning. Learning by doing - experiential learning. That's
the kind of learning that I'm personally talking about when I talk
about wikiversity - not the acquisition and repetition of facts.
Great! I think that we need to keep that ruthlessly in mind as this
thing develops.
Perhaps the
first "course" to be offered in the Wikiversity should be
about learning, and how it happens. If it is to have any such thing as
a core curriculum maybe that should be on it.
Sounds good (I had already thought of this). Would you be willing to
help out? (I am..)
Gingerly, yes. I must however remain modest about what I can do.
What, currently is the best place to develop this idea?
Ec