Thomas Dalton wrote:
Check this out:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6032750
It's about social media and education, which is an interesting topic
in itself, but most importantly it contains this line:
"Wikis are web pages that can be easily edited, the most famous of
which is Wikipedia, the world's largest encyclopedia."
A journalist knows the difference between "wiki" and "Wikipedia" -
joy
of joys! (The downside is that it suggests schools improve/create an
article about their school as an example, which is something of a
COI...)
The next para is pretty interesting:
"When Tom Rae took over as the head of Tynecastle High School in
Edinburgh, he noticed the school's Wikipedia entry was outdated and
short on hard facts. As he was not sure how to update it, he set his
senior students the task of doing it. In just under a week, a group of
more than 10 students had researched and rewritten it. They became the
first Tynecastle students to be published in Wikipedia. How empowering
is that?"
The point (for the guide that Brian and I are apparently writing) is
that "empowerment" is a good buzzword, but there is a small, treacherous
area to explore from a teachers' point of view: accounts for minors
should not give personal details, so a "role account" for say,
Tynecastle High School, looks more appropriate. But there are
administrative reefs also, namely the deprecation of role accounts and
shared passwords in general. Something can be done in practical terms by
stating that the project has a fixed term, will be retired, and will
have its password changed by a school staff member.
Charles