On Thu, 2010-01-07 at 13:10 +0000, Steve Virgin wrote:
I could not agree more.
Whoever wrote the guidelines for the government is a smart cookie. There
is that clear implication that learning how to judge the credibility of
any piece of information presented to you is a valuable skill.
At issue is when it might be appropriate for schoolkids to start using
the "adult" Wikipedia. No teacher can prevent them doing so outside
school, so a locked and vetted version appropriate to the curriculum is
the best way to start understanding the significance of whatever a
search engine will throw at you.
I'd be happy to help draft a guide on use of Wikipedia by schools if
someone starts it. The one on Wikipedia isn't really appropriate for
kids of 12 or under. It's also not focussed enough to be quickly useful
to educators - it shouldn't just be a case of telling people to question
the veracity of an article on Wikipedia but, to question any story you
dig up via the Internet.
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Charles Matthews" <charles.r.matthews(a)ntlworld.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 12:57 PM
To: <wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] "Schoolchildren told
toavoidWikipedia" -Telegraph> Steve Virgin wrote:
>>
>> As a Board member I personally believe we should be attempting to
>> promote our Schools Project here and that should sit at the heart of
>> any release. Feel free to wrap any or all your very valid points below
>> inside and around the idea/goal of the project, should you agree with me.
>>
>> To refresh: the Board has been looking for opportunities to 'work with
>> teachers' or 'trainers' or 'academics' to help them see the
advantages
>> of Wikipedia in terms of use with students. This could be in terms of
>> collaborative research projects that can put these skills into
>> practice. In could be in terms of helping teachers or trainers build
>> additional skills in the groups they train. The bigger objective is to
>> lead to new volunteers for Wikpedia and new content.
> I suggested writing a concise guide for teachers and posting it on the
> WMUK site for two reasons, firstly because the point had been raised on
> this list in December, and secondly because I know how to get that
> written, having done a book chapter on this in 2007. If there is a need
> to integrate with other work, by all means put forward a way to fit it
> all together. I'm sure it is right to 'migrate' the message from a
> rebuttal of what journalists have to say, to our own ground. I see no
> inconsistency here, in fact, just a discussion of ways and means.
>
> Charles
--
Brian McNeil <brian.mcneil(a)wikinewsie.org>
Wikinewsie.org