[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia isn't just a good idea - it's compulsory

[Marc Riddell]

> Ray Saintonge wrote:
> 
>> My son is now in first year of college, and I tried for years to get him
>> more involved; I even brought him with me to Alexandria.  It hasn't
>> worked, but I know that he used Wikipedia to help him in his research
>> for school papers.  He has had the good sense to know that using
>> Wikipedia should not be both the beginning and the end of the research
>> project, but neither should Encarta and Britannica be so. In a recent
>> paper on Machu Pichu he ran into a stub article about some relevant
>> person, but there was a link to es:wp which had a much longer article.
>> I then told him that figuring out the other language was his problem,
>> and he managed.
>> 
>> Having Wikipedia as a substitute for a school history curriculum would
>> not be appropriate.  It should be a supplement there, with probably
>> greater importance than for other subjects taught at that level of
>> school.  Nationalism is a major factor in school social studies
>> curricula, and a great medium for indoctrinating the child with official
>> truth.  Access to Wikipedia and other on-line sources helps him to
>> formulate the questions that needed to challenge the teachers of those
>> truths.
>> 
>> Ec
>> 
on 3/27/09 6:14 PM, doc at doc.wikipedia at ntlworld.com wrote:
> 
> 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.
> 
> I think that most of this discussion has missed the point that the
> English Ofsted chap in no way suggested that Wikipedia should be used as
> a teaching supplement at all, or that he had anything to do with
> informing people about history or politics. Rather he seems to suggest
> that certain internet skills "blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter"
> should be taught in schools, and children should be familiar with how to
> access their information. So, we no more get Wikipedia as a source of
> knowledge than Twitter, and your local blog.
> 
> The reaction "this shows the WMF should go into schools" is as
> ridiculous a conclusion as it is a typical wikicentric "OMG they want
> us, they really do - we always said they would".
> 
> Why I think Sir John is barking up the wrong tree is that children are
> quite able to teach themselves to blog and edit a wiki. It does not
> require a high level of education - as the, em, abilities of our
> community adequately demonstrates. Indeed, the average 40-something
> classroom teacher is more likely to know less than the kids. But what
> the children  *can't* teach themselves (and what on-line communication
> drastically requires) is basic literacy skills.

Excellent post, Scott!
> 
> You want to train wikipedians in a primary school? Turn off the PCs and
> give them grammar and dictation.
> 
And skills in verbal communication, in-person, face-to-face.

Marc Riddell