Sunday, March 1, 2015

Judging the Quality of Wikis and Non-vetted Sites

I am not a teacher however, I do design courses for students. In my opinion, I view Wikipedia as a resource for students, depending on what type of information that is being sought and how the information is being used will determine whether or not to use it as a resource. In designing courses I have included YouTube videos (how-to videos) as resource for students.


5 comments:

  1. I am a teacher for 4th and 5th grades, and we have used Wikipedia in the PC lab while giving them the warning.....be careful and double check. Most of them stumbled upon it by googling a term for a mini research project. Over half of my students are from Mexico and a huge header warning was posted about the danger of Americans traveling to Mexico at this time. It was very startling to them, then we decided to check other sources. Why is it dangerous? This also led us to reading about the missing students, when one of my Hispanic students told me that her mom said they were all found alive and well. Obviously, her mom was trying to protect her, but I felt like I was crossing some ethical line. Tell her or not? I didn't need to as another Hispanic student told the class all about it...In addition to the dishonest coyotes that will leave you to die in the desert. (OK discussion over) This kid loves social studies and history and follows the news religiously, yet hates to read?

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  2. Interesting-lots of food for thought. Again, the biggest issue I see if making sure that everything that is put on a Wiki is accurate and if the sources quoted and used are accurate as well.

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    1. Dr. Siko stated that he experimented and posted some incorrect information on a wiki site to see what will happen, it took a while for them to correct the information however they did remove it. I think the more the wiki evolves and become more of a common use in the classroom, fact checking of information posted will become more accurate and efficient.

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  4. If you want to have some fun with your students and learn about information literacy...check this out: http://www.greatlakesgazette.com/2013/09/30/whale-watching-on-the-great-lakes/

    I think it behooves us to begin teaching the info literacy skills when doing research and let the students find information while simultaneously commenting on the credibility (or lack thereof) of the information.

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