If my photo had
been taken this morning, I’m certain I would have looked something like this girl:
I am a frequent
user of Wikipedia. In my academic training, though, we
were taught that it is inaccurate, for lazy people, and overall, verboten. So, I hid my use, taking it underground. Still, I use it often for random searches. If I want to know how long Henry VIII lived, I check Wikipedia. If I want to know about Garmisch, Germany, I check Wikipedia. Characteristics of border collies? Yeah, I Wikipedia that, too. Sometimes, I have even surreptitiously used it to find resources for papers, using it to tree through some of the contributing
peer-reviewed research. I would never have admitted that (wink, wink).
But, today, I am
vindicated! Delving deep into Wikipedia
was fascinating. I love that it is so
closely monitored and that it is updated constantly. The world's largest body of knowledge...updated in real time...I don't even have a word for how awesome that is. Growing up, I loved our encyclopedias, even though by then they were very old. I would have loved a new set, but that wasn't feasible. Just as hard copy encyclopedias quickly become outdated, it is logical that text books
might quickly be out-of-date, as well A perfect
solution to the conundrum caused simply by the passage of time and its ensuing leaps in knowledge is a platform like Wikipedia. It is more accurate and up-to-date than the other sources that I was always taught were preeminent. Mind. Blown.
Knowing how plugged-in kids are today, and my own (somewhat secret) reliance on Wikipedia, I am excited to know how to teach students to evaluate, use, and contribute to this resource.
Sara, this is such a fun read! I, too, was a closet Wikipedi-ite (can we just make that a word?). I had no idea there was any validity to what is found on Wikipedia but with the tools we were given today, I feel much better about my antics during undergrad.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of todays lectures we were encouraged to get our kids to think critically. A rad avenue we now have is through the use of Wikipedia. We can encourage our students to explore their topic on the site while thinking critically, and making sure that it is a deep enough source.
FA's all around! (Wikipedia jokes, too)
I love the images you used! I would consider myself a frequent wikipedia user as well, everything we learned today completely changed my perspective. It definitely blew my mind too! I never would have thought to use Wikipedia for my students to share content and have their work be published. I cannot imagine how much pride kiddos feel when they see their work. So cool!
DeleteI like your writing style, Sara. I am also a big Wikipedia enthusiast. Getting lost in mazes of information about interesting topics in one place, for free. What an amazing time to be a nerd.
ReplyDeleteI agree, today was very liberating. I too was warned about the dangers of Wikipedia and the calamity that would befall my academic career should I use it. So for the longest while I used it as a launch into research by searching the references of a given topic. Turns out I was doing too much work after all.
ReplyDelete