Friday,
March 14, 2014
Learning & Leading with Technology Article
Response #1
What? Wikipedia in History Class?
In the article, "What? Wikipedia in History Class?" Jeremy
Boggs discusses the use of Wikipedia beyond just reading or referencing it, be
that good or bad. Boggs takes the students through the process
of research editing and publishing of an article on Wikipedia. Furthermore he requires the students to
research and write the article for Wikipedia to “become more responsible
digital citizens.”
When I first read the title I was considerably
skeptic, Wikipedia as a reliable research tool?
Then as I started reading I fathomed how Boggs was not just trying to
use it as a research tool, but as a lesson in producing quality factual
research, and publishing it correctly using Wikipedia as the media for this
process. He considers it one of his most
successful assignments, using it to teach the students the differences between quality
“fact-only” writing and a more methodical or analytical writing style. In developing
their articles the students have to
research the topic compiling at minimum of 500 words, plus footnotes, and references
both from books and at least two external websites hyper linking each, along
with links to other Wikipedia pages. Coupled with this the students have to use
proper formatting throughout along guidelines provided by Wikipedia. While reading this I got the feeling that if
anything Boggs was working two fold, first a lesson for the students and second
providing articles that were well written, formatted correctly, and factual to
Wikipedia. With this thought in mind I
started to wonder how factual could one consider Wikipedia? It seems when comparing it to say Britannica
it is only slightly less accurate, Britannica averages approximately 2.92
mistakes per article while Wikipedia is at 3.86. (Study: Wikipedia as
accurate as Britannica)
The second requirement of the
students is to monitor and improve their articles, the most interesting point
here for me was that the goal is to improve the article, and to fight and
insure it is not “flagged for deletion”. I found it significant that they had to not
only publish but maintain ownership of their articles throughout the semester and
complete the assignment with a 500 word reflection on the process, and views on
Wikipedia.
Boggs stated he choose to assign the
students a Wikipedia article for three reasons; to learn how to do research, to develop a new
view of Wikipedia, and lastly to learn the difference between fact-only and analytical writing. Overall he stated to reach
these goals took a bit more work on his part but was well worth the pay
off. He found that it was much more
meaningful for the students to contribute to a greater public accumulation of knowledge,
than it would have been for them to write a term paper in the traditional
since. Furthermore he hoped that it
help them reach out in a more global environment of learning. This last part resonated well with me and by
the end of the article I was less of a skeptic, having a better understanding
of the teacher’s purpose to the lesson.
Along with this I started to think how I could incorporate this into my
own classroom. Possibly not only having
the students work to publish articles in an online forum such as Wikipedia but
also have the look at articles published and research to see if those articles
are factual, and well written or if they need to be edited for content. I applaud Boggs’ innovative ways to not just
think outside the box, but by using technology he takes his students outside
the realm of ordinary, and boring, and giving them ownership of their work.
With that said this article relates
directly to the following NETS-S. NETS-S 1 creativity and Innovation, Boggs’ uses existing technologies to improve
the quality of the students engagement in the lesson through a creative and
innovative idea of making the student go beyond the simple and take ownership
of the process. NETS-S 2 Communication
and Collaboration, through publishing on Wikipedia the students are directly
communication and collaboration on a global scale. NETS-S 3 Research and Information Fluency,
Students are required to research and publish sound and will formatted information. NETS-S 5 Digital Citizenship, as stated previously
one of Boggs main goals is to make the students more responsible digital
citizens. Lastly NETS-S 6 Technology
Operations and Concepts, through publishing on Wikipedia the students must
become familiar with the technological operations and concepts necessary to
write, publish, format, and participate in an online and ever changing forum. In conclusion I believe that the ideas
presented within this article can directly benefit both the teachers as an
example of innovation in learning, and the students as an ever more engaging
way to learn.
Boggs J.
(2010/11). What? Wikipedia in history class? Learning & Leading with Technology. 38 (4) , 32-33
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that this is an excellent activity for students' to take ownership of their writing and contribute to a greater good. I also believe our blogs are a similar assignment to help others and possibly contribute to a greater foundation of knowledge for the benefit of society. I am too a skeptic about using Wikipedia as a source and do not agree that it is a reliable source for scholarly information because people can post almost anything, however I do agree this website does present valuable information and can contribute to a reader's foundation of knowledge of a particular subject. I also agree that maintaining their articles on Wikipedia is a good idea because it brings more ownership to their writing and I believe that our blogs also represent us having ownership of our writing as well. I definitely agree that creating a Wikipedia page would be more productive than a term paper and also believe educators will gain students' attention and interest more with these types of activities. As educators, we have to use tools that will engage students' as well as teach them useful information and knowledge that will help them in the future. The better educators can integrate technology and have students' using their creativity and innovation and increase their feelings of ownership of their work within the classroom, students will be better prepared for the increase in technology use in their overall environment.
ReplyDeleteHi Don,
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great idea for any teachers in middle school to high school. I completely agree with with what you said that Boggs stated in terms of this project being more beneficial and satisfying for students "to contribute to a greater public accumulation of knowledge, than it would have been for them to write a term paper in the traditional since". I think that if I had this assignment starting off in high school it would definitely give me a better understanding on how I would want to do my research for future papers. I think that it is a great idea to have students have to check the facts of Wikipedia and back them up by using other resources. It is a very educational project and it preps students for the large term papers they will have to write once they are in college.