Nov 1, 2007

have students join the Wiki revolution

I am so, so in favor of this:
Wikipedia has been vilified as a petri dish for misinformation, and the variable accuracy of its articles is a point Groom readily concedes. Since the advent of the Web, she said, the quality of sources students cite has deteriorated.

For her students, the Wikipedia experiment was "transformative," and students' writing online proved better than the average undergrad research paper.

Knowing their work was headed for the Web, not just one harried professor's eyes, helped students reach higher - as did the standards set by the volunteer "Wikipedians" who police entries for accuracy and neutral tone, Groom said.
If you want your students to experience the Wiki Way, but aren't sure they're ready for the rough-and-tumble world of Wikipedia, then, instead of having them take notes on a book, introduce a tool like pbwiki so they can create their own "SparkNotes." Just make sure you have adequate technology, clear expectations, and more than a little tech savvy.

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