Inside Higher Ed :: A Stand Against Wikipedia

It seems that Middlebury College is banning citation of Wikipedia articles college-wide.It seems strange that they feel the need to make this point, as any use of encyclopaedia articles as a primary source of references is, to say the least, suspect, unless the subject is encyclopaedia articles in general. However, the fact that it has become such a ubiquitous phenomenon is worthy of inspection, suggesting that today’s learners are becoming more autonomous, finding knowledge independently of teachers and institutions. Ignoring the odd inaccuracy here and there, this has to be a good thing! We should not demonise the wikipediafication of learning but, instead, start to pay more attention to improving the abilities of learners to use such tools critically, reflectively and effectively.
Created:Mon, 29 Jan 2007 02:33:14 GMT


Original: http://jondron.net/cofind/frshowresource.php?tid=5303&resid=1238
Posted: January 28, 2007, 7:33 pm

I am a professional learner, employed as a Full Professor and Associate Dean, Learning & Assessment, at Athabasca University, where I research lots of things broadly in the area of learning and technology, and I teach mainly in the School of Computing & Information Systems. I am a proud Canadian, though I was born in the UK. I am married, with two grown-up children, and three growing-up grandchildren. We all live in beautiful Vancouver.

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