Posts filed under 'Education'
An interesting article comparing the development process and future directions of Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Brittanica:
Spreading Knowledge, The Wiki Way.
The part of me that forever proclaims “All knowledge should be free!” is certainly in agreement with the philosophy behind the Wikipedia, all the more so because one of the established goals is to produce paper and CD-ROM versions for third-world countries. However, the part of me that is aware of the commercial necessity of making a buck in order to stay in business, well… my sympathy goes with the EB folks. But the times, they are a-changing. True, it is worth paying for quality, and the EB is certainly a quality product, but it is a commodity whose full merits must be realised before most people would bother paying subscription fees. Why would most people bother paying money for something that has a free version which is more convenient and easily accessible? While the EB has consistently higher quality per entry, many people are not aware of this difference because they want a quick “knowledge fix” and, accustomed to the rapid-fire nature of the Internet, they want it immediately: they have an assignment due the next day, or their neighbours are thinking about Yucatan and want to know more about the country, or they want to know what souvaki is, or they want to know if the cat is in any mortal danger because of the venus flytrap. Why bother going through the hassle of subscribing and paying money for something when that “fix” is easily satisfied elsewhere? (I must reiterate here that I trust the Wikipedia far more than 99% of Internet sites.)
I am not trying to cheapen the value of knowledge, nor the fine efforts of the EB crew, writers and editors; I am merely musing the unique value propositions that differentiate EB from the Wikipedia. Personally, I’d love to have a full EB in real, honest-to-goodness dead tree form, filling an entire bookcase with its heavy leather-bound tomes. Alas, I doubt that day will ever come: as much as I love real books, I cannot justify its cost among so many of my other needs and expenses, especially when I can purchase it in digital form for a tiny fraction of the price of the set.
In the meantime, I need an educational resource that is timely, constantly expanding to keep pace with changing events and discoveries, available anywhere on a moment’s notice, filled with the collective knowledge of thousands of individuals, and free for students: despite the occasional shortcoming, the Wikipedia fills that description in spades.
September 9th, 2004
I’ve been so busy lately that I didn’t notice that a new version of Moodle was released a few days ago. For those of you who are involved in education or training, it’s definitely something that might pique your interest, “A Free, Open Source Course Management System for Online Learning.” A month or two ago, I spent a full weekend weaving my way through the capabilities of the older version, and I was very much suprised to see that such an incredible product with so many capabilities had escaped my attention for so long. I’m really looking forward to experimenting with this version when I get a chance, especially the new and improved add-on modules.
September 8th, 2004
Eye-opening article from the New York Times: The Internet Gives Teenage Bullies Weapons to Wound From Afar. (Go to bugmenot.com if you want to avoid registering.)
Part of the problem with Internet technologies is that the kids tend to know much more about them than their parents do. Consequently, adults often still have outmoded ideas as to what sort of adolescent pressure is affecting their children, and how they can help them cope (that is, if they even feel the need to). Add to the seething cauldren of Sturm und Drang the perceived disassociation and lack of physical confrontation, the assumed anonymity of email, the pervasiveness of peer-to-peer sharing, the semi-permanence of Instant Messenging logs, and the spread of blogs and forum postings, and you have a potentially lethal mixture for long-lasting mental scars and even suicide amongst teens.
Parents, teachers and administrators should be aware of the main issues (only some of which were mentioned in the article):
- The title of the article is perhaps a bit misleading: the term “bully” carries a certain stigma and mental representation, that of a large lad in a playground pushing around weaklings and stealing lunch money. In fact, anyone that can use a computer now, regardless of physical, mental, social or psychological capacity, is a prime candidate for being a bully. In short, almost every teenager. In a way, the tables are turned somewhat: the traditional “weaklings,” “nerds,” and “geeks,” are –at least stereotypically– far more likely to be able to orchestrate the sort of things this article is referring to, or at least take them to a higher level. However, almost every child past the age of ten with access to a PC should be able to use these methods with little or no learning necessary.
- Girls in particular are more likely than boys to avoid direct confrontation when dealing with their peers; consequently, indirect technologies like IM and email are more frequently used to provoke, intimidate or seek revenge. Clique-driven pressure can be taken to dizzying heights using the Net.
- Boys, however, possess a more direct and asocial way of communicating their thoughts through the medium, which causes different problems. Words that would normally be stifled by fear, inconvenience, physical intimidation or sexual awkwardness are easily typed into a webpage or message and sent.
- Almost anything you do on the Internet leaves behind traces, some permanent. It is very easy to say something in an online chat that is recorded and easily forwarded to one’s peers. And it is just as easy to “edit” the transcript to make it appear that they say something different than what actually happened. Teens would often much rather believe something sensational than not.
- Any teen can pop over to Blogger and get a free blogging account. In this sort of online journal, you can say whatever you want to the world, with little regard to consequences. The same applies to online forums and multiuser chat rooms.
- Because you are disassociated with the persons on the other end of the email or chat, it is easier to disregard how you are making them feel. You do not see their face, nor do you hear their voice, and you don’t even know if they are receiving your message at the same time you send it. It’s like leaving behind a time bomb that leaves no physical damage, just psychological. Worse yet, if the person responds, it becomes far easier to become engaged in an ever-escalating and mentally abusive interchange.
- A couple of years ago, the “Star Wars Kid,” an overweight and awkward Quebecois teen left some video footage in his school’s camera by mistake. In this, he played out a fantasy Star Wars Jedi fight. His “friends” discovered the footage and posted it to the Internet. The video was remixed and re-edited numerous times, adding light sabres, sounds, special effects, villians and other Star Wars paraphenalia, and it was spread over the Net, causing a very embarrassing worldwide (albeit short-lived) sensation. He was tormented endlessly. Now, imagine a young girl forwarding some masturbation footage or a “special picture” to a boy (as mentioned in the NYT article), and he decides to spread it to friends, who spread it further. Within a day, it can reach every corner of the Net, not to mention all the students in the school she attends. How could she walk in through those doors in the morning?
- Nowadays, a message can reach you anywhere. At any school computer, at your home computer, on your cell phone, on your pager… there’s no place, no time, that you are not available to receive a communication. Imagine what those messages can say, how damaging they can be, and how often you can get them.
- Remember that with instant media, there is no consideration or cooling off time, that immediacy carries every action without forethought, every reaction without reflection, every deed without deliberation.
- Peer pressure urging conformity is just one potential (mis)use of this technology. Sexual advances, revenge and reprisals, cruel or sensationalistic stories to combat boredom, cyber-stalking, cheating on exams and assignments, discrimination based upon race, class or creed, and any other motivator in the realm of teenage angst is grist for the mill.
- Remember that teenagers can do all of this away from the prying eyes of parents or teachers, and rarely do they let them know about it. It’s a secret world.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about what sort of thing can be done about this. It’s easy to say, “Well, we have to educate our children!” But this is such a recent development that guidance counsellors and teachers are ill-prepared to do this, yet alone parents. “Parents should pay more attention to their children’s Internet activities!” Well, teenagers usually know so much more about the Internet than their parents, not to mention that Internet connectivity is everywhere: there is no way to shield children from all the possible effects, nor could most parents understand how to do this anyway. (For example, many kids can easily get around “Net Nanny” and other network guardians, and can probably even lock their parents out if they wished.) And ignoring the problem, hoping that teens will deal with it on their own, is not an answer: the effects can be disastrous if left unchecked.
What’s necessary is a wide-spread awareness and education campaign instigated by government and academic institutions, with separate sessions and documents for teenagers, parents and teachers. I feel that in ten years or more, everyone will be more naturally predisposed towards handling the aforementioned problems, but for now, it’s a potentially devastating issue affecting teenagers caught in the flux that is modern technology. How can we empower our youth with such constuctive tools, and yet not teach them the responsibility and wisdom needed to resist the sometimes-overwhelming urge to use them destructively?
I’d like to put some more thought and research into potential strategies towards identifying and dealing with this problem. I’ll post them here at a later date.
August 30th, 2004
I’ve been using wikis for years now, without really thinking too much about how they work and for what purposes they are best suited. Coming from a strong web development background, where so many things are quite complicated or at least time-consuming, the only real things that struck home about wikis were that they were so easy to use, and yet so conducive to collaborative writing.
For those who have not yet tripped across a wiki, you should run –not walk– to Wikipedia.org and see what these folks have been up to. Basically, a wiki is a large collaborative website where almost anybody can go in and add or modify pages. Yes, you see a page, you want to change the content, you hit “edit” and you can publish your changes without knowing HTML formatting, database functions or even who runs the joint. The Wikipedia is actually a giant, sprawling community-driven encyclopedia that grows by leaps and bounds every day. In fact, I’ve heard tell it’s already three times the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica (although the content is far more variable, as one would expect). Smaller and more specialised topic wikis can be used to discuss text editors, horticulture, pop stars, and every topic under the sun.
So, since I’m preparing an online version of a high school English course for the province, I’ve started examining the possibilities of using a wiki for more educational purposes. I have set them up in the past for other courses I’ve taught, mainly technical, and they were all very well received. But could a wiki work for an English course?
My thoughts on this so far:
- English, and all other liberal arts, are often best learned in a fully collaborative environment. “Listen, and repeat after me,” or “Read this page, then do this exercise on your own,” are not exactly conducive to the subject matter. After all, if the outcomes are best served through shared experience and the search for meaning from differing viewpoints, the students will not be able to reach these in isolation. A wiki allows students and teachers to work together on a “collective” series of documents with input from all involved. This can work especially well from a distance.
- The Internet is transitory, and if it is used as an integral resource for an English course (almost essential for online learning and distance education), there should be an easy way to update all of the resources to keep them current and relevant. With a wiki, not only can the teachers do this with a simple and non-technical tool, but the students can as well.
- A wiki can be used as a way of not only giving assignments, but collecting and presenting them as well. A teacher can assign work to students that involve adding to or improving the information contained within the wiki, thus furthering its relevance for all involved.
- Peer pressure is an amazing force that can be used for good or evil. In a wiki, the collective eyes of the group provide strong motivation to not only do the best job you can, but to screen out undesirable information. With a simple click, the teacher can see all recent changes to the wiki, and check their appropriateness. If necessary, the pages in question can be “rolled back” to a previous version. This is not to mention that changes can be logged to show which inviduals contributed what, enabling the teacher to contact them about their material if need be.
- The essence of Language Arts is the exploration of meaning. The native form and function of a wiki encourages cross-linking to relevant items, and thus exploration. Therefore, students do not necessarily receive a very narrow viewpoint of the material, but can “leap off” into alternate theories, related subjects, debatable issues, and external resources that can foster a somewhat-controlled environment of discovery.
- Many students, raised on high-tech and the Internet, will no doubt be able to push the wiki to its furthest. However, this also puts some pressure on the teacher to learn its techniques and benefits, and to encourage its use on a daily basis. (Any tool will degrade without proper usage and maintenance.) That being said, if a skilled administrator sets everything up beforehand (including user accounts and permissions), any person with a modicum of computer experience under his or her belt should be able to run matters very smoothly within just a few days of regular use.
A wiki can obviously be a highly effective and very advantageous tool for delivering Language Arts material online. While the benefits are many, and the strikes against it are few, the biggest challenge in fostering its use is the sudden shift in paradigm that many teachers will no doubt face. After all, if one is used to being in a classroom, dealing with students face-to-face, reading body language and often-subtle hints to determine the effectiveness of the current lesson, the whole notion of online teaching is difficult enough. Now, if you deviate even further from the norm, from the usual “progression of steps leading to an inevitable conclusion,” how can you feel comfortable in your role as educator? The ease of exploration and self-discovery inherent in a wiki provides so many possibilities that turn sequential education on its ear, that empower the students to more actively pursue meaning, it is difficult to predict how most traditional teachers will adapt to this new medium. Add to this recipe the advantages of other web-based and multimedia technologies, like blogging, software-driven presentations, A/V editing/distribution and Flash authoring, and the teachers of the new millenium face a world unlimited in both potential and complexity. Thankfully, a wiki is but a small step in this direction, one that most teachers should be able to make without great stress, trepidation or confusion. In this way, it is but a gentle and effective introduction to modern educational technology.
Boy, that ended up sounding like an essay. Must be the influence of all those textbooks I’ve been reading lately….
August 19th, 2004
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