Wikipedia and the classroom

I have been following an interesting discussion about the use of tools such as Wikipedia and YouTube in the classroom.

I've just finished listening to a BBC Scotland after Ollie Bray posted a link on Twitter. Interesting that the programme was biased (as most forms of media are) in that there was no right of reply for the mysterious 'Deputy Head.' This was mildly amusing to me, as the main thrust of the interview was to prove that other sources of information are biased and unreliable.

This bias is the very reason why teachers should be using wikipedia and co in the classroom. But, for the record:

Wikipedia is a tool. It is not the future of learning, nothing ever is. To my knowledge, no teaching is advicating the use of Wikipedia, or any other tool, as the 'Official Answer to Everything, ever'
A lot of the criticism assumes that Wikipedia is being used to source information. This is not necessarily true. For example, I use Wikipedia in order to introduce pupils to the critical examination of all forms of media. Printed encyclopedia are a great source of information, and I love books big style. However, the moment they appear on the shelf, they are out of date. Are some parts of the UK arguing that pupils should rely on the population and development data of a book that is 10 years old? Or should they use addition sources of information?
A classic quote, which I think needs adding to my wall of fame, went something like 'We need to be teaching pupils to critically assess the internet'. I thought that was the point of using sources of information like Wikipedia.

It's also interesting that most pupils probably do not have instant access to a huge, very expensive, set of printed encyclopedia. At home, they have instant and low cost (relatively speaking) access to the resources of the World Wide Web. Surely we should be allowing our pupils to access this huge, often free, resource while being able to critically assess?

The 'debate' today has provided some rich learning resources on the reliability of the media!

If the BBC are reading this, I invite you in to my classroom to see how effective using these tools can be.

Comments

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been ...

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words...

David Rogers

Search This Blog