Wiki is a very useful tool for me. It’s organized well and most topics just provide important, relevant, and concise information. It helps me save time to get what I want. However, it seems to have the credibility issue. Although editing or modifying process in Wiki is more complicated than before, there are no criteria for editors. Still, everyone can go to wiki editing or modifying every topic. Therefore, some of them may not be correct.
“Students used Wikipedia for a variety of reasons. More than any other reason, 8 in 10 survey respondents (82 percent) reported that they went to Wikipedia to obtain background information or a summary about a topic.” (Head and Eisenberg, 2010) They also mention that Wiki is valuable for students to previews topics. In addition, according to their survey, “most respondents (70 percent) reported using Wikipedia at the beginning of the research process (see Figure 3). Very few used Wikipedia near or at the end (two percent).” (Head and Eisenberg, 2010) It means the Wiki is a convenient tool for students to have an initial understanding about a topic. Before teachers doubt its credibility, they should figure out why they use Wiki, what parts they refer to Wiki, and what topics they read on Wiki, and then check the credibility of those topics they read on Wiki. Finally, teachers should tell them the whole process about how and why they deal with it. By doing so, if the content of the topic students read is correct, they will know how to evaluate the credibility of content on Wiki; if the content of the topic they read is incorrect, they will not only know how to evaluate it but also have chance to go back to the right track.
Reference
Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg (2010, March). How Today’s College Students Use Wikipedia for Course-related Research, First Monday, Volume 15, Number 3 - 1. http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2830/2476
Hi Ping,
回覆刪除Nice job on the Wikis topic and the previous ones.
If you think about it, as there are much people who wants to learn and create common knowledge, there are also people who are driven by negative reasons to edit a wiki.
Wikies are a learning tool, learning never ends as it starts from the second we born into this world, maybe even before! Sharing the luxury of being able to learn, now that's another story that should hold dear and spread among less fortunate people.
So yes, according to TIME magazine December 2006 "YOU" are the person of the year since you are starting to share and help others learn, Wikipedia is only one option!
Abdullah
Nice blog Ping! I think wikipedia's concept is brilliant. I am just so disturbed at how censored it is becoming. It also saddens me that true encyclopedia's have been forced out of business because of Wikipedia.
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