i often used wikipedia for research assignments at my former work . i was required to gather information on various topics that i was not very familiar with. with not much previous information or knowledge, i start searching and browsing in the internet, feeling like i was swimming in the sea of information. one day i came across wikipedia. the depth and scope of information it carried on my query just fascinated me and literally saved me from panic attack of information searching under pressure.
wow! it was so detailed and it had almost every information that i needed including pros and cons, besides that, all the hyperlinks that took me to deeper and deeper into the subject area were so helpful and time-saving.
it was just 'too' good! and then i started questioning 'what is this?' and soon after, i grasped what it is and how it's made... yes, it was just 'too' good. we all know when something or someone is 'too' good, we need to step back and question....
i applaud Wales' mission to "distribute a free encyclopedia to every single person on the planet in their own language', and it's incredible to see that one man's humble mission turned into such a powerful reality. Wales did succeed in fulfilling his mission, but wikipedia suffers an unsolved agenda: its lack of reliability. the fact that anybody can access and edit contents sounds truly democratic but also 'anarchistic'.
contributors with good will work on checks and balance, but there are and will be 'bad guys' who vandalize, as there are bad guys everywhere. without having proper mechanism for controlling those bad guys and susceptibility to misinformation, who knows what the encyclopedia wikipedia will turn into in the future?
after learning what wikipedia provides and what it doesn't, do i still use it for research? hmm, yes, to be honest. i still refer to wikipedia for a variety of queries because i can't resist its convenience, but i'm aware of its potential risks, and never use it for academic research unless my topic is too current in nature and availability of information.
overall, i think wikipedia is no doubt a power house of information, where you can begin with....but definitely not where you want to end up with.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
use of technology in education (make-up)
the two articles on the use of technology in education (A Teacher's Use of Digital Video with Urban Middle School Students & The City We Want) were very interesting and also inspiring in that they showed the potential of technology on students' learning and self-representation.
most of all, the technology, especially that of digital video used in those schools did enable students to be 'creators' or 'main force' in the learning process.
by playing more participatory and creative role in what they learn, students in those places were no longer 'the oppressed'. And there was no place for 'oppressors'.
for me, the visual aspect of the technology used seems quite striking as i think it can be an invaluable supplement to our predominantly text-based educational environment (to mr. Postman's sadness).
we, human being, learn and experience concepts and things by a variety of methods, like reading, listening, seeing, touching, etc. i think giving students diverse learning tools is especially important as they are in a 'developmental' and 'progressing' stage as learners.
as the brazilian project showed, students showed real strong reaction to the tangible process and outcome of their activities. i wonder what if they were just asked to read a book and write an essay about the city that they want... would they have had the same degree of enthusiam and result?
the story of how digital media helped urban middle school students represent themselves and be themselves was also very impressive as well. By using the digital tool, urban minority students were able to express themselves better, and it helped them establish thier identity better.
after reading these articles, I got quite optimistic about what technology can do in education, and most importantly how it can solve the problem of 'digital divide' to some extent. 'digital divide' is not a simple issue and it cannot be fixed over night, or it can never be fixed, as i think it is resulted from more fundamental socioeconomic condition.
in this sense, schools can play a leading role in narrowing the gap at least by providing students opportunity to experience and experiment it.
i know implementation of it in the local school level won't be a simple matter, either, as it involves resources and training of teachers and staff. but i think positive research findings on this topic, technological development, lowering costs of hardwares and software, and better teacher training can bear significant fruits, if designed and put together under a common belief and goal.
most of all, the technology, especially that of digital video used in those schools did enable students to be 'creators' or 'main force' in the learning process.
by playing more participatory and creative role in what they learn, students in those places were no longer 'the oppressed'. And there was no place for 'oppressors'.
for me, the visual aspect of the technology used seems quite striking as i think it can be an invaluable supplement to our predominantly text-based educational environment (to mr. Postman's sadness).
we, human being, learn and experience concepts and things by a variety of methods, like reading, listening, seeing, touching, etc. i think giving students diverse learning tools is especially important as they are in a 'developmental' and 'progressing' stage as learners.
as the brazilian project showed, students showed real strong reaction to the tangible process and outcome of their activities. i wonder what if they were just asked to read a book and write an essay about the city that they want... would they have had the same degree of enthusiam and result?
the story of how digital media helped urban middle school students represent themselves and be themselves was also very impressive as well. By using the digital tool, urban minority students were able to express themselves better, and it helped them establish thier identity better.
after reading these articles, I got quite optimistic about what technology can do in education, and most importantly how it can solve the problem of 'digital divide' to some extent. 'digital divide' is not a simple issue and it cannot be fixed over night, or it can never be fixed, as i think it is resulted from more fundamental socioeconomic condition.
in this sense, schools can play a leading role in narrowing the gap at least by providing students opportunity to experience and experiment it.
i know implementation of it in the local school level won't be a simple matter, either, as it involves resources and training of teachers and staff. but i think positive research findings on this topic, technological development, lowering costs of hardwares and software, and better teacher training can bear significant fruits, if designed and put together under a common belief and goal.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Flickr Project
me, jessica & stephanie worked together on the flickr project and successfully created a new york city (dis)connection story. my part of contribution was to go visit libraries in new york city and capture every possible thing happening there. as we all know, libraries aren't just for books.
with that aim in mind, i went to nypl main building and mid-manhattan library. well, with that particular aim in mind, everything looked meaningful. libraries are certainly beyond just books. libraries mean books, dvds, database, events, classes, movies, place to rest, place to study, place to solve problems, place to escape to, place to seek silence, place to take photos, simply a good place to visit for everyone.
the following is a link to our group's project.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35856484@N06/sets/72157614956904409/
speaking of flickr, this was my first exposure. thank you, professor! for getting me out of digital illiteracy day by day. little by little i got the taste of 'tagging', and the power of medium that enables people to catalog/classify/organize thier own (visual) information and share them with other people. there is no intimidating aacr, marc21, dublin core, etc involved. instead, each individual uses their own discretion and make information organization and retrieval as easy and practical as possible. it surely reflects the concept of collective intelligence and democratization of information. flickr, indeed, is one of the pioneering examples, but not the only one. we heard of libraything.com, where one can classify their own book for her/his own convenience. all these movements or phenomena are truly revolutionary. rather than following sets of rules set by so-called establishement, people experiment and experience 'information' in every possible way.
it's democratic and entertaining!
it seem a bit too early to jump to a conclution on the full potential of tagging, and if i'm not wrong, it's only active in 'grass-root' level as of now. whether it'll stay there or move to a next level, something i can't predict for now, is hard to know.
with that aim in mind, i went to nypl main building and mid-manhattan library. well, with that particular aim in mind, everything looked meaningful. libraries are certainly beyond just books. libraries mean books, dvds, database, events, classes, movies, place to rest, place to study, place to solve problems, place to escape to, place to seek silence, place to take photos, simply a good place to visit for everyone.
the following is a link to our group's project.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35856484@N06/sets/72157614956904409/
speaking of flickr, this was my first exposure. thank you, professor! for getting me out of digital illiteracy day by day. little by little i got the taste of 'tagging', and the power of medium that enables people to catalog/classify/organize thier own (visual) information and share them with other people. there is no intimidating aacr, marc21, dublin core, etc involved. instead, each individual uses their own discretion and make information organization and retrieval as easy and practical as possible. it surely reflects the concept of collective intelligence and democratization of information. flickr, indeed, is one of the pioneering examples, but not the only one. we heard of libraything.com, where one can classify their own book for her/his own convenience. all these movements or phenomena are truly revolutionary. rather than following sets of rules set by so-called establishement, people experiment and experience 'information' in every possible way.
it's democratic and entertaining!
it seem a bit too early to jump to a conclution on the full potential of tagging, and if i'm not wrong, it's only active in 'grass-root' level as of now. whether it'll stay there or move to a next level, something i can't predict for now, is hard to know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
