Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Week 5 Assignment


NPR Blog on Wikipedia
I enjoyed this blog post because everyone I know warns me about Wikipedia, and how some things may or may not be fact. I haven't found many untrue statements, but I do not use Wikipedia for that reason. Even college professors tell their students not to even use Wikipedia because they have found untrue posts.
I enjoyed the part where he wrote about anyone can edit things on Wikipedia. I actually did not know you could go in and edit posts. I found it ironic that the people in politics could change what others wrote about. Such as, if their opponent wrote something about the other then that politician could just go in and edit. The internet ceases to amaze me at times.

NPR Article on Wikipedia
This article was similar to NPR Blog on Wikipedia. I did enjoy reading this article though, it had more of an insight about Wikipedia, I thought. Like I have mentioned before, I do not use Wikipedia for the simple fact that not everything you read is true. I did find it interesting about the scanner of the documents to make sure that the statements are true.
I also liked the fact that with the scanner it will provide who wrote the articles on Wikipedia. Anonymous isn't so anonymous after all. I listened to this article also, I really enjoyed their chat. It was amazing that a college student came up with the idea of the scanner! Wikipedia in my opinion is untrue facts and anyone can update the posts.

Wired
It is a fact that anyone can update Wikipedia at anytime and any day. So, how is this fair, because if Wikipedia is really an online encyclopedia then why can we not change or delete entry's in our current encyclopedia (the books)? Hello, it costs too much money to keep producing entries. It is not fair to keep editing and/or deleting information that that anonymous person doesn't want anyone to know about. It is setting the image of they are hiding something.
34.4 million edits on Wikipedia! WOW!!! It's astounding how many big corporations have edited posts on Wikipedia! Virgil Griffith is so talented to come up with the scanner and show how many different edited posts and how many times!
"Everything's better if you do it on a huge scale, and automate it," he says with a grin, I really liked this statement because I think it holds some truth. I don't think Wikipedia could ever be trusted because how are we suppose to know the truth about a specific topic.

"What I've learned this year"
I liked how Mr. McClung discussed the different aspects of his teaching. I really liked the section about how to read the crowd. Many teachers, even in college, loose sight as how they are not student focused just how the content is delivered. Key component is to be flexible, I couldn't agree more! I am one of those perfectionist and I have learned that not everything goes as "perfect" as I would have wished it could have gone, but that is the beauty of teaching. Teachers must must must be flexible.
Communications...what can you say about that, it is a must just like being flexible. You cannot resolve a problem without communicating with that person and dealing with the problem. All teachers need to set expectations for the children and also for themselves, but those expectations needs to be realistic. I loved the statement Mr. McClung used, "Technology is our friend..." we cannot function without learning about technology, it's forever improving and we must improve with it! Another important key, never stop learning. Many teachers, even in college, stopped learning because they simply didn't want to learn anymore. I believe knowledge is power. (Thanks to School House Rock!)


3 comments:

  1. I totally agree with you that we have to be flexible. Just by having my own kids I know we as teachers have to be flexible!! As a retuning student It's pretty hard for me to adapt to all this technology but I know It's something I will have to use as a teacher. It's humbling when my 11 year old has to help me with this class!! But I am learning.

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  2. I use Wikipedia all the time. I am just cautious with living persons/entities/corporations. Generally, Wikipedia is an excellent, quick resource. You just have to keep your eyes open and your brain on. EVERYONE has a slant they are trying to sell you. Even me. So question everything!

    Mr. McClung is a great friend. We will probably have a Skype session with him this semester to see how Year 2 is continuing.

    You will probably find this repeated on a lot of posts. But yours is the first!

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  3. To be a good teacher one must be flexible and able to communicate. Wikipedia generally is a quick and easy resource and most of the time is a good resource. You just have to be careful. You can't just use wikipedia but I think it can be useful.

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