Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tonight's Agenda:
1. A warm-up Wikipedia assignment: go from the article on Ancient Greece to the article on Kevin Bacon. When you've done it, retrace your path by hitting the back button on your browser. The fewest links win.
2. Try to trace the links between two different academic disciplines: Phytoremediation (the use of plants to remove toxins from the environment) and the Milgram Experiment (a famous psychological experiment in which subjects were asked to administer electrical shocks to an actor.)
You can start from either end and work your way to the other. Consider your reasoning in interdisciplinary terms.
3. Go back and exam the edits (and discussion) that other users have made to your Wikipedia articles. Do you agree with those changes? Remember, you can compare any two versions of a Wikipedia article, merely by going to the History page, selecting the two versions, and hitting the Compare button.
Also, while you're looking at your articles, please add the template {{EducationalAssignments}} to the TALK page -- not the article page!! -- so that your articles can be categorized as such.
4. If you have time, please start to consider how you might use Wikipedia as a resource for yourself or for your future students. If you aren't interested in using it, why not? What could make Wikipedia more useful for you as an educator?
1. A warm-up Wikipedia assignment: go from the article on Ancient Greece to the article on Kevin Bacon. When you've done it, retrace your path by hitting the back button on your browser. The fewest links win.
2. Try to trace the links between two different academic disciplines: Phytoremediation (the use of plants to remove toxins from the environment) and the Milgram Experiment (a famous psychological experiment in which subjects were asked to administer electrical shocks to an actor.)
You can start from either end and work your way to the other. Consider your reasoning in interdisciplinary terms.
3. Go back and exam the edits (and discussion) that other users have made to your Wikipedia articles. Do you agree with those changes? Remember, you can compare any two versions of a Wikipedia article, merely by going to the History page, selecting the two versions, and hitting the Compare button.
Also, while you're looking at your articles, please add the template {{EducationalAssignments}} to the TALK page -- not the article page!! -- so that your articles can be categorized as such.
4. If you have time, please start to consider how you might use Wikipedia as a resource for yourself or for your future students. If you aren't interested in using it, why not? What could make Wikipedia more useful for you as an educator?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Can't We All Just Get Along? Wikipedia disputes
Tonight we'll be looking at the process by which Wikipedia articles are disputed. Here are a couple of handy links:
Thursday, May 8, 2008
A blog you might enjoy:
In 2005 Canadian Kyle MacDonald made headlines by trading a red paper clip for slightly more desirable objects, ultimately trading up to a house. Inspired idea, or proof that humanity is insane? Read his blog and decide for yourself.
Some handy Wikipedia links...
- What's my topic? A list of requested articles
- Is my topic notable? Notability guidelines
- Where do I begin? A guide to writing your first article
- What is NPOV? A guide to writing "neutral" articles
- How do I cite sources? A guide to creating citations
- Where can I find public domain images? Wikimedia Commons
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