Wikipedia
I know that most Internet users go to Wikipedia for a lot of information. However, is that information always accurate?? According to the posts I've read and the podcast I've listened to, the answer is no. The NPR blog on Wikipedia plus the podcast on the same site both tell us that this site can not be trusted for accurate information. Anyone, anywhere can edit or alter any article found on Wikipedia. That's kinda worrisome if you ask me. I hate to think that the information I look up on a trusted site is false.
Virgil Griffith, a graduate student from CalTech invented a way to trace the edits on Wikipedia. Apparently the people editing the site aren't just your average people. Even congressman have made changes to articles on this website. With Virgil's creation you can find out exactly who edited what article, and what exactly they edited. Isn't that a handy tool?! This way we can see who is tampering with the website. I don't believe that as of right now Wikipedia can be a trusted site. Maybe in the future people wont feel as comfortable altering articles since they can be traced. If Mr.Griffith's creation hinders people from making edits to articles, I think that Wikipedia may be able to be trusted sometime in the future.
What I've Learned This Year
Mr. Mcclung, an elementary school teacher, wrote a blog post about what he learned his first year of teaching. He writes about plenty of important topics concerning new teachers and teachers to be. One of those topics is how to read your students. As teachers we can't just teach the way we want, we have to make sure our students can understand what we are trying to teach them. He also talks about being reasonable. All of our students will not be straight A students. Some will not do as well as others and we should expect them to, and shouldn't punish them for it. These are just a few of the things Mr. Mcclung has learned.
I am so glad I was assigned to read his blog. It has helped me to realize that even though I'll be nervous and apprehensive about teaching, that through it all I will learn right along with my students. The only difference in my case is that I am going to be teaching high school students. I have actually learned something from this post. I know what to expect when I start teaching. The lessons he's learned can teach us all.
About Me
- Lauren Germany
- I am 24 years old and a student at the University of South Alabama. I am majoring in English and Secondary Education. I am currently expecting my first child, due August 10, 2010. I started this blog for my EDM 310 class and I hope you all enjoy reading my posts!
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Lauren, you make a great point about Wikipedia and I totally agree with you that it should not be trusted any time soon. Hopefully, Griffith's creation will stop everybody from doing it. Also Mr. McClung's blog was quite interesting and informative to me also and he does give us important lessons. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteLauren, I really enjoyed reading your blog this week. I too was shocked to read how unreliable Wikipedia is. I guess I will be using other tools to research information from now on. Mr. McClung's post was very informative and accurate of a beginning teacher. Being a former teacher myself, I could completely relate to what he was saying. I thought that his comment about clear communication was the key to success. Great job this week!
ReplyDeleteGood job Lauren. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI also found it mind bothering to think that research done on sites such as wikipedia were false. Because I also trusted that information as research. Good Post especially your thoughts on "What I learned this year"
ReplyDeleteI was suprised to know wikipedia's info can be false. Most of my research project have being done with the aid of wikipedia. I guess If I find an info on wikipedia I should also check on other websites. Great blogpost!
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