Wikipedia’s Administrators, What is their role?

I just a read an interesting blog by Andy Carvin, an author and educational technology expert, on “Identifying Best Practices for Student Wikipedia Projects.”  I am not going to sit here and write about what those are, I will let you read about them on his blog, however, what I found interesting is how Wikipedia handles new entries onto its site.

He basically discussed a presentation that was given by Martha Groom, a professor from the University of Washington-Bothell, about how she created a class project in which her students worked in collaborative groups to create a Wikipedia entry.  In the end her students found the assignment very rewarding, however, as I read Mr. Carvin’s blog he stated that “It didn’t take long for some Wikipedians to take issue with the students’ research. One article was deleted within 24 hours, while another four posts were removed after some debate on the website.” 

This bothered me as my graduate class was asked a few weeks ago to do some research about wikis in general, which meant to explore some articles about Wikipedia.  One article, in particular, from the NY Times  focused on how Wikipedia has had to change its policy on open-editing. 

The article describes how there are administrators who are volunteers, who are supposed to be editing content that is incorrect or abusive to the site.  However, the more I have researched the more I am finding that Wikipedia has become a small cult of know-it-alls that seem to jump at the chance to show off their intelligence and put down others for their efforts. 

According to Carvin, “Wikipedians occasionally responded rudely to students, and one debate escalated to the point that it required intervention by site moderators.”  He went on to say that he wasn’t surprised that the administrators responded rudely and that “Wikipedia  is a quirky place, and if you dig into it, you’ll soon find yourself surrounded by its politics, personalities and intellectual turf wars.” 

Now, I understand that there are people that put things on Wikipedia that are profane and inappropriate just for the fun of it, and there does need to be some watchful eyes otherwise the sites intention will be compromised.  But I think there needs to be some protocol for how things are edited and who decides what stays and what goes.  If there is, it seems then their way of handling the situation is also inappropriate and could be adjusted. 

As Professor Groom’s project seemed like a success, from a teacher’s point of view, I would be disgruntled if I were promoting a website in my class and then have the administrators of that site scold my students for what they think is useful information.  Not a very good publicity move from Wikipedia’s perspective in my humble opinion. 

Think.com, A Better Option?

I was recently reading MisterTeacher’s Blog and he had mentioned he had stopped using Blogs in his classroom because of the inappropriate pop-up ads that were coming on to the students pages.  His solution was a new site created by Oracle called Think.com.

“Think.com connects schools, teachers, and students from around the world to collaborate on projects, share experiences, and build knowledge together,” as stated on their site.  So I decided to explore a little to find out more about this site.  The most important and beneficial thing from the teacher perspective I found is Think is FREE and password protected to avoid outside forces getting into students pages. 

You do have to complete an application which is reviewed by the Oracle Foundation, but it seems it is just a formality to prevent unwanted users.  Your school needs to be accredited, which most public schools are. 

The site allows students to create webpages, speak with other members from around the world, and really get hands-on experience with educational technology.  You can have a free trial, but again you need to complete an application.  I am in that process now and hope to hear by next week so I can start exploring.

I think the most important thing to learn from MisterTeacher and usable technology is to do your research before initializing such a venture into your classroom.  Technology is great but not perfect, and there are some safety issues that need to be researched, discovered, and avoided if possible.  Remember you need to have your students safety in mind at all times when using technology in your classroom.

Is Google Trying to Rule the World?

Google will be the most powerful company in the world in the very near future.  I have no basis for this opinion other than a few articles I have read and my own experiences with the website, but think about it.   Google is purchasing more companies in an effort to move into every technological avenue possible just so they are part of the next big thing.

Paul Allen, another Blogger, came up with seven reasons why Google will rule the world.  His two main ideas are that Google’s top decision makers are unmatched.  Their owners and developers jump at the chance at investing, purchasing, or creating new ways to get their advertisements out there for everyone to see.  However, the most important reason Allen gave why Google will succeed is the way they run their own company.  They allow their own workers to dedicate 20% of their work week to pet projects on company time.  The owners feel that their own workers ideas and inventions will lead them to greater success.

This is an ingenious idea as most workers only focus on their day to day duties, then come home and freelance their ideas to other companies.  Google feels why compete against their own when they have great minds working for them already.  A truly innovative philosophy that more companies should incorporate into their own business models. 

If you haven’t noticed Google is everywhere and is only growing.  I would not be surprised if one day there is a class taught in high school and college on how to use Google to its fullest extent, because we are just scratvching the surface with its capabilities.  The future is going to be very kind to Google.