Comments on: Truth of open and socially constructed information

By: Darren Kuropatwa

Darren Kuropatwa — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 18:29:20 +0000

Teemu, this is a brilliant idea! One of those things that you read and go: "Of course!" Often someone has to articulate it first before we can see the "obvious" implications of a new tool. I teach math and often struggle with trying to get my students to think about the inconnectedness of the topics they are learning as opposed to just learning a bunch of contextless rules. I think a wiki with a bunch of "solved problems" laced with both common and uncommon errors left there for the students to "fix" would go a long way towards helping me reach my pedagogical goals. Thank you for pointing out what probably should have been an "obvious" use of a wiki.

Cheers!
Darren

By: Teemu Arina

Teemu Arina — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 01:42:19 +0000

You are right, my argument was a bit weak in that regard. What I really meant was that often we trust social recommendation systems when we don't have the time to check the sources ourselves.

I use conversations with my trusted peers to ask advice on what professors I should read on a field that is yet unfamiliar to me, even though many of these professors might all come from well-known universities.

My friends give me a better starting point than what I can come up with on my own in the same time, because they know the field and they know me and my preferences… hopefully

By: Tleinone

Tleinone — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 16:32:25 +0000

I (of course) agree with most of your points, but would not forget the idea of standing on the shoulders of the giants. You wrote:

“People make their decisions on information not based on the list of authors and textual references but what others say about it.”

If the list of authors and textual references are given in a study guide of a well-known university or school, I consider these references worth of reading. I do not need to know the professor who made the list by person, read his blog or know what he think about the materials. I can trust that they are in the study guide because they represent something she has found useful for students of her field.

I can trust that the professor of the university is one kind of giant who have read a lot about the topic and have select meaningful reading for her students.

By: Olga

Olga — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 15:04:02 +0000

Teemu, I do agree with you that school should teach us to be more critical and reflective, but THAT objective should be addressed before we let ourselves to be swept away with new and exciting technologies. Furthermore, I think blogs and wikis serve a purpose in learning but the danger is that we forget pedagogy (which wasn't discussed in the panel at all). I have yet to find an eLearning conference where pedagogy instead of technology comes first… There is a general resistance to new technologies because a lot of the teachers have to become convinced that by using a certain technology learners actually learn, it is easier to stick to old methods.

Also, I must admit that "the neoliberalism of education, each man for his self attitude" bothers me. The Finnish education system is supposed to promote equality regardless of your background. What happens when your daddy hasn't even seen a computer and your are supposed to be able pick and choose your learning content? Social class, disability, etc. do not completely disappear online.

Anyway, Thanks for a thought-provoking discussion!