So, I tried to get some diversity in my blogging , but I couldn’t help myself to go back to Will Richardson’s blog this week when I saw his post on Wikipedia.
He started his post by throwing out some numbers on people that visited Wikipedia in the last month. 2 Million views for Barack. John McCain 1.1. Hillary 422K. That’s a ton of people. These people are mostly kids!
Yet teachers around the country are still discrediting Wikipedia.
Ugh, this really pisses me off upsets me.
Every time I don’t know a topic in full from class and its not going to be on Dictionary.com, I go to my Firefox Wikipedia addon, and type in the subject matter I want to know about. I conveniently find my information, and in about 45 seconds, I go about my merry way.
Richardson then discusses how errors are everywhere. I especially like this line: “If we’re not raising a generation of reader/editors, we’re not doing our jobs.” If you’re taking something at face value and not analyzing it to see how it applies to your own life, you’re an idiot. This is critical thinking people! Maybe its because senior year of High School I got the, “Truth is only perspective” bit drilled into my head, but critical analysis is one of the most THE most important skill you could have throughout your life. It gives you the ability to read any person or situation for the rest of your life.
Sure, Wikipedia isn’t some Godsend that is going to be the only place that will be an outlet for information and critical thinking skills, but its flashy and us kids like it. Give us a break.
I’m out
-Jeron
