I spend a fair bit of time helping students navigate the scary world of research papers. Nearly every single one of them brings their resources, which almost always consists of nothing but Wikipedia articles.
I do my best not to cry at the fact their teachers have not explained to them what constitutes valid research material, and then explain to the student why I won’t permit them to use the Wikipedia article as a primary resource. I’m sorry. I get the concept of pooling the wisdom of the masses, but it’s not vetted. It’s prone to the whims of people who don’t bother to check themselves before they change an entry, or those who wish to sabotage others’ valid efforts.
The students protest, but I don’t back down. I tell them that they can use Wikipedia to help them get started on a topic if they can’t find information any other way. This means they can use an article, but they must actually go through and research all of the facts present (which really translates to not using the article as anything but a jumping off point).
I may rethink that strategy, though. Or perhaps I should just reinforce it. Either way, Wikipedia has lost even more face with me thanks to this recent discovery.
And to think, I remember when the most scandalous bit of Wikipedia trivia was the fact that the founder was changing his article, and not in ways that supported the spirit of his own site.
Posted by Rebecca as Responsibility at 8:12 AM EST
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An article showed up early last week that declared that today’s children just aren’t as intelligent as preceding generations. The concern, if I’m reading this correctly, seems to stem from an assumption that a child who does not score well in school or on a particular test can never be educated. This concern seems to assume that any number ascertained from a moment in a child’s life will accurately describe a child’s situation for all time. (I work with a mix of bright and average students. It may take some work on the part of the “average” student’s part, but generally I can find a way to explain the material so that they are just as capable of succeeding their mastery tests as my “bright” students. But I’m in a very lucky situation where it’s a small student to teacher ratio.)
This was in turn followed by an assertion that only those with high IQs should go to college while everyone else should focus on vocational school. (I had a good laugh at this one. I have a high IQ. I aced AP Calculus in high school and then turned around and failed Physics I in college. It had more to do with not being able to reconcile the fact that my professor, TA, and textbook were all saying different things than anything else.) On the other hand, the article did point out that there are alternate ways to acquire valid experience. It’s just too elitist in how it states it (for my taste, anyway.)
The third article goes back to the lower levels of education by giving us the statistics on federal aid given to developing the skills and talents of “gifted” children. The thought here seems to be that by taking the time to make sure children with lower IQs have a fair chance to master basci skills and knowledge, the children with higher IQs are left to atrophy when their own abilities should be cultivated, too. (The article also suggests at one point that “gifted” children, of which I was one, don’t bother to challenge themselves academically because they get the ego strokes they require on a more basic academic track. Please my above notes for my own feelings on that matter. I always took what looked interesting to me, and even if I didn’t do terribly well at it, I kept at it until I understood it. I have a few friends and coworkers who tell that makes me a rarity. I think it just makes me naturally curious and persistent.)
Fortunately, these three articles are presented as opinions. While I can respect this person’s take on the situation with our education, as a gifted person and a teacher, I think the author is off-base. I’ve seen kids who couldn’t do a simple addition problem go on to lead incredible projects in one of their recreational activities. I’ve known students who couldn’t name a single element off the Periodic table who spent part of their year in camps and workshops for talented youth musicians. Maybe the student is weak in one area, but they more than likely have another area where they shine. To shut them down as hopeless because they can’t pass one class, because one test said they probably couldn’t do anything, robs that child of any chance to become the best person they can.
Posted by Rebecca as Components of Learning, Responsibility at 8:27 AM EST
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I loved this post because i know how many people will be up in arms over the very thought.
Somehow, teaching students to use the internet safely has become one of those topics that seems to live a dark color with sex education, drug education, and stranger education. In this new millennium, we are still suffering from a heavy dose of, “If we don’t talk about it, students will never know it exists.”
Wrong.
In this day and age, students are being bombarded with learning opportunities from every direction. The schools only see them a smaller part of the day, and then they are watching television. They’re listening to the radio. They’re hanging out with long-distance friends online. If you aren’t talking with them about “controversial” topics, you can bet someone else is.
My point here is that not talking about something doesn’t make it go away, and taking the time to talk with a young person about any of these topics will actually help because they’ll know how you feel on the topic, and you’ll know that at some point, you had some input on what they know about the topic.
Don’t hide it. Don’t tell them not to do it. Educate them about it. Educate them about the potential consequences. Enable them to make an informed decision, and then trust them to make it. It’s part of growing up, and not giving them this opportunity may actually rob them of the ability to handle issues later on in life.
Posted by Rebecca as Components of Learning at 7:44 AM EST
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“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”- Mark Twain
I think this quote perfectly illustrates any form of informal and lifelong learning drive. We have what we learned in school. We go out into the world and start building our own knowledge (even while we are in school) based off what we’ve learned, or we learn something completely unrelated.
That’s the strength of both informal learning and lifelong learning. “Schooling”, at its best, gives us a way to learn. We may modify that method to better suit how we work, but it teaches us the basics.
Once armed with a way to learn, we’re able to open our minds and explore anything that catches our fancy.
Posted by Rebecca as Experiential Learning at 8:44 AM EST
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My current career involves me spending a lot of time with teenagers who truly believe they will die if they turn off their cell phone. I’ve had to confiscate phones because the student spent more time playing on their phone than getting their work done.
Some of them try to hide their phone use in the hopes I won’t notice, but I’m sitting right beside the students. It’s hard to miss them staring at their lap with one hand in their lap. It’s hard to miss them taking out and putting away the phones. It’s especially hard when they share the text message they just received with everyone else.
I guess one could accuse my teen students of being not terribly bright.
Some of them use their phones to listen to music while they work. As someone who needs some sort of background noise to work, I’m fine with that. Some of them use the calculator function on their phone. It’s amazing how many cell phone calculators don’t process PEMDAS correctly. (It’s also funny when the student expects to hide their phone use by claiming they’re using their phone as a calculator…but the assignment involves roots and squares, which aren’t on most of their calculators.)
My concern is the ones who are sitting there trying to text while taking their tests. To the best of our knowledge, none of them has actually thought to use their phone as a new method for cheating, but I have a bad feeling it’s coming.
How do you monitor that? How do you discourage students from doing it without breeding an atmosphere of distrust and resentment? They don’t have the self-control to not text when they should be working. Can we expect them to have it at more critical times?
Does anyone deal with this, and how do you do it?
Posted by Rebecca as Current Affairs at 8:07 AM EST
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Today’s post is going to be brief, but I wanted to share this link to free e-learning tools. It’s not what you think, though.
Instead of being a collection of tools to help you learn what you want, these links are geared toward those who create e-learning experiences. I’m slowly combing through them, but I think they’ll be good for my professional development.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized, e-learning at 8:07 AM EST
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