According to Darren Crovitz and W.Scott Smoot, authors of the article “Wikipedia Friend, Not Foe”, “Wikipedia provides a unique opportunity about writing for a real audience, meeting genre expectations, establishing credibility, revising for clarity and purpose, and entering public discussions about the nature of truth, accuracy, and neutrality”(www.ncte.org). Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that provides information on almost any topic. Understanding the various advantages that Wikipedia provides users with, makes it easy to see why so many seek to gain knowledge here. Even though Wikipedia has some drawbacks, students should be able to use Wikipedia because it is a revolutionary way to educate and inform students.
Some may argue, in
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Wikipedia provides users with the basic evidence needed to continue and advance the student’s research. In Darren Crovitz, a professor of English, and W. Scott Smoot’s article, “Wikipedia Friend, Not Foe,” they argue that the site is an “entry point into deeper” and higher level information. Although the material might not be the most advanced, Wikipedia can help the research phase by giving references to other sources throughout the page. This then allows the reader to gain clarity and deepen their understanding about the topic. Crovitz and Smoot go on to write that citations, along with footnotes, “provide contextual commentary” to each article. It is also common for articles to provide a link to an opposing viewpoint allowing students to further recognize different perspectives. Wikipedia’s ability to provide information to be used as a foundation for further research makes it a valuable resource for …show more content…
John Simonite states in his MIT Technology Review article, “The Decline of Wikipedia,” there were about 31,000 active editors in the summer of 2013. Wikipedia has a system governance where volunteers have their own roles: Administrators, Importers, and Oversighters. These roles work together to build Wikipedia into a reliable resource. If Wikipedia has thousands of volunteers editing and reviewing new or updated posts, then Wikipedia can be a credible source. If Wikipedia is a credible source, then students should be allowed to use Wikipedia for research. Therefore, if Wikipedia has thousands of volunteers editing new posts, then students should be able to use Wikipedia. The amount of correct information that most Wikipedia articles contain outweigh the few inaccuracies that may
Sean Kamperman the author of “The Wikipedia Game: Boring, Pointless, or Neither” believes that wikipedia can be helpful with educational learning purposes. Wikipedia is known for plagiarism and fake information. People make Wikipedia have a bad reputation in schools especially in english classes. Wikipedia can be a source of entertainment and self improvement for some people. Some people might just research stuff on Wikipedia to find interesting articles. In “Wikihunt” many Wikipedia users have “discovered” a game of their own, this involves creativity so it brings out the creative qualities of people. Wikipedia is a educational game and it's also free it's convenient for people. The game “Wikihunt” involves two people in separate computers
I, the editor, think that Beau Davis should be arrested for stealing Louie Pardee’s famous guitar. He came to Memphis to try to start a career in music, found a liking to Louie’s guitar, and had to steal it. He put offers to buy the guitar and had to be the one to steal it.
The internet is our conduit for accessing a wide variety of information. In his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr discusses how the use of the internet affects our thought process in being unable to focus on books or longer pieces of writing. The author feels that “someone, or something, has been tinkering with [his] brain” over the past few years (Carr 731). While he was easily able to delve into books and longer articles, Carr noticed a change in his research techniques after starting to use the internet. He found that his “concentration often [started] to drift after two or three pages” and it was a struggle to go back to the text (Carr 732). His assertion is that the neural circuits in his brain have changed as a result of surfing endlessly on the internet doing research. He supports this statement by explaining how his fellow writers have had similar experiences in being unable to maintain their concentrations. In analyzing Carr’s argument, I disagree that the internet is slowly degrading our capacity for deep reading and thinking, thereby making us dumber. The Web and Google, indeed, are making us smarter by allowing us access to information through a rapid exchange of ideas and promoting the creativity and individualization of learning.
Like Gladwell, Nicholas Carr believes the internet has negative effects. In his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Carr attempts to show as the internet becomes our primary source of information, it diminishes the ability to read books and extensive research. Carr goes on to give a very well researched account of how text on the internet is designed make browsing fast and profitable. He describes how the design for skimming affects our thinking skills and attention spans. He wraps up his argument by describing what we are losing in the shift toward using the internet as our main information source. Carr suggests the learning process that occurs in extensive research and through reading is lost. While the learning process can be beneficial to scholars and intellectuals, not everyone has the capability to follow through with it. The internet offers an education that anyone can have access to and understand. Also if Carr believes the learning process is better, this option is always available for people who want to learn according to this scholarly principal. However, for the rest of the population the quick and easy access has allowed the average population to become more educated, and to expose themselves to aspects of academia that previously is reserved for
With the rise of technology and the staggering availability of information, the digital age has come about in full force, and will only grow from here. Any individual with an internet connection has a vast amount of knowledge at his fingertips. As long as one is online, he is mere clicks away from Wikipedia or Google, which allows him to find what he needs to know. Despite this, Nicholas Carr questions whether Google has a positive impact on the way people take in information. In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr explores the internet’s impact on the way people read. He argues that the availability of so much information has diminished the ability to concentrate on reading, referencing stories of literary types who no longer have the capacity to sit down and read a book, as well as his own personal experiences with this issue. The internet presents tons of data at once, and it is Carr’s assumption that our brains will slowly become wired to better receive this information.
...second using the search engine, people lose their motivation to read and the attention to think about the answer. (Crovitz 353) In Plato’s Phaedrus, Greek philosopher Socrates claims that people who get information without proper instruction as ignorant since they only conceit of the answer instead of the wisdom to find out and understand the answer. (Carr 341) With such access to information, we do spread information and expand human knowledge in a rapid rate. However, we lose our creativity, intelligence and the spirit of inquiry.
One of the most widely used technologies is the Internet, or also known as the World Wide Web. “In August 1981 about 200 computers hosted Web servers. By July 1998 there were over 36 million Web servers, that are hosts to approximately 150 million people” (Strauss). The Internet proves to be very beneficial to education, since students have unlimited access to millions of websites with tons of information. There are only so many newspapers, journals and magazines that you can find in libraries or subscribe to. Therefore, the Internet offers an unlimited pile of information that students can always have. Moreover, students are enriched with the most current information in any subject, along with regular updates. Students are able to use the Internet anytime of day, as long as they have a computer at hand. The research process will not have to end when the school day is over (Wissick, 82).
In Is Google Making Us Stupid, Nicholas Carr disputes that due to new digital tools, peoples’ ability to retain and acquire information has been negatively altered. Even though, we have information at our fingertips, we often don’t take the time to soak in all the information. Carr mentions Bruce Friedman, a blogger, who finds it extremely difficult to read a “longish article on the web” and to try to focus on the importance of the text holistically (Carr 316). This is an issue that many can relate even Carr knows that, “ the deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle (Carr 314). Additionally, media theorist Mcluhan describes the net as “chipping away [mental] capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr 315). In essences, Carr states that we are having less of an attention span and consequently, less patience for longer articles (Carr 314). Therefore, this affects media outlets such as magazines, newspapers, and other articles, because they must conform and shorten their texts to fit the status quo that people safely enjoy (Carr 321). In addition, the net forces people to be efficient, and so, causes people to “weaken [their] capacity for deep reading” (Carr 317). People are becoming more driven on how quick he or she has to do something rather than think why this text is important. As a consequence, Carr believes that we are starting to lose our ability to be critical readers and
Steven Pinker states that “search engines lower our intelligence, encouraging us to skim on the surface of knowledge …” (1). Many students are not reading their assigned books anymore. Sparknotes and other web sites such as Shmoop have provided students with resources which are not useful. Students’ skim through these sites to read books. Most of the websites gives students’ plot summaries which are from another person’s take on that book .This damages the student 's’ chances of actually reading and understanding a book and having their own opinion .The more we run to search engines for answers the less we shall learn . Technology has taken the place of many students’ brains which causes them to think they are dumb. This leads to the need of searching for answers online at all
The experiment given by Aronson and Cope tested the attractiveness and punishments given by a person based on their relationship with another person. Forty male and forty female were randomly assigned to get a harsh experimenter and pleasant experimenter, harsh experimenter and harsh supervisor, pleasant experimenter and pleasant supervisor, or pleasant experimenter and harsh supervisor. The people who participated in the experiment thought they were participating in a study on creativity. The college students had to write a creative story on each picture that they were shown. The graduate student, who was the experimenter, always had a negative reaction to their stories but was either considerate about letting them know or was really harsh and rude about informing the students about their not creative stories. Then the experimenter would put his foot on the on the vent in the room and that would signal the supervisor to come interrupt the session to let the experimenter know if they had done a good job or bad job on the research that he had been conducting. This research is ba...
Most of the time the Internet makes learning fun, unlike the plain fashion of the "almighty" textbook. Computers and other technology can also heighten the learning process by actively engaging students in the task of exploring data. Some students may be tempted to simply download information from the Internet that does not have anything to do with a particular subject that they were asked to research. This shows that the Internet may have a greater impact to education than to learn that information from a typical textbook. Since computers and the Internet have expanded the way with which
New books and research studies are posted on the Internet daily for the world to read. In the past, if you were from a poor school or a sheltered community that banded books from school libraries, you may not be able to read some important information. Making the student that had the opportunity to read and learn this new information better educated than a person who did not have the same books on their school library shelves. The author of the article The internet as a classroom explains this fact when she says, "We have arrived at a new moment in history: a moment in which such terms as class, race, gender, sexuality, nationality and ideology are no longer useful" (Hendricks). This statement applies to education because information can be found on any subject on the web.
Computer classrooms provide learning games for the students where their minds are being stimulated by simulations. This provides a visual and a fun way for students to learn and gain knowledge in a new context. Online learning can provide help with learning foreign languages in school. In the article “12 Good and Bad Parts of Online Education” by Mark Thoma which illustrates “International students often have trouble following lectures due to language problems. But with video lectures, they can watch the lectures repeatedly until they understand” (Thoma, paragraph 12). The students are able to listen and read from a technological device. Technology also enables students to access applications where they can learn a new culture and explore the background and history of the language. Google Cultural institute is a website that offers the collection and exhibit from museums and archives all around the world. This allows people to explore the cultures and languages to the dates that were first recorded. Students can stay informed on current events through the use of the internet. Social media for example Facebook and news websites allow for the users to stay informed of current events happening and how it is impacting the people. When students want to learn, they can research any information on the internet where new articles are constantly uploaded. Google Scholar is a website that allows people to access articles that are published by universities, academic sources, and preprint depositories. This ensures everyone is learning from multiple sources with the same evidence. Online education leads to higher student achievement because students are able to search for educational articles at any time of the
The Center for the Digital Future’s 2005 report found that 'among users 17 and older, 56.3 percent consider the Internet to be a very important or extremely important source of information for them' (p. 4). Online resource capabilities save an individual time as well as provide ease of access and availability to a broad scope of materials. Print books and journals, though they provide in–depth information on a particular subject, are not easily accessible and available at any particular moment. In order to access many books, an individual must either visit the local library or contain the book in his or her own private collection, which could be costly. Online resources can be accessed anytime at anyplace. “Overall, there is expanded access to information in a variety of formats from worldwide institutions, businesses, and universities" (Darrow & MacDonald, 2004, p. 22). Access to “worldwide” information puts a broad range of information in the h...
Internet needs to be in the classrooms of schools in the new millennium. If you can’t get on and surf the internet by yourself then you are looked down upon. The internet is the new big thing, it’s technology at it’s best. That’s why we must keep our students in schools educated and updated with it, the internet has endless possibilities. Students would never run out of information for their reports in school, they can either go to the library and look for the information they need and hope that the book they need is not checked out, which could take up to a couple of hours. While on the internet you can find the information in the matter of minutes. Many books are outdated and you would be lucky to check one out if everybody in the class is doing the same report! The internet keeps up with current information coming in every day of the week. I don’t think students abusing their time on the internet is a problem, I think we need teachers or someone to monitor where they are going on the internet. There are programs advisors can download that can block out any material not suitable for students at schools.