Make me think, please!
When watching the scary republican CNN/YouTube debate, one thing that struck me was the absence of the No Child Left Behind question. When I watched the submissions, this question was a POPULAR one – my favorite representation being from a boy scout asking that his school make him think. Hmmm, make me think. If I begin to think and read and write critically, then it will be harder to control me through fear. (think back to the stories of lurking bad guys online ready to jump on your child the first time he or she dares to put an electronic big toe into cyberspace) So when I saw the debate on Kairo News, Banning Wikipedia at school: good idea or missed opportunity?, I had to shake my head and sigh (not at kairo, but at the school). Ok, yes. Wikipedia is not always accurate. Information changes, and it has even been used in textual warfare between different warring groups and belief systems. BUT is this not the perfect tool to teach critical thinking and critical reading? And what about looking at the archived changes to map arguments between these warring groups? Would this not be an interesting way to define their belief systems in a much more authentic way then ‘turn to page 325 in your history books and begin reading’. What a valuable tool!
And for all of those who agree that this is self-evident – please, collectively raise your hands and sigh with me. 1-2-3. Sigh. Thank you.
Cathy said:
Hand raised, sigh sighed :)
Love the new look!
Nicklas said:
About Wikipedia.. I reas the wikipedia article on dialogism while writing my C-essay two years ago and saw this (the last couple of lines of the article) which I though was kind of though-provoking: “Wikipedia in this light becomes an intensely dialogic phenomenon, doing away with the idea of knowledge as emanating from single, authoritative, closed (what Bakhtin would call ‘monologic’) sources and instead embracing the idea of knowledge as collective, relational and dynamic.”
(Also: I did not get to thank you for making the delicious vegan cake, so, thanks!)