Reading Notes 4/3/2007

"We Can't Ignore the Influence of Digital Technologies" -Cathy Davidson

• I think banning Wiki would be taking a step to far


• Davidson realizes the media exaggerated the real story, and after doing some research, she realizes that Middlebury College's history department's policy is that not only is Wiki not to be cited in paper, but the same goes for Encyclopaedia Britannica.


• I can understand that professors would want students to site scholarly source; however, it is important to note that those sources also have the possibility of containing errors.


• Davidson describes exactly what Alan mentioned in class about Wiki being a "collaborative, digital environment."


• I like the fact the Wiki's errors can be corrected quickly; however it is still somewhat of a Catch 22. If you are researching on Wiki come across and article that contains incorrect information that has not been corrected yet, you're out of luck.


• Davidson mentions other characteristics of Wiki: unites anonymous readers, is overall devoted to a common good, and deals with intellect, a community of lifelong learners


• "Why not make studying what it does and does not do part of research-and-methods?" -I agree


• In Davidson's Pokemon/Dinosaur analogy, I cannot see how knowing 500 Pokemon characters is equivalent to being able to name 500 dinosaurs. (What am I missing here?--possibly a different example would better explain a child's ability to memorize useful information)


• John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media seems to be working on some great research initiatives; anything to inspire children in schools is great!


• HASTAC- a site "sponsored by the Institute for the Future of the Book, a group dedicated to investigating how intellectual discourse changes as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens."


• Davidson goes back to Wiki and discuss how it may be a great resources, just as we discussed in class: "A quick and easy reference before heading into more-scholarly depths."


• It Wiki can be a great starting point.


• I think Davidson sums it all when she says, "Why rush to ban the single most impressive collaborative intellectual tool produced at least since the Oxford English Dictionary. [!!!]

Remediation, Genre, and Motivation blog coming soon!