[Air-L] in defense of wiki vandalism....

[joana ro]

I know I'm late to this great thread, but here's a thought that occurred to
me while I was planning my classes using a wiki and thinking about how much
collaboration I could ask of the students:

In what kind of environment are the students learning collaborative online
writing? The University is, after all, a very competitive place (on a number
of levels: in-class performance, popularity, and the post-graduation job
market looming).

So, basically, if everybody is looking out for their grade and doing so
because they are scared they wont find a job, will they be able to
collaborate in this kind of environment? Might we need to rethink
collaboration in the terms of 'team work' in offices? Or, can we create an
atmosphere in class which somehow replicates the spirit of the unprofitable
but rewarding work on the wikipedia?

Johanna Roering
University of Tübingen

On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 3:54 AM, Jennifer Stromer-Galley <
jstromer at albany.edu> wrote:

> I think you raise a good point, Margie, about vandalism -- why not test
> boundaries? It just hadn't occurred to me that they would, given the
> very public nature of Wikipedia. But, alas, what would Cartman do? I
> need to keep that in mind . . . .
>
> Just to be clear, though, I didn't require my students to actually edit
> Wikipedia, because I agree with you. The last thing I want to do is
> subject the Wikipedia editors to my students who have neither the
> knowledge base, skills, or interest to edit particular pages. Now, I
> grant there are exceptions (some of my students have remarkable popular
> culture knowledge and good writing skills), but for the most part, they
> anyway aren't all that inclined to contribute to the collective wisdom
> exhibited in Wikipedia.
>
> I should note that my students are creating a wiki on "Web 2.0" for the
> end of class, but on PB Wiki, and mostly as an exercise to expose them
> to online, collaborative writing.
>
> ~Jenny
>
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Communication, SS 340
> University at Albany, SUNY
> Albany, NY 12222
> 518-442-4873
> jstromer at albany.edu
> http://www.albany.edu/~jstromer <http://www.albany.edu/%7Ejstromer>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
> > [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Margie Borschke
> > Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 6:10 PM
> > To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> > Subject: [Air-L] in defense of wiki vandalism....
> >
> > It strikes me as almost appropriate that students who are
> > required to edit a Wikipedia entry as part of a class, ended
> > up vandalizing pages. I think you could argue that it is a
> > valid response to being forced into public participation,
> > particularly in the context of a self-organising community
> > where all the other participants are self selected.  If you'd
> > not  edited Wikipedia before,  wouldn't boundaries be the
> > first thing you'd want to test?  What would Cartman do?
> > I assure you he's not going to try the sandbox first.
> >
> > I think a lot of  students would also 'get' that in addition
> > to being a knowledge resource, wikipedia is also a kind of
> > game, something former Wikipedia editor  Brion Vibber pointed
> > out in Nicholson Baker's NY Review of Books article, The
> > Charms of Wikipedia.
> >
> > While there are clearly good pedagogical uses of Wikipedia,
> > required editing makes me uneasy. It's not so great for
> > students to have to learn in public and not so great for the
> > people participating to have a group of students descend upon
> > them either.
> >
> > --Margie Borschke
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