Writing Wikipedia Pages in 9-12 Classroom

After editing Wikipedia pages with grad colleagues in Cathy Davidson's American Novel course at Duke andsimultaneously student teaching in Durham Public Schools, I've combinedthe two in this paper for the AACE-EDMEDIA conference.

Abstract:

In response to current anxieties over students? ability tocritically evaluate internet-based sources, we propose a secondarycurriculum that uses Wikipedia as a platform to pose questions aboutinformation verifiability, ethical use of technology, and thedemocratic role of internet-users. We argue that the examination ofWikipedia provides a developmentally relevant approach to guidingadolescents into higher levels of thinking. The proposed project,appropriate for any discipline, but here concerned with high schoolEnglish, develops traditional research and editing skills andculminates in a contribution to public knowledge through writing andediting underdeveloped Wikipedia pages (stubs). Methods for projectimplementation, including suggestions for scaffolding anddifferentiating learner tasks, are included.

Read the rest of it on my blog, Rebellious Reader.

Alexa Garvoille