"Even if we see young people as acquiring some of these skills on their own, outside of formal educational institutions, there’s still a strong role for adults to play in insuring that young people develop a critical vocabulary for thinking about the place of media in their lives and engage in meaningful reflection about the ethical choices they make as media producers and participants in online communities."
Response:
It is very important that young people are taught how to use technology in a resourceful and smart way. Internet is an amazing tool that can help in uncountable ways, but if misused, that damage is permanent. Wikipedia is a useful tool for learning about a topic or getting general knowledge about something. I would never recommend citing it, though. Teachers shouldn't make their students scared to use it though! It shouldn't be something that they quote in a research paper, or use as a reference. But, if they don't understand the topic or a time period, Wikipedia can certainly be helpful just the way sets of Encyclopedias are helpful. The references at the bottom of Wikipedia's articles are also (most likely) from sources that a student can utilize for his/her paper or research. It's a new generation and quite a change with how rapidly technology has advanced. But, we have to adapt. There's no turning back now!
Just thought this was comical; it shows how it can is available to anyone and EVERYONE is an expert.
Sources:
Jenkins
, H. (2007). What wikipedia can teach us about the new media literacies (part one).
LOL! Great comic!
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