Hi Global Teachers!
Here is a site with podcasts from the recent seminar in Melbourne with Jimmy Wales (creator of Wikipedia):
http://www.educationau.edu.au/jahia/Jahia/pid/439
I was lucky enough to attend the seminar, and the point that stuck in my head for days later is contained within this 4-minute podcast snippet(http://media.educationau.edu.au/JW-Melb-P10.mp3). It’s really worth a listen!
Jimmy uses the analogy of opening a restaurant to explain the way that we often use gatekeeping strategies to make online interaction ‘safe enough’… but end up creating a top-down authoritative and untrusting online environment. His philosophy (evident in wikipedia) is that instead, we need to create an environment which assumes that the vast majority of people are going to do the right thing. He also talks about how the disrespect and other bad behaviour displayed by some users in online interactivity, is a social issue, not an issue with technology.
It’s not quite the same without the visuals, but the points he makes are excellent! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. These arguments may come in handy when you encounter scare tactics opposing your enthusiasm for integrating wikis and blogs into your schools.
Krystie Alleaume, Wodonga Primary School
My experience affirms that the majority of people do the right thing when they come online. I have had no bad experiences at the forums on the Soul Food Cafe, possibly because it is a very public forum and people know that they can be traced if they behave in an anti social way. When talking to teachers I always stress the need to apply normal class room management techniques in this environment.