Open education resources, especially those such as Wikipedia and YouTube (which rank high in Google search results), are being used more and more often, not only by students, but also by educators. As both a Wikipedia and YouTube contributor, I have mixed opinions. Even though the quality of the resources is increasing in many areas, finding the good articles/videos is still a skill in itself and requires good judgement. Will students lose faith in their lecturer or school, if these people rely heavily on Wikipedia, YouTube or similar web sites? Or will students become more actively engaged in their own learning, as a result of these resources? What advice can we give other teachers, or our students in regards to these resources? For example, check at the references at the end of the Wikipedia article rather than just reading the article, look at the statistics and likes of the YouTube video in question, see who created it, research the presenter or company, and any others? How can we make sure that students will use sufficient critical thinking in using publicly edited open resources? What is the limit, in terms of how far schools or teachers should go? Does it also depend on which subject we are teaching? What are your experiences or opinions?
I agree that students should not cite Wikipedia (or do so very rarely). The information in Wikipedia can also change. So they need to be careful. Under APA, they can just do an in-text passing reference inside parentheses. Wikipedia can be a useful reference for general knowledge such as history, geography, popular culture, etc. For specialized knowledge, they should be able to search and find the same information in another resource such as an article, book, or website. I think Wikipedia can be a nice place for students to start understanding a brand new topic they do not know much about. Once they get the general idea, they can go to better and deeper resources. Thanks Miranda.
You are asking a good and important questons - my answer is rather simple:YES we should
Why? The World Wide Web is part of our daily life and already today it is the greatest informaion resource of mankind. Children have to learn how they should use it and we have to teach how the could find relevant resources? So in a long run teachers are much more facilitators to get learners comftorable about finding good and relevang learning content.
From my point of view it doesn't matter if anyone is learning anything with a video, a book, an audio - he/she should do how he/she like it most - so the idea to learn one thing in different way, the idea the learning can become individually is strongly needing one thing: a huge amount of resources - and that's the Web
@Emre, I think we must use the resources that we have now. So I encourage my students to check Wikipedia, and go on to read scholarly articles. To what extent? They must not cite Wikipedia, only cite books and journals.
I check out the Youtube videos because I use musical mnemonics to help students remember biological pathways, but I make my own songs. I don't copy or plagiarize Youtube. I believe my simple songs are better to facilitate recall; so do my students!
Data The Calvin Cycle (video recording)
I agree that students should not cite Wikipedia (or do so very rarely). The information in Wikipedia can also change. So they need to be careful. Under APA, they can just do an in-text passing reference inside parentheses. Wikipedia can be a useful reference for general knowledge such as history, geography, popular culture, etc. For specialized knowledge, they should be able to search and find the same information in another resource such as an article, book, or website. I think Wikipedia can be a nice place for students to start understanding a brand new topic they do not know much about. Once they get the general idea, they can go to better and deeper resources. Thanks Miranda.
Some teachers have already started using YouTube, Wikipedia, and other publicly edited resources in their teaching. I encourage using these publicity resources for teaching purposes.
There is a difference between educators pointing to certain You Tube and Wikipedia resources and students finding them for themselves. Personally, I do not point students to Wikipedia very often, but I may find a You Tube resource that I think might reinforce a point I want to make, or give a perspective I could not possibly give in a lecture or seminar. I then include it in follow-up material. Do I want them to cite it in assessments? Again, it depends on what they want to say and how they use it. I find myself saying similar things on RG. What is your pedagogical goal or problem, as a teacher? What do you want to say as a student? How do I use the resources available?
My comments on use of YouTube, Wikipedia, and other publicly edited resources in our teaching:
Wiki and youtube are good resources in gaining initial information, but not to rely on them only. What I do, I tell my students to see/read Wiki or youtube to get initial understanding of the problem/issue, but not to cite Wiki or youtube but to check other academic references (such as text books or refereed journals) to consolidate your understanding what you gained from wiki or youtube.
I agree Pahlaj, when the aims are to guide students towards high level academic understanding and to be able to produce high level academic work that these are resources to help, but not to cite and that students should move on from them . I guess those are often the aims at University level, but even here not always. My own students are a mix of those who wan to go on in academia and those who have no intention of doing so, or of doing the assignments for my course. I have to find a balance and You Tube resources often help me to do that. Nor do they, as Emre asks in his question, seem to lead to disrespect. I assume that is because they are chosen carefully by myself.
Also, we might need to consider different educational levels - schools as well as universities, for example. Again, what are your teaching aims/ pedagogical problem you are dealing with and do the resources available help? As so often in education, there is no one answer fits all. Discussions like this are interesting because we see how others use the resources - e.g. Miranda above - and maybe get ideas for ourselves that we had not thought about.
I strongly agree with Colin and others on positive aspects of using Wikipedia as starting point - especially with Colin's suggestion to aim different educational ways on different educational levels.
There are, at least, one more powerful step in educational tools - to support and maintain students on editing articles on Wikipedia, or preparing other educational resources. This task can be individual or collective (for example, approved at the end by the teacher). After all, the highest level of competence, is to teach others and take responsibility for their own actions.
Dear Emre, the embedded post provides some 'psychological speculation' about why professors may resist using Wikipedia. The author posits that people who have the privilege of a higher education, have a moral obligation to contribute to Wikipedia. Interesting thoughts!
http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/149337/
Dear colleagues, please find a compilation of a few links/articles that I believe may add to the discussion. Two of them focus on the use of YouTube in teaching, while the remaining links include information about additional tools when using YouTube for educational purposes. I was wondering whether someone has first-hand experience about a freely available, easily used tool for removing advertisements from YouTube videos intended for educational purposes (in addition to one of the tool discussed in the final link).
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/10/what-can-teachers-learn-from-youtube/381887/
http://www.teachthought.com/technology/teaching-with-video-9-tips-teaching-youtube/
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/01/blubbr-create-interactive-quizzes-using.html#.VGY9LWfgJCq
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/04/videonotes-great-tool-for-taking-notes.html#.VGY9dGfgJCq
http://download.cnet.com/Block-YouTube-Ads/3000-7786_4-75742538.html
Hi Leona
Thanks for sharing these interesting links. There are ways to try to watch YouTube videos without the ads. The one you mentioned is an example of the many plugins available that a user can install on their machine. This may not suit everyone, and the second approach (using the developer console on the browser) is even more technical. The solutions I would suggest may be simpler (if the user is familiar with copy and paste): using sites that replay YouTube videos with fewer adds and other clutter. viewpure.com is an example; just copy the URL (web address) of the YouTube video that you would like to watch without clutter, and then paste it into the form on viewpure.com and play it. Another replay site I like is yourepeat.com It does not get rid of all the clutter but tends to have fewer ads. Its point is to continuously replay a video. This is good for songs or short clips that the user may be interesting in hearing many times (for any given reason). if you end up liking these sites, then in the future, you can share videos with people through the replay links instead of YouTube. Some examples are below. Again, thank you very much for the interesting answers you have shared with everyone here!
Emre
Dr. E
http://viewpure.com/iYtbvh-5jGg
http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=iYtbvh-5jGg
Self evident truths can be taught youtube and other open source media. But if the content is about a controversial issue, then it needs a reliable source supported by a well established theory.
For me, sometimes, I learn from You Tube when I want to know about how to install new software, how to apply the simulation tool, in perhaps, some lessons.
Also, when I want to know certain information, I find these on the Wikipedia.
Thank you!
Wikipedia is a popular and democratic online "encyclopedia" where each of us can contribute some knowledge as experts on a topic, within a document under construction or with additional information to update a certain monograph. It is a useful secondary documentary source and that in its bibliography, it offers the primary documentary sources. It is accessible in several languages.
On the other hand YouTube and other web sources can be auxiliary support for learning, as it provides multimedia information; For example, the do-it-yourself tutorials are very orientative for various subject-based practices.
Use them as information sources. Require the students to look at the references and find the original source, which is always required in research.
There are some good materials at these sites we can utilize in our teaching. Yet, an instructor must use his or her expert discretion in their selection and inclusion in the delivery of the teaching and learning processes.
Yes Indeed it is necessity of life now use such Web Platforms daily. Regards
I am in favor of using YouTube, Wikipedia, and similar publicly edited resources in teaching. However, we also need to choose the content from such resources carefully as well.
In fact, instructors can decide what sources to use and what not to use. They can make use of any helpful resources. Of course, they can edit and customize them according to their needs and contexts.
Yes with caution not to compromise on nature of evidence and burden of proof. New methods are productive and helpful in memory.
From my middle school years one of the most lasting memories is of a history book written and illustrated like a comic book but with factual presentation.
The teacher is always challenged to find more effective methods. Internet gives everyone the access to educational materials that were previously available to a privileged few and that privileged access was greatly limited in scope. Speed is gained in searching and extent of access is enormous.
In each case the original source of information should be found before it is used in a composition.
Yes, but in an orderly manner within a legal framework and the best experience in the MOOC's systems
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