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Professional and Community Applications of ICT in Education (ICICTE 2009)
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Introduction
Over the last few years the use of Web 2.0+social networking applications such as wikis and blogs as well as services such as Flickr, Twitter, Wikipedia, Facebook and YouTube, to name but a few, have take the internet by storm. Web 2.0, a digital platform in which the social and participatory construction of knowledge is paramount, represents a paradigm shift in the way peoples around the globe create and share knowledge and experiences. Not surprisingly the literature also indicates that web-savvy academics and faculty see social networking media as the new wave in technology-enhanced learning and teaching, or TELT ([2] Allen, 1999; [3] Anderson, 2007; [9] Chowcat et al. , 2008; [11] Eijkman, 2008, [12] 2010). Emerging evidence shows academics using Wikipedia in support of innovation in learning and research (see, for example, [1] Alexander, 2006; [8] Child, 2007; [19] Kamel-Boulos and Wheeler, 2007; [29] Selwyn, 2008). However, while some academics experiment with blogs and wikis, one application remains the target of much derision: Wikipedia - the iconic and public face of Web 2.0+and its more open, less hierarchical approach to collaborative knowledge construction (see, for example, [25] Manion-Fischer, 2007; [34] Waters, 2007; [5] Baker, 2008).
The literature and anecdotal evidence gleaned from casual conversations with academics seems to suggest that the popular mood about the student use of Wikipedia is one of scepticism if not outright opposition (see [27] Parry, 2008). Invariably the claim is that the sources and accuracy of its information are uncertain and are therefore of doubtful value if not totally unsuitable for scholarly research. Citing its open "review" processes and absence of "proper" academic scrutiny, academics write off Wikipedia as the representative of the "cult of the amateur" ([20] Keen, 2007). Consequently the use of Wikipedia as a research tool by students in undergraduate education is a divisive hot topic. Wikipedia seems to be the site students love to use and academics love to hate ([34] Waters, 2007). Anecdotal evidence suggests many if not most academics believe that students' use of Wikipedia, and by extension similar Web 2.0+collaborative writing applications, increases the difficulty of "finding the Truth in a Web of Deceit" ([24] Magnus, 2001).
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