I was so pissed off. Not because I though this was a bad idea, but because Star Wars was going to be one of potential “texts”. I would have been looking at straight A’s all the way, and some study that I might actually enjoy.
I’m having a similar moment here now. According to the SMH, as of next year, HSC students will be able to study Wikipedia. It will be one of the possible “texts” in an elective known as “The Global Village”, which studies how global communities interact with eachother.
The aim of the course is not only to study the dynamic nature of the online encyclopedia, but also to give students a greater understanding of the potential for misinformation on the web.
It’s a great step forward in legitimising the online medium as a respectable source of information. The next step, hopefully, will be adding Gizmodo to the curriculum, with lively debates on why we’re fantastic replacing all religious education classes. Well, we can dream, can’t we?
But I wonder how long it will be before the entire course ends up on Wikipedia itself, along with tests and test answers? When that happens, it will be the official point where the argument over Wikipedia’s legitimacy ends.
[SMH]