"Wiliality"

“Mrs. Heaton, does 4 + 8 = 12?” unknown student.  “It does today” is my response most of the time.  My students look at me like I’m crazy (I’m used to that) and then they ask doesn’t it always equal 12?  I simply say it will equal 12 until someone proves otherwise.  Our entire conversation takes less than two minutes, but it brings up a profound idea; truth.

After watching the video clip, “Wikiality” (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality), I began to think about the impact websites like Wikipedia have on our society.  If anyone can logon and post anything they wish, then how do we determine if their claims are real and valid?  What place does this type of information serve the learning community?  I decided to create an account and find out if editing an entry on Wikipedia would go unnoticed. 

 I picked a small town’s library as my victim.  Lithia Springs no longer has a library named Betty C. Hagler Public Library; it is now named Beatrice C. Hagler Public Library.  Why would I do such a thing, to change the name of a place where truth and knowledge is supposed to be sacred?  Ah now that’s ironyJ  I thought for sure someone would notice this difference especially since I know how proud Lithia Springs, Ga was when they renamed the library after Betty Hagler.  I happen to know Mrs. Hagler first hand; she is my best friend’s grandmother.  I still recall how proud everyone was of Mrs. Hagler’s achievements and her dedication to the Public Library in Lithia Springs, Ga. If she knew of my devious action, she would be more that displeased.  In fact I feel remorseful for changing the information; I am changing it back tonight. 

Well needless to say, it is day 4 and they still have not corrected my edit.  I told my coworkers about my assignment and they told me that they have heard of students that have contests to see who can edit the most information without having their edits changed.  In fact our county has banned Wikipedia access from our computers at school.  But does that mean that I think all websites are unreliable?  Of course not.  I mean the idea of having a math text book online for students to use whenever they need access sounds wonderful.  I am encouraged by the article, “$200 Textbook vs. Free. You Do the Math.”  (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/technology/01ping.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general) and the efforts Scott McNealy is taking to make resources easily and affordably accessible to all users.  However, I feel strongly that published text books provide security to their readers.  The students and teachers can trust that the sources are correct and have been verified.  Wikipedia cannot provide such assurances.  Now, do I think that text books hold nothing but truths? No.  Truth is up to perception.  I think Colbert‘s concept of a democratic encyclopedia is intriguing.  I often think about how we know what truths are actual truths and which are actually false.  There was a time when we believed the world was flat, imaginary numbers did not exist and even Pluto was a planet.  As time marches on, so does the history of mankind:  a history that is ever changing depending on the accepted truths at the time.

Plagiarism

I found it ethically difficult to cut and paste from other people’s works and pass them off as my own, however; it was very easy to cut and paste from the internet.  I completed this assignment in less than 30 minutes and did not really have to think too much about it.  My safe assign score was an 84%, so it was very close to the 90% I plagiarized.  All I did was add 90 words to my 1,000 word essay.  I pulled my content from four sources and just cut and pasted their content. 

I believe students do not share the same ethical dilemma that I did, in fact they seldom care if the answers they give are even correct.  I teach high school mathematics and I have seen a lot of different types of cheating.  Perhaps the worst case I ever saw was when over half the class wrote on their papers that 11 * 7 = 4.  They didn’t even stop to think about the sentence they wrote down, nor did they care if it was correct.  When I approached the students about their apparent cheating, they did not even seem bothered by their indiscretion.  I find it troubling to say the least that students are so apathetic to cheating.  Of course, I can put some safe guards in place to catch students in the act of cheating, but this does not address the fact that they find it acceptable to copy work from other students.  I have tried to address the issue from a different approach.  I discuss with my students why taking something without permission is wrong.  I give them all candy and have three to four students walk around the room taking everyone else’s candy without asking for permission to take their candy.  The students become very hostile.  They do not like having their candy taken without their approval, I correlate this scenario to someone stealing another person’s work.  This usually sends the message home.  We then talk about ways to make sure our work is our own.  I try to establish a classroom environment that centers on learning, not answers.  I have found that if we focus on learning, then students are more receptive to helping each other learn how to arrive at a solution.  In my class it is not enough to provide an answer; you must also be able to explain your reasoning.

Even though I focus my instruction on learning, I still see cheating.  Students have a wealth of knowledge right at their fingertips and find it easy to cut and paste.  I didn’t realize how easy it was to cheat until completing this assignment.  I believe it is our job to find a way to encourage students to not just cut and paste; we have to make them think for themselves and give credit when credit is due.  The idea of documenting someone else’s ideas and works must be made to “stick” in their brains (Inspired by: “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Chip Heath (Author) and Dan Heath (Author).)

Beginning my master's degree!

I am so excited to get started on my master's degree.  I have been a mathematics teacher for the past 8 years at Douglas County High School in Douglasville, Ga.  I love being an educator and I am looking forward to learning new ways to include and utilize technology in my classroom.