Reading online is great. It is fast. It is convenient. It is accessible. There is still, however, a lot of important information that you cannot get from the Web. I am not writing against e-books, even though they too have weaknesses (e.g., . . . Continue reading →
Tech Stuff
More Wikipedia Fraud: More Than 20,000 Scots Wikipedia Articles Written By North Carolina Teen
By Joel Hruska. Wikipedia is, in my opinion, one of the most successful ventures devoted to the dissemination of knowledge on the entire internet. It isn’t perfect — no encyclopedia or institution is — but it has had a profound effect on . . . Continue reading →
Millennial Perfectionism And The Social Media Covenant Of Works
If you are a Millennial, relax. This is not another critique. I do spend a fair bit of time with Millennials, however, and I have observed some interesting trends. One of these observations was reinforced recently in an article by Thomas Curran . . . Continue reading →
Plato On The Pitfalls Of New Technology
Socrates: I heard, then, that at Naucratis, in Egypt, was one of the ancient gods of that country, the one whose sacred bird is called the ibis, and the name of the god himself was Theuth. He it was who invented numbers . . . Continue reading →
Students Do Better To Take Notes By Hand
When people type their notes, they have this tendency to try to take verbatim notes and write down as much of the lecture as they can,” [Pam] Mueller tells NPR’s Rachel Martin. “The students who were taking longhand notes in our studies . . . Continue reading →
Taking Notes By Hand Works Best
Pop quizzes, of course, are not the best measure of learning, which is an iterative and reflective process. Recent Princeton University and University of California studies took this into account while investigating the differences between note-taking on a laptop and note-taking by . . . Continue reading →
Practical Tip From Wiley Internet Veteran: Use BCC
Security is a huge issue for web users. Every web user (this means you—if you’re reading this then you are a web user) should be careful about what information he discloses. You should be careful about telling the world where you are . . . Continue reading →
Get Thee To A Library
Reading online is great. It’s fast. It’s convenient. It’s accessible but there’s still a lot of important information that you can’t get from the web. I’m not writing against e-books, even though they still have weaknesses (e.g., footnotes don’t work and reading . . . Continue reading →
Distraction Lowers Grades
Distraction is a problem. It’s only anecdotal evidence but I’m seeing more distracted drivers. Their heads drop while they check their phones at the stop light. The light changes and they don’t move. No one honks because everyone else is checking their . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours Season 5: One Voice In Each Ear Or Not?
Over the years we have recorded Office Hours episodes in different ways. For the last two seasons we’ve experimented by using a technique that was used in the early 70s, putting one voice predominantly in one speaker and another voice predominantly in . . . Continue reading →
The Cult of Wikipedia
Over at more than 95 theses they have been discussing Wikipedia. We’ve all been given reasons not to trust WP, most notably the so-called “vanity edits” made by staffers on capital hill.I’ve been troubled by the entries on covenant theology and most . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: What Is The Future Of The Book?
Office Hours talks with our new Library Director, James Lund. This is James’ second stint at WSC. He was Library Director from 2001–05. He took a couple of public library positions in Minnesota but now he’s back home at WSC. In this . . . Continue reading →
A Year Without The Internet
Paul Miller writes: I was wrong. One year ago I left the internet. I thought it was making me unproductive. I thought it lacked meaning. I thought it was “corrupting my soul.” It’s a been a year now since I “surfed the . . . Continue reading →
Computers in the Classroom (Part 4)
This is been a thread on the HB since 2007. Since that time enthusiasm for technology in classroom (“teach-nology”?) seems only to have grown. I have had opportunity re-consider my concerns but those concerns haven’t dissipated. Since I began encouraging students to . . . Continue reading →
Is Wikipedia Becoming a Fence for Stolen Goods?
A scholar of Buddhism has written a post complaining about theft from edited, academic sites. He says that intellectual property is being stolen and it’s being fenced by Wikipedia. Actually Related Posts About Wikipedia: The Cult of Wikipedia Is Wikipedia Collapsing in . . . Continue reading →
Free E-Books from B&N
I’m not a big fan of e-books but perhaps for traveling or for other specialized purposes they might be useful. WSC interim librarian John Bales shared this link with me.
The Web is Bandit Country
Says Carl at Ref21.
Student Hoaxes "Reputable" Media Outlets Via Wikipedia
He made up a quotation, attributed it to a recently deceased composer, and it made several reputable papers. (HT: WSC student Solomon Li).
All Hail the Information Triumvirate?
I’ve commented before about the danger of the rising importance of and reliance upon Wikipedia as a reference. Nicholas Carr paints an even darker picture concerning the confluence of three factors, including WP (HT: Tim Lacy).
When People Are Too Much
Jay Adams on the tyranny of email.