For Judith Miller.....
Jim's comment and reference to the Google article in Wired reminded me that sometime ago I had blogged this link to another of John Udell's informative posts on infoworld regarding the social construction of knowledge.
The connection between the two - for me - is this paradigm shift that we are currently swimming through regarding how knowledge is not only constructed - but shared and "owned." I see this quite often at school. Those who can't seem to understand (or worse yet, dismiss) how quickly information is gotten, sifted through and globally moved around the internet cannot begin to discuss or envision the implications on (not only) teaching - but, more importantly, how people learn and think as they come to any given curricular content.
We have been hammering away about how literacy and knowledge are social constructs - and Udell is right on the mark in highlighting Wikipedia as a moment to observe this happening. Granted, it is among a fairly elite group of folks - but it is young.
I am idealistic enough to hope for new ways of "owning" or "not owning" ideas. One that is in keeping with Lawrence Lessig's thinking regarding freedom of expression:
The freedom to comment on, critique and reference other peoples words, thoughts and ideas has enabled traditional broadcast democracy where journalists, commentators and critics analyses the world we live in. Such freedom should not be taken for granted. As a "bottom up" model of democracy emerges anyone with access to a computer can express and share their views through media remixing. While a future where bloggers becomes the new broadcasters offers exciting possibilities it also poses new challenges and risks. Currently, under the existing "opt in" based copyright regime the sharing of remixed media is illegal without consent from the copyright owner - a restriction which threatens free expression.
If you haven't seen Lessig's webcast on rethinking copyright, go immediately to itconversations and watch it.
In closing - back to Udell and social constructions:
"Some knowledge is purely factual, but much is socially constructed and therefore inevitably prone to bias and dispute. Wikipedia's greatest innovation is arguably the framework it provides to mediate the social construction of knowledge, advocate for neutrality, accommodate dispute, and offer a path to its negotiated resolution. For this Jimbo Wales deserves -- and I hope will one day receive -- a Nobel Prize."
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