1. Wisdom of the crowd
Sophie van de Kerkhof
It’s interesting to know that a group of people together know more than a single person. This
is called the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ and there exist a lot of examples where this theory can be
seen and proven.
Lets think of Wikipedia. The basic idea behind Wikipedia is that everyone can
contribute to this online encyclopaedia and everyone can edit the current information. This is
an example of ‘user generated content’. By contributing to Wikipedia we are creating
collective intelligence. Creating collective intelligence is especially made possible by the rise
of networks on the internet and specifically by web 2.0. Pierre Levy wrote about this topic in
1997, saying: ‘networks promote the construction of intelligent communication in which our
social and cognitive potential can be mutually developed and enhanced’ (Lister et al, 2009:
206). Nowadays almost every student will or has used Wikipedia. But using Wikipedia or
blogs for academic use is not done. Wikipedia is seen as an unreliable and not ‘trustworthy
enough’ (Lister et al, 2009: 206). The people who edit the information on Wikipedia are non-
paid volunteers and might therefore not be reliable.
But doesn’t the theory about the wisdom of the crowd implement that a group of
people (everyone with access to Wikipedia) will always know more than a single person? So
the more people contributing to Wikipedia (and the more people editing) the trustworthier it
will become.
Students are already very good at collecting information from different sources about a topic,
in this way they are using the knowledge of a group of people to base their opinion or actions
on. They are looking for the best outcome by combining opinions and knowledge from
others.
One of the other benefits of user generated content, such as Wikipedia, is the
transparency of the knowledge produced. The process of creation of a current Wiki page is
traceable if you’re a registered user. Lister argues that ‘the wiki process offers knowledge
that is part of an ongoing conversation’ (Lister et al, 2009: 207).
Steve Wheeler, a professor from the Faculty of Education at the University of
Plymouth, has a blog were he writes about e-learning related topics. In one of his posts he
talks about a presentation he gave about Virtual Learning Environments. During his
presentation he used a quote from Ivan Illich, whose ideas he supports. Illich stated back in
the 1970’s that schools were to impersonal and industrialised and he came with the idea ‘to
establish learning webs where everyone could share their expertise with their communities
and learn from each other as the need arose’ (Wheeler, 2009). This can be seen as a
predecessor of internet-based communities such as Wikipedia, blogs and forums. It
stimulates informal learning by exchanging information with other students and experts. By
revising and adding information you learn new things yourself and also contribute to the
education of others (collective intelligence).
These forms of user generated content can be very useful to students and I think it’s
about time for schools and teachers to acknowledge the value of these sources. They
immediately tend to judge these sources as unreliable but because of the big amount of
users and editors the content might become more and more useful and reliable.
Literature:
- Lister, M., J. Dovey, S. Giddings, I. Grant & K. Kelly (2009) New Media. A critical
introduction. Second Edition. London: Routledge.
- Wheeler, S. 2009. Blog about learning technology. http://steve-
wheeler.blogspot.com/. Geraadpleegd 3 december 2009.