I’ve written and talked about how Web 2.0 is leveling the digital playing field and democratizing the Internet. But who knew we were talking about a revolution.
Apparently over at Digg.com, information was posted about a decryption key for HD DVDs. Digg.com was then asked to remove the post, which it did. Instead of the situation ending there, it exploded. Users posted numerous items with the deleted content and overran the main Digg page. Finally, the owners capitulated and decided to not delete the new posts.
If you are not familiar with Digg.com, it is a site that allows you to bookmark some sort of media. Then if others like that media, they can Digg it or Bury it. Those with the most Diggs, end up on the front page. Here is their description:
Digg is a digital media democracy. As a user, you participate in determining all site content by discovering, selecting, sharing, and discussing the news, videos, and podcasts that appeal to you.
The populist in me thinks it is pretty cool. However, as an educator, this lose of control is certainly something to be wary of, while I believe strongly in giving students control. That controls comes within instructor-set educational boundaries. I could imagine a poor teacher being digitally over run by hoards of students. That’s one way to make we never increase our technology funding. Nothing like a little fearmongering.
Scary or cool? You decide.
(Taken from Techcrunch)
[tags]techcrunch,digg,web2.0,education[/tags]
danmcdowell.net 
I was excited when I heard about this story. It’s democracy in action. The Digg readers made a decision that this story was important, and they acted to make sure that information was spread.
As a fellow history teacher, I can sympathize with Dan about the worrisome prospect of hundreds of students digitally voting in a way that undermines the teacher, but I also think seeing students take that sort of iniative would be empowering. This is similar Paulo Friere’s vision of true teaching in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. As the teacher, I can’t force feed my students my vision of how things are supposed to be understood and expect them to grow as a result. They need to internalize the classroom lesson and choose what they want to do with it.
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