Judging the Value of Expertise on the Web ...
I highly value expertise on the web as long as it appears to be from a reliable source. I do not value face-to-face any differently in fact, unless I know the person personally. So to me, to hear anything online vs. face-to-face, it all just depends - on how I know the credibility of the source or the face-to-face person personally or professionally.
Also, if a source has been recommended by a colleague or educational professional or classmate, then I tend to trust those sources without question.
Barb,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, though my answer was a bit different before I took this course. I was much more skeptical of online sources like Wikipedia before Web 2.0. But I agree with you that face to face or online it really is based on the source!
I encourage skepticism in all contexts. Indeed, we use crappy (but peer-reviewed and published -- supposed markers of quality) journal articles for one of our doctoral exams (students read and critique it). Just because it's peer-reviewed and officially published doesn't always make it good :-(
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