Wikitravel:10 February 2005

From Wikitravel

[edit] Wikitravel High

Has something been published about Wikitravel somewhere where it would mainly be read by sort-of average High School (Secondary) students in North America? We seem to have an influx of them as anon IP users mainly doing what looks like experimental vandalism. Here are some WHOIS records to bear out the idea:

 $ whois 205.196.188.100
 PHONOSCOPE PHONOSCOPE-NET-01 (NET-205-196-176-0-1)
                                 205.196.176.0 - 205.196.191.255
 Katy Independent School District KATYISD-01 (NET-205-196-188-0-1)
                                 205.196.188.0 - 205.196.188.255

 # ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-02-09 19:10
 # Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

 $ whois 24.104.22.1
 BLAZENET BLAZENET-1 (NET-24-104-0-0-1)
                                 24.104.0.0 - 24.104.159.255
 YORKSURBURBAN-HIGH-BN BLCA-22 (NET-24-104-22-0-1)
                                 24.104.22.0 - 24.104.22.255

 # ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-02-09 19:10
 # Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

So I'm just wondering if this is a co-incidence, or what? -- Mark 11:26, 10 Feb 2005 (EST)

So, that's pretty interesting. Probably just a coincidence, but I'd think that high-schoolers would have a lot to contribute about their hometowns. It'd be a good assignment for teachers to give. I know that User:Ted has been doing some work with his students for English acquisition. I wonder if we should start a expedition for outreach to teachers, students, etc. Hmm. --Evan 13:00, 10 Feb 2005 (EST)

Yeah. I think it's always an intereting question: how do we convert casual experimenters into real contributors? People who write teen-age love poetry on a random article might seem like vandals at first glance, but by doing what they do they prove that they are unïnhibited enough to contribute something, and are unlikely to be deterred by editing (hopefully) when they start contributing useful stuff. I figure it's easier to convert people who don't have to deal with that hurdle than it is to get the wiki-shy to write in the first place. -- Mark 14:29, 10 Feb 2005 (EST)