PatSine

Here's something that caught my eye today -- Why Do People Contribute to Digg or Wikipedia? This is of particular interest after Time named You as the 2006 Person of the Year. This really affects us on two levels. First, as we use this site for research or information, it's very useful and interesting to know about why people might post to these sites. Knowing what the motivation of the folks who contribute may help make more informed decisions about what to trust. Second, knowing why people contribute may help in crafting assignments with "authentic audiences." Why will some students shine and others shy away from these? Are there strategies in creating those assignments that we should take into account? I don't know the answers to either of these questions, but I do think it's important to think more about the questions than the answers and develop new questions every day.