Wikipedia – allow or disallow?
June 21, 2008 by pma12
Often when students are asked to do research for a project, the first place they go to is the computer and the first site they often find themselves reading is Wikipedia. As a lower intermediate teacher I am troubled by several aspects of this on-line encyclopedia. I often worry that because Wikipedia is open to anyone to add, change or modify the information, that its information may be flawed or inaccurate, manipulated by the whims of an unknown and therefore unaccountable person. I am also concerned that my younger students will accept the information given on that site as accurate and not bother doing more research. In a poll by Sarah Ring, “The Edutopia Poll,” 43% of respondents stated that “students should be allowed to use Wikipedia as a source” as long as they have verified the claims through other sources. Despite my concerns, I believe that students should be allowed to use Wikipedia as a place to start their research as it is a place to get fairly current information quickly as long as the students are taught to evaluate the information they read and find other sources to confirm the information.
Here are some questions to consider:
What would be the best way to instruct students in the use of Wikipedial?
At what age/grade should the students be introduced to the use of Wikipedia as a research tool?
Should the parents be introduced and educated about Wikis and how Wikipedia is a changeable encyclopedia?
Here are some interesting links that are relevent to this discussion:
http://www.edutopia.org/poll-students-allowed-use-wikipedia
http://www.edutopia.org/using-wikipedia-classroom
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikipedia_in_the_Classroom_and_Beyond
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Wikipedia is being used all the time. It is a worry about it’s validity and accuracy. Yes I think teachers and parents should be well informed about it’s pros and cons. Students should be taught the best way to research and inform themselves about information that is the most accurate and current.
I think students should be able to use wikipedia as a resource as long as it not their only resource. Students must know that anyone can add information on a specific topic and is based on someone’s knowledge. Do you believe in everything that people say and write? Students must take caution using wikipedia.
Learning how to doing research has always been an interesting process reguardless of what age or level of education. Unlike the ‘old days’ where we spent hours going from one encyclopedia to another, the internet & wikipedia has opened a whole new world of instant information. Whether it’s on-line or hard copy, we still need to introduce the basics of ‘how to’ find relevant information and evaluate/recognize the degree of validity or authenticity. Wikipedia, it seems, is here to stay and as long as it is monitored, could be concidered just another source of information, ready to be questioned.