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The Edutopia Poll
by Sara Ring
When students need to research anything, from Florence Nightingale to Florence, Italy, the collaborative online encyclopedia Wikipedia is a very appealing option. Wikipedia can provide an impressive overview of many subjects, but some school officials have banned its use in research. (One Seattle school librarian placed a "Just Say No to Wikipedia" sign above the library's computers.) Students who use Wikipedia articles as sources may be spreading misinformation, because the site is not immune to misleading or outright false posts. Many articles contain external links to back up their assertions, but some teachers still feel that students should bypass Wikipedia altogether and use only reputable sources when doing research. Is Wikipedia a solid resource, merely a good starting point, or something students should avoid? Tell us what you think!
Wikipedia: To Be on Not to Be - That is the Question
Submitted by Greg Coogan (not verified) on June 20, 2008 - 13:48.
What a great way to start. Wiki, (as I like to call it) is a wonderful tool to get things going. Posted articles can be very informative and relevant to the topic being studied/researched. We all know the problems associated with opening up anything to everyone. Lots of inacuracy and incompleteness along with misunderstanding and outright deviousness (a word???). However, there are so many good intentioned and well educated providers of all things knowedgeable that I think we can't do without this valuable and useful resource. One important caveat: Educators must be diligent in ensuring the content is only used as a tool in getting to a deeper understanding of their topic, it should not be believed without checking credible sources.
Wiki research
Submitted by Ms. Aura Greig (not verified) on June 4, 2008 - 12:10.
As a teacher of 11 years and a recent master's degree recipient, I truly believe the Wikipedia site is incredibly helpful in my own personal research as well as for my students as a "beginning" research tool. While I don't believe it should be "citable" as a legitimate resource, it is amazing at breaking down difficult ideas. For example, researching specific genocide atrocities was difficult for many of my 10th grade students but I let them go into Wikipedia to get simplified explanations. Many of the UN sites or govt. sites are too wordy and our kids just tune out. However, once you get basics from Wiki it's easier to dive off into other "citable" sites for both my own personal master's research and for my kids as well.
As a primary and citable resource though? No, too many people can go add anything they want at any given time so the information can be unreliable.
Just say no Wiki
Submitted by gms (not verified) on June 4, 2008 - 10:15.
I teach freshmen at a large state university and Wiki is one of the biggest hurdles we have to face. Students need to be familiar with basic research techniques and approaches and sadly many have learned to rely solely on Wikipedia for research.
It is a valuable 'first step' in research, and can guide later work but it should NEVER be used as a primary source. PERIOD.
Using Wikipedia or not... That is the question.
Submitted by Stephanie (not verified) on May 27, 2008 - 12:58.
I personally feel that if I can get my students to attempt to look up something, I have crossed a milestone. Can you not also buy books on every subject in the world with 10 different views. I understand about the credibility, but I also need my students to be more engaged. My students love to look up things on the computer. This is a great accomplishment.
Engaged learning YES....sacrifice credibility and quality NO
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 5, 2008 - 19:47.
I agree with the idea that learners need to be engaged. I have experiences in this area in both K-12 and higher education. However, students "liking" to finding information on the World Wide Web is not a valid justification to helping our students understanding of the importance of credibility and validity of information found on the Web. Engaged learning is not solely a matter of utilizing instructional strategies based on what students "like." Unfortunately, many educators' perceptions of engaged learning equals to having to entertain student. That would be like students submitting homework with cell phones. There is no question that today's digitial learner uses technology on almost a daily basis. However, as educators you have to understand the context in which these students use technology. iPods are an excellent example. Tell me how many high school students want to listen to a teacher lecture for 20 minutes as an MP3 audio file on their iPod. This is not likely. Instead, most high school student who have iPods use them to listen to music or watch movies and TV shows. Project-based learning and authentic learning experiences are effective approaches to engaging students with technology, but at the same time, provide quality instruction and meet curriculum goals/standards.
Wikiproblems
Submitted by Melissa (not verified) on May 27, 2008 - 09:51.
Wow, I never realized that there were such strong senitments FOR the use of Wikipedia. While I understand its value in modern culture, and I often use it to find information for personal use or to get me started in my research, I don't think I could ever consider it a "reliable source" for a researched paper. I absolutely encourage students to visit the site to get background information, but when it comes to establishing credible arguments, I can't justify using it. As an English teacher, it is difficult enough to get students to evaluate their internet sources, and while there are a few students who understand this concept, many do not. If they use Wikipedia, they often do not seek out other sources to support those claims, which is a big problem in my book.
I teach at an international
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 25, 2008 - 02:10.
I teach at an international school in Beijing China. With the internet opening up completly here due to the Olympics, we are finally able to access Wikipedia- Wonder why?
I like Wikipedia- its gives the necessary specific information quickly,and links for further information on a specific topic. I agree with many of the postings that it shouldn't be the single sourse used- other choices should be used as well.
Judge Wikipedia fairly, please
Submitted by Justin Siemaszko (not verified) on May 20, 2008 - 13:01.
Although wikipedia can be vandalized, I imagine that a child educated in math and science through wikipedia would get a much better education than from the junk in textbooks. The number of mistakes, misinformation, myths-as-facts, wives-tales-as-science in schoolbooks is startling. There's no armies of nerds flaming an author for claiming water is blue because it reflects the sky (ps: myth). Sadly, that's in textbooks. It's not on wikipedia. There's a lot of good that comes with wikipedia's format... including the lesson that books are every bit as wrong as people, and that you should never trust anything without checking sources. For help with weeding out bad textbooks, check out this group: http://www.textbookleague.org/
Should students be allowed to use Wikipedia as a source?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 20, 2008 - 06:04.
I think students should be able to use Wikipedia if they use it responsibly. I tell my students that they should always check their information with 2-3 other websites to make sure the information is reliable. Will they always do this? Probably not.
Use Wikipedia
Submitted by S. Neff (not verified) on May 18, 2008 - 11:22.
In academic research in mid and high school as well as college, students have long been told not to use encyclopedias but go to primary sources. It doesn't matter if it is Britannica or Wikipedia, on line or print.
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