Before reading the Wikipedia article my immediate
answer would have been foe. It is a known fact that the information on
Wikipedia is formed from people contributing to the site and is not necessarily
supported with evidence. For this reason I would not allow students to use
Wikipedia as a source in a research paper.
After reading this article I have
shifted my thinking on how Wikipedia can be beneficial to students. Although I
still would not want it used as a resource in a research project I can
definitely see its benefits for students in learning to authenticate
information and contribute to a website. I think the most important thing is for teachers to thoroughly teach students about exactly how Wikipedia is run so they can understand the proper ways it is to be used. In order to do this teachers must know how to navigate Wikipedia and do some research on the site before brining it into the classroom. The article indicates sections of the site that could be beneficial for teachers such as "Wikipedia: About", "Wikipedia: Tutorial", and "Wikipedia: School". I would definitely read through these before using the site in my classroom.
I use Wikipedia on a regular basis to quickly look up information because the site is easy to navigate, gets straight to the point, and I don’t necessarily care how accurate the information is or I would use another site. I believe Wikipedia can be a helpful tool if used correctly.
Lindsay, mildly skeptical and aware is a good stance to take. How do we help our students to become aware and at what age should we incorporate this knowledge in the curriculum?
ReplyDeleteLindsay, I think you bring up a great point about the teacher tools on Wikipedia. This is something that I would certainly like to brush up on. I also agree and tend to use Wikipedia myself whenever I need information quickly. But, we both know, as you said, we should not cite it in a research paper. I think teaching kids this idea of purpose or audience could also be a useful lesson to tie in with one on Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteMy question for you: how would you make something as complex as this concept comprehensible for your students, who are much younger than the ones I am envisioning learning this material?
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ReplyDeleteDonna and Ashley, I think I can answer both of your questions together as they are very similar. As a 3rd grade teacher it would be difficult to teach Wikipedia to my students as they are still very young and new to research. I think I would show them the website on the smart board and explain to them that this site is written by people who want to share their thoughts about different topics (a very to the point explanation). I would then explain that we cannot use this site as resource for research because there are some people that add information to this site that may not be sure that this information is correct. I would then take questions from the students because there would be many and it would open up a discussion. I would not go much further into Wikipedia except to say that its useful to quickly look up information but we can't always be positive it is true.
ReplyDelete