More Wikipedia Non-Sense
Apparently many people (and by people I mean ill-informed academics) still think Wikipedia is a horrible, awful, very bad, terrible, no-good thing. The Warren Hills Regional School District has decided to block access to Wikipedia from school computers. Kairosnews asks the crucial question: Isn’t the problem poor teaching not Wikipedia? For a more engaged analysis see a thaumaturgical compendium where Alex points out, rightly so, that this type of reactionary response only hurts the students:
Frankly, if I had a kid in the Warren Hills Regional School District, I would pull them out of school, and give them a chance to get an actual education. I hate to think how these poor children are going to cope if they make it to college and have to learn how to research a topic—research that will often include going to Wikipedia.
And for students who are in college check out Gearfire’s run down of how to use Wikipedia. (Note to ill-informed: Gearfire gets it right. Wikipedia is an excellent secondary resource, and works well when used this way—much better than Britannica.)
February 4th, 2008 at 6:56 am
I’m a recent graduate of high school, and during junior year the administration decided to implement a harsh web filter, which ended up being good and bad. During a period of six months students found they could not access Google Image Search, Wikipedia, any blog sites (Wordpress, Blogger, Xanga, etc), and much more. Since then the district has eased up on blocking, however Wikipedia is still blocked. Up to that point in time - and now that I’m in college - I’d used Wikipedia as a basis for research, scraping basic information from the articles and following the references for citation and additional material. These cited links often fell outside of the databases schools provide, despite being useful and informational.
I did take it upon myself to ask the administration, because none of the teachers knew why Wikipedia was blocked, and their response was that because anyone could edit the pages, they could not be counted as informational, and that allowing the pages to be accessed would give the impression to students that they could be cited in writings. I’d have to agree that Wikipedia might not be the greatest source to cite, but the references and links from there extend past anything encyclopedias ever have.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Doesn’t anyone tell their kids “Don’t believe everything you read,” anymore? The Internet brings this truth into light more sharply than ever!
As a teacher of elementary-aged children, I do not ban my students from using Wikipedia for research projects; however, I do not encourage its use either. At the beginning of any research project, I tell them that, should they decide to use Wikipedia, they should check their facts against other sources of information (other websites, books, encyclopedias, etc.). As a result several students have informed me that Wikipedia says one thing, but three other websites are in agreement otherwise. In short, they’re usually quick to discover the lack of accuracy on their own, and actually stop using the website of their own accord.
Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source for information because the content is not compiled by scholars and may be added or edited by anyone. It may be a good starting point, but it absolutely should not be viewed as a scholarly source, or an expert on anything posted on its pages. I’m sure there is plenty of accurate information on the website, but my time is far too valuable to ascertain which information is valid and which is not.
Having said all that, I do not support censorship in any way, shape or form, which is what my alma mater (WHR Class of ‘85) has done in an attempt to protect students from themselves. My opinion is that students should make a point of checking their sources and then make the decision of whether or not to use the information for themselves. We live in a supposedly free market society (laissez faire), but in the case of public education, let the student beware! As educators, it is our job to guide them - not tell them what, or what not, to do.
March 18th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Wikipedia content is not reliable i guess its not checked and compiled by teacher and scholar,One option which is hated by me the most is editing, Editing my any one.
August 21st, 2008 at 4:07 am
[...] “4 ways to use Wikipedia” (via academhack) is mostly sound, although I think that “never cite it” is overblown. In a first-year [...]