Our librarian has always been dead against using Wikipedia. She has
posters everywhere about how unreliable it is. And she's right. But
should we not use it at all? I never really thought about it until I
read this article, then I realized what a treasure trove of teaching
opportunities it is! The author brings up many great points about the
positive side of Wikipedia: that it is a living, breathing document,for
it's exposure to many other topics that branch off, and the many things
students can learn by the way it is constructed. I truly agree with the
author that "The site becomes a 'stepping stone' for deeper research." I
think it is equally important to look at it for what NOT in the entry
as well. Finally, I like the idea that you can "wikify" or verify
sources,or "wikification" when needing revising.
I teach 8th
grade English and I hope to use this information for my final project. I
want to have my students work in groups to create a Wikipedia entry. I
seem to have all the components in place, but the one thing that I'm
stumped on that maybe you could help me with is this: What topics should
I offer my students where they don't just go on Wikipedia and copy it??
:)
Hi Kim, I agree that Wikipedia is a living and breathing document, and that is has a lot to offer. I think it would be fun to research information on a topic and to create an entry. Your students would love it and get a sense of pride knowing that they are a small part of Wikipedia! Do you think they would be capable of using Wikipedia as a tool otherwise?
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience working with 8th graders, the answer is no, which is precisely why I chose this project. I think by being immersed in the process by which you would construct a Wikipedia entry, students would learn reliability of sources. I think that Wikipedia dovetails with the article we read last night that it is considered "skimmable." I don't believe that students take most of what is on the internet serious enough to really read the content to be able to use it in their research. Hopefully I will get the intended results after trying this project out!
ReplyDeleteSo, with that said would you even allow your students to use Wikipedia even after full immersion?
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