Re: [LM_NET] Wikipedia as a source

[Laura Brooks <BrooksLa@NORTHVILLE.K12.MI.US>]

Hi All,

Ironically, we seem to shun Wikipedia, an early 2.0 source, for the
very same reason we use blogs or wikis: their open-ended, collaborative;
hence, unreliable nature. I agree with Shonda that we should be cautious
with Wikipedia when teaching research tools, but should we choose not to
teach it or only as a last resort? I think we should instead highlight
how to use it. Isn't it an IP goal to help students become independent
and critical users of information? They will face misinformation in
various forms their entire lives; shouldn't we nurture a critical
ability to check facts when warranted no matter what the source? Gee, I
remember not so long ago teaching 6th graders that the World Wide Web
itself could be unreliable. I've seen misinformation printed in
reference books. What does the Academic Librarian who wrote Ann over
Wikipedia use have to say about the renowned physicist, Alan Sokal, who
intentionally wrote a hoax article published by a refereed journal, to
highlight the shortcomings of academia?
 http://hps.elte.hu/~gk/Sokal/Sokal/boghossian_tls.html 

Besides students will use Wikipedia anyway!

I think the key is to look at teacher expectations and student
behavior; we need to change the former before the student use of
Wikipedia will abate. Shonda says: "...showing students the BEST
resources to use first (print, online databases, library resources,
primary sources) and then showing them how bad information is easily
located online by anyone with an Internet account."  In my experience,
this is overly optimistic; students model their teacher's expectations
and behavior first, so if their teacher accepts Wikipedia, let the
"research" begin! Why not meet students where they are? Teach Wikipedia,
but in the way Shonda describes; as a possibly unreliable source that
requires further fact-checking. Or, better yet, make a collaborative
project out of it. Students can use more traditional, "reliable" sources
to research a topic and create or add content to a Wikipedia article
citing all their research. We should focus on the source only as a means
to teach critical thinking. 

Just some thoughts in progress,

Laura

Laura Brooks
Library Media Teacher
Amerman Elementary School
Northville, MI
brooksla@northville.k12.mi.us

"Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not."
 -The Lorax, Dr. Seuss

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