Prior to reading the article “What? Wikipedia in History Class?” I had a few preconceived notions about Wikipedia, most of them very positive. As a social studies major I have several research papers to do throughout the year. When conducting my research I always used Wikipedia as a sort of guideline for my report. I don’t actually quote the website, but because of its vast amount of information about specific topics, I use it to guide my research and keep me on task.
After reading the article I was amazed to find out the amount of useful knowledge a student was able to acquire once completing one of Mr. Boggs’ Wikipedia assignments. Students learn how to produce footnotes, reference other works, cite sources, conduct research and use a computer based permanently imprinted on a well-known website, rather than merely handing in a report to their instructor, which would mean nothing after they had received a grade. Also, the assignment of adding to Wikipedia is, in my opinion, much more fun for student. It surely beats just “another research paper” assignment. I will most definitely try to construct a report like this in the future within my own classroom.
I would like to know how you feel about the use of Wikipedia in social studies classes. Do you feel the same way? Or, in your opinion, is Wikipedia too much of a non-scholarly website to use within your classroom?
When I was in high school, my teachers always enforced that Wikipedia was not a credible source when I had to complete research papers. Therefore I would never go on the website if I ever wanted to look up anything non school related. They would tell me since people are allowed to go on and add or omit information, some of the facts are fabricated. It was always tempting to use Wikipedia but if I wanted a good grade, I had to find different websites.
ReplyDeleteEven though I still don't use it as a source for school, I will occasionally go on the Wikipedia if I wanted to know something quick.
I never knew that Wikipedia teaches you how to produce footnotes, reference other works, and cite sources. It makes the site sound more appealing now.
I think the use of Wikipedia in a social studies class should be used in the same way that Scott uses it. It should be used as a guide for papers and a quick source to find basic facts. I am still uncertain whether it should be used as a credible source for papers; however, I am not opposed to dismissing the website.
I agree, all throughout high school I was told to avoid Wikipedia. I was told that too many people had access to it and it could be changed too easily. Therefore, I always looked for other sources when I had a paper do. I never really knew that Wikipedia could be very helpful.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Wikipedia should be used as a guide. Some students rely too heavily on it and will take things word for word. I think that Wikipedia along with other websites can help construct a very nice research paper. Because of my prior schooling, I still avoid Wikipedia but I am open to new ideas and would be willing to try it more often.
I feel that wikipedia is an excellent activity in the sense of creating an assignment just like Mr. Boggs had his students do. Students are learning more than just history facts and they are also realizing how easy it is to add and change information making them aware to be cautious on other wikipedia articles. I have always found that wikipedia has the exact information I need regarding whatever I am looking up. I usually then look elsewhere for the same information to verify that it is accurate. I have become frustrated in the past because wikipedia was the only site that had some facts I needed and I could never use it as a source, it also made me wonder if those facts were correct considering I couldn't find them anywhere else. As long as students know that the information isn't always 100% accurate I feel that it is an excellent tool to be used for teaching more than just history.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Wikipedia is a useful site, not just the one our teachers used to ban us from in high school, the most important thing about it is that students learn how to use it properly. When I go to Wikipedia I tend to use it as a guideline as well, just to get a feel for what I am researching, I also find that the links on the bottom of the page provide great resources to find out more on a topic. I think I would have a lesson in my future classroom to teach students just how useful those reference links can be on the site, and not just bash it like my former teachers did. I really liked what Mr. Boggs did with his students and think it is so important to teach kids how to use sites like this to navigate through the web. I think that learning how to reference works and do footnotes/endnotes can be very confusing for students especially with all the different formatting, and I thought it was cool to learn that wikipedia can help with that too. Overall I think this is a great topic to discuss in the classroom to keep students more open minded and aware of what they are researching and referencing on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Scott and the rest of my classmates as well. I always found Wikipedia a useful tool when writing papers and assignments and I always wondered what teachers had against it. Wikipedia is a great guide for students to get their information from, not so much a source but definately a helpful guideline if used properly. I liked what Mr. Boggs did with his students and I really think it would have taught the students how to navigate a site like Wikipedia correctly. It gives a good overview as well on a topic of what student's may be writing about. In my opinion, it is also a very helpful tool when referring to science and social studies lessons as opposed to language arts or math. Social studies has to do with history and a lot of this can be found on Wikipedia. I disagree with any teacher banning Wikipedia for student's especially when it comes to social studies. They are making their student's miss out on a great and effective tool to learn.
ReplyDeleteBucu asked me to state the following because she is having difficulty getting onto to blogspot:
ReplyDeleteAs my classmates have previously stated, my teachers throughout high school, as well a few of my college professors, stressed to students not to use Wikipedia. To me however, Wikipedia always had a lot of useful information. Anything I was researching could be found in one spot through Wikipedia. Therefore I would take whatever information I found and just search for credible resources on the information elsewhere.
Aside from using Wikipedia despite my teacher'a feeling towards it, I did not realize how much more you coul get out of it. But as Scott and my other classmates realized after reading the article, I also realized assignments like Mr. Boggs are a great way to educate students thought the use of Wikipedia.
I think it's important for students to be cautious and made aware of how to use Wikipedia and sites like it properly. This could benefit students in the future when they stumble upon similar sites that their teachers did not specifically ban (like Wikipedia). This will help students know the credibility of the information they are finding.
I can understand why teachers may ban the site, however I will not ban Wikipedia in my own classroom, rather I would like to educate my students about the site and it will be more beneficial for them in the future.
I found the Wikipedia assignment to be really creative. I have never heard of a project like that before. Just like most of the others, I have never been allowed to use Wikipedia for any of my research. I appreciate how this project allows students to pick their own topics and gives students a chance to gain experience with community and collaborative writing. I also am glad to see this it gives the students a better understanding of when Wikipedia is good to use, as well as when it isn't. I think this project presents a good challenge for students in that they have to maintain their article and possibly defend it if it gets flagged for deletion. This project definitely fits well for a social studies class and I could see myself using it in the future.
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