Validity of Wikis...

There has been a lot of recent debate on the validity of articles and content posted in Wikipedia and Wikibooks. After exploring some of these educational wiki projects, reflect in your blog about the benefits and challenges of using this technology with students.

As I've said before, the curriculum needs to set the purpose for integrating technology. To me a wiki has the potential to be a powerful teaching tool, but it must be used effectively.

We had an interesting conversation in the library yesterday. A group of high school seniors were working on a project. One young lady commented that she didn't care...she loved Wikipedia. Another student agreed. They have people who watch the comments, so the information must be accurate...right? I couldn't help overhearing the conversation and decided to add my two cents.

She opened an entry for me and we took a moment to at the link to the most recent changes. While previewing the list of changes, many were simple grammar. Could this be the work of the one of the people who watch comments? Possibly.

It is entirely possible that the information my student found on Wikipedia was accurate. But if she were going to use the information she found either as a direct quote or as a paraphrase in a research paper, the question becomes would that site still reflect the original intention the next time we visit. Possibly not.

I am not opposed to Wikipedia. I have cited the source myself when writing a paper about a technology application that hadn't "hit the print books yet". There is definitely a welcome place for this kind of dynamic information sharing.

What I would rather suggest is to offer this as part of a balanced opportunity for students to learn from.

I think if students were given the opportunity to contribute to their own wiki...it might provide the exact type of teaching opportunity to learn how the contributions of many can lead to great things, but also that sometimes one rotten apple...

Just my thought...jane