KC ([info]kc_anathema) wrote,
@ 2008-05-12 17:15:00
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Vindication!
Once shunned by academics, Wikipedia now a teaching tool
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - Wikipedia, the upstart Internet encyclopedia that most universities forbid students to use, has suddenly become a teaching tool for professors.

Recently, university teachers have swapped student term papers for assignments to write entries for the free online encyclopedia.

At my high school, almost all the teachers, and especially us new ones, all turn to wikipedia when we need something verified. I used it to show students the size of an albatross (although one of my girls seemed to get personally offended that such a huge bird existed and said she was going to search online to make sure, so the kids do understand that wiki is good but not 100%).

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[info]uminohikari
2008-05-12 11:36 pm UTC (link)
...at HS, we're banned from using wiki as a source of info--the most we can use it for is finding the sources it cites

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[info]kc_anathema
2008-05-13 12:01 am UTC (link)
Now I will admit I won't accept wiki as a source on their papers, but to just find quick information rather than searching and hoping for a half-decent site, wiki is the place to go. And it usually does have excellent external sources.

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[info]onethirty
2008-05-13 12:18 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I often use wiki as a "jump start" in my searching. It's like using an encyclopedia with cites. Granted, it's not for more than that, but it's good for quick information. :)

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[info]kc_anathema
2008-05-13 03:15 am UTC (link)
It's like the hub of a wheel. All roads lead to wiki.

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[info]onethirty
2008-05-13 04:46 am UTC (link)
Well, it's useful for getting "common" information when starting research (birthdates, places, definitons, etc.) as well as linking to better (read: more scholarly) content in some cases.

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[info]thebrettzone
2008-05-13 02:07 am UTC (link)
Wikipedia blows.

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[info]kc_anathema
2008-05-13 03:14 am UTC (link)
Clearly you don't treat it right, 'cause it always swallows for me.

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[info]thebrettzone
2008-05-13 11:16 am UTC (link)
:P

I will continue to abuse it until its attitude improves.

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[info]felinoid
2008-05-13 03:05 pm UTC (link)
I still use Everything2

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[info]agkelos
2008-05-14 03:08 am UTC (link)
Just found out from a professor of mine that he had two plagiarism cases in his physiology class because students took info from wikipedia. How and why one would even want to plagiarize on a physiology lab paper, I have no idea. Esp since you can just get the information from class notes and textbooks and simply paraphrase. These are college students, too. So sad.

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[info]kc_anathema
2008-05-14 03:34 am UTC (link)
Even lazy, dishonest kids get to college.

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