Bringing 21st
century skills to the classroom can be time consuming and frankly pretty hard.
It is well worth it though. It is extremely important for students to be able
to not only navigate through the information that is available to them through
the World Wide Web but also to sort through that information for relevance.
This can be taught using many different mediums. Social networking sites such
as Blogs and Wikis are great for just that as well as teaching collaboration
which many jobs today don’t just recommend, they require.
Wiki is short for
the Hawaiian word wiki-wiki which means quick. Wikis offer just that, quick
information and the ability to change that information just as quickly. All of
our students use Wikipedia in their internet searches. They use it not just for
quick answers but to also get ideas for papers and resources. It is interesting
to note that Will Richardson states in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms,
that the Denver Post “graded”
Wikipedia by asking experts to review entries in their field of study. “Four
out of five agreed their relevant Wikipedia entries are accurate, informative,
comprehensive and a great resource for students.” Founder of Wikipedia Jimmy
Wales stated in an interview with Business Week in 2005, “ I don’t think people
should cite it, and I don’t think people should site Britannica, either… People
shouldn’t be citing encyclopedias in the first place. Wikipedia and other
encyclopedias should… give good, solid background information to inform your
studies for a deeper level.” I found this
TeachingHistory.org article on using Wikipedia in the classroom very useful in
helping me to explain the affordances and constraints of Wikipedia.
I would love to
find the time to go through and change a few Wikipedia articles related to the
unit my students are studying and as a final or even ongoing assessment, have
them collaborate and go through to find the errors.
How do you use
Wikipedia in your classroom?
I love the cartoon at the bottom of your post. It's an excellent example of why some people are hesitant to use Wikipedia as a formal source of information.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you know where to look, Wikipedia can be WONDERFUL.
ReplyDeleteIt turns into a teachable moment.
http://dailyishteacher.blogspot.com/2015/04/an-ode-to-wikipedia.html