Wikipedia is the largest wiki on the web today. However, many other wikis are being incorporated into our everyday lives - from education to business.
- Wikis are simple enough for anyone and everyone to create and can be up and running within minutes.
- On a daily basis, wikis are being used by companies, schools, cities, families, organizations and libraries.
- There are tens of thousands of wikis ranging from educational to technical.
Within the past three years, there has been a huge increase of K-12 educators using wikis, however, there are some potential problems involved.
- Protecting the privacy of the individual child is of utmost importance.
- Educators must determine acceptable use policies before incorporating these tools.
- There is always the potential for inappropriate comments and material to be added to the wiki so it's important to closely monitor any projects, public or private.
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A discussion we have often among teachers is the use of Wikipedia. Most now will say they encourage their students to use it. There is a small number who say that students should not be allowed to use it. Some school districts actually filter out the site so that students do not have access to it from the schools. What do you think about this?
ReplyDeleteI agree with many people that I have read about or listened to within the past few weeks. I just listened to a podcast called Jumping Monkeys. They had a librarian/Wikipedia editor on the show. She said that she feels it's okay to start there but don't have that be the ending point for your research. I have realized that this generation is not being taught to find information anymore, they need to be taught how to evaluate what they find!!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear a librarian say that. There are some that feel that they must follow whatever rules the school division makes without question. When I worked in the schools, our librarian was appalled that I had added a link to Google on the school website as a search engine. She explained to me that the county school system had its own search databases and policy and students could not use anything else. Unfortunately, she heard "must use" instead of the policy "recommended".
ReplyDeleteAs Richardson says, Wikipedia is being used by students outside the classroom anyway and the information is more critically looked at than ever before. What a great way to teach evaluation of sources. It is also a terrific way to 'brainstorm' thoughts that can lead to other articles.