Pros for wikipedia

Wikipedia itself is not a source that would be acceptable for a paper. Yet, that does not mean it is not

a good resource for students. While the writing can be changed by anyone on the internet, that does

not mean the sources that are linked within the articles are false. When us as educators show

resources such as Wikipedia to our students we must make sure that they know how to use it. What

is important to show students is not the content of the article, but instead, the references at the end.

Once we start looking at the references we will find a list of relevant sources that students can use

for research in a much  easier to access form than looking for resources on Google. Because of how

Wikipedia lays out its information, students are able to access an ordered list of resources.

The best thing about wikipedia is that it gives an excellent overview on where to start on any kind of

project. For a Social Studies student making a research paper it is extremely hard to make a

timeline. When looking at World War 1 there are a lot of resources that students could use however

none of them are as accessible to use as Wikipedia. This student will be able to get a detailed

overview of what they will research and thus will have a better understanding going into finding

resources.

Something that should be noted is the use of Wikipedia to teach students about fake news within the

classroom. When looking at Wikipedia through a Social Studies context there are several lessons

that could be taught involving Wikipedia. One such lesson could be having students find a political

article from Wikipedia and comparing it to other research outlets. While Wikipedia does have a lot of

misinformation, there is still a lot of credibility to the website. Instead of blocking Wikipedia as a

resource for students us educators must use it as a tool to help them filter through false information

through research.

Here is an article talking about the many uses of Wikipedia!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Academic_use