Wikipedia censored at schools?
Came across this on the Slashdot blog:
Recently, our school board made the decision to block Wikipedia from our school district’s ….The reason given was that Wikipedia (being user created and edited) did not represent a credible or reliable source of information for schools. Should we block sites such as Wikipedia because students may be exposed to misinformation, or should we encourage sites such as Wikipedia as an outlet for students to investigate and determine the validity of the information?”
When considering this from the perspective of only the two questions asked by the blogger, does it not seem obvious that accessing Wikipedia should almost be a requirement? Becasue it is essential, in this information age, to quickly be able to differentiate fact from fiction. And yes, that means not taking what is read/quoted/posted as fact, but rather as an opinion that needs to be independently substantiated. Otherwise, as a commentator on the above blog points out, we have the disastrous possibilty that people might start to take The Onion seriously.
Mental arithmetic versus the calculator is an apt analogy. We were taught at school that prior to entering any numbers on the calculator, we should at least have some idea of what the final answer will be, so that we can discriminate whether the answer the calculator gives us is likely correct, or an error (as a result of wrong key input). Spreadsheet / Excell formulas are also a good example!
The point is, that while we should welcome and embrace the depth of information and technology available, we should never lose our power of reasoned, logical critique. And as the “new generation” is being schooled, this should be strongly inforced. I often hear parents lamenting that their kids cannot spell because Word does it for them. Let us at least not forget to teach them how to think for themselves.
And anyway, has it not been proven that overall, Wikipedia is about as incorrect as the Britannica?
There is also the problem of plagiarism, but it is much easier to spot plagiarism from Wikipedia than it is from obscure books that the teacher doesn’t know about.
And banning the use of Wikipedia in school gives and unfair advantage to pupils who have access to it at home.
Some people, including some who had been suspected of intelligence, have been known to take The Onion seriously!
Wikipaedia should be accessible with the advice to take it as only one source of possible information which should be cross- checked with other more acknowledgedly reputable sources.It will always be sniffed at by some as the contributors don’t need to prove any knowledge or qualification in the subjects about which they write.