Is Wikipedia Really Social Media?
I was interested to read in this training that Wikipedia (or wikis) in general can be seen as social media. While Wikipedia and wikis are collaborative crowd-sourced information sites, their academic validity can never quite match that of a peer-reviewed journal (for example) from a respected source (i.e. Harvard Business Review).
- Doc Wibbeke
Marcia,
I do the same thing. I tell students not to use Wikipedia as a citation but like yous said, use it as a starting point. Many institutions have tutorials or programs through the library that can be embedded in your course to help students determine site quality. This is an important skill to have for students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
As social media, Wikipedia itself would apply in that it is set up as a collaborative effort in a socially accessible space. I generally do not encourage any encyclopedia as too broad a reference for use at the college level, and the added issue with Wikipedia is its potential lack of reliability and validity in the information it presents. Reflecting comments in other posts, I suggest that Wikipedia be used as a possible launching point for research.
Seeming to need emphasizing critical thinking in a number of classes I teach, I do express to students that there might be pertinent, current, valid information in sources such as Wikipedia or even cutting edge information in a ranting blog. Sometimes it can take a while for information to be published in an academic venue.
I also ask that students look for online sources that appear to be at a college or professional level, and to be sure to investigate proprietary sites for bias. Generally a site that promotes products or services will not present information that might be seen not to support products and services for sale.
Ron,
You are right. Actually you could use a variety of Wikipedia pages to show the importance of citing sources. Great point.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The thing about Wikipedia that seems to get overlooked is that most of the articles are very well cited. Students simply need to (and I assume many do) take the added step of following the source cited in the wiki article and cite that themselves.
Ron
Jaclyn,
You are right! When I teach research methods, I do talk about starting with wikipedia and look at that as a way to guide the rest of the research and review. Thank you for sharing the site. I am sharing this with others.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Wikipedia is a source - a single source. It should be considered as such and permitted as ONE source when doing research. Textbooks, one must, realize are written by one or two authors - information in textbooks is often biased and limited (e.g, Texas science textbooks without information about evolution). As with all research, multiple resources should be used to cross reference the information found. See http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/how-to-use-wikipedia-for-academics.shtml for more about using Wikipedia in the classroom.
Mark,
I really love the idea of the "door opener" I think that is an apt description of using tools such as wikipedia. to tell the truth, I use Wikipedia that way and I dare say many of us do. Great post.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
At the schools that I teach on-line for English, we regard wikis as a *door opener* but not the endgame. They are not allowed to include Wikipedia as a References source.
At the schools that I teach on-line for English, we regard wikis as a *door opener* but not the endgame. They are not allowed to include Wikipedia as a References source.
Morissa,
You are right. We were working with Wikipedia to provide different words to use for searching in respectable search databases. It is a nice way to to have them read but not quote.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eileen,
You know , google is a verb now. My husband had someone spell frugal froogle. Sounds correct? It is interesting how they evaluate validity when left to their own devices. We have to train them!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Christen,
I agree with you. If you can find an example of that, it really is an "eye opener". They don't think about the consequences of using misinformation.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eileen,
We never said that took the place of a respected source; the process itself sets it apart. It is however a social media outlet that provides connection and collaboration.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I completely agree. I see Wikipedia as a news source, but one that is not valid for research work. Due to open source nature I do not allow it in my classrooms.
I concur, that Wikipedia can be utilized for sharing of information, albeit not academically valid information. I, too, have seen completely incorrect information on Wikipedia. I tell my students that Wikipedia even has a disclaimer on their front page saying that they are not responsible for the quality of the content. It reminds me of another thought from my students. The students think something does not exist unless they can find it on Google. Ah, technology!
- Dr. Eileen Wibbeke
I would also balk at allowing students to use Wikipedia. I have allowed students to use "wikis" to share information, but Wikipedia has a huge potential to share incorrect information, sometimes even deliberately.
