Wikipedia: Friend Not Foe

The class activity about Wikipedia and this article didn't really change my opinion, just let me see it in a different light. I have always liked Wikipedia and found it very valuable, but have never really been able to use it in papers. This article helps me to see that I can use Wikipedia as a jumping off tool for research. By trying to find holes in the articles and using that as a guide line for focusing my research on is such a good idea. It would definitely make for a more interesting research paper than just a redundant factual paper. I think that educators, especially, need to read this article to hopefully change their opinion on Wikipedia. I think that as a future teacher, instructing the students on how to be internet smart is important. They need to know how to research information to figure out if it's fact or fiction. Even though you can't cite Wikipedia, you should still be able to use it. In my classroom, I might have the students be Wikipedia detectives and try to find something that is not the complete truth, research that, then have them edit it on the Wikipedia site. This would be a fun and educational way for students to learn the information!