Website Credibility

I use Wikipedia pretty much anytime I wonder about something and would just like a quick definition. I have always found it to be a relatively credible site. When I was studying for myPraxis Social Studies test, I created my entire study guide by using Wikipedia. The information that I found was accurate and simply stated so that I could remember the jist of the topic. I will admit that I usually do start with Wikipedia when I am researching a topic. Even if the teacher does not allow Wikipedia as a source, it gives me a lot of background information and often gives me ideas of where to look for credible sources. In addition, having the background information gives me the opportunity to compare information for the two sites and determine what I believe to be true.

After reading the article, I am very surprised to find that many credible people believe Wikipedia is a fairly accurate source. I certainly agree with their assertion that students need to be taught to evaluate the credibility of the information they read, regardless of where it comes from.

As a teacher, I would accept Wikipedia as a source that students can incorporate into their papers/projects. I would not allow students to pull direct quotes from the site. By this I mean that students could paraphrase the information provided and cite Wikipedia, but I would not allow a quote from a Wikipedia entry. The point of quotes is that they provide a professional/expert opinion. Wikipedia does not meet that requirement because a students cannot determine who wrote a particular quote. It could be a combination of people. In addition, I would expect students to fill out an assessment survey, similar to the one we filled out, for every website they cite to determine its credibility. This is not just an issue with Wikipedia; every site has the potenetial to be biased and not credible.

I plan to have a relatively flexible policy for internet research. In today's society, book research is time consuming and often inefficient, so I would not require my students to provide a certain number of book resources as many of my teachers did. Instead, I will expect students to provide me with simple evaluations of every site they use. With these evaluations students will be able to determine whether a site is credible. These evaluations will also allow me to go to any site the student has used and determine the credibility for myself. I also plan to teach the class how to determine credibility in a full class lesson.