I have heard teachers for years debate the validity of Wikipedia. As a site it is frequently used and usually the first thing to pop up on a Google search. My district blocks the use of you tube...sometimes. YouTube is also an overly accessible site with a lot of useful information and a lot of distracting information. Very simply, I welcome the use of both in my classroom. For my students I always say that Wikipedia is an excellent source and a great tool to look thing up quickly and accurately. The only time I would discourage the use of Wikipedia is on a research paper. This site may not be looked upon as fondly by others. On the other hand, Wikipedia cites its own sources very well and using links to those sources could be an excellent way of researching topics within a subject area. The frequency with which Wikipedia is checked and corrected by experts makes it a very accurate source of information.
YouTube offers excellent educational videos as well. I generally urge my students to use YouTube at home for tutorials but recommend they use videos posted by well known sources such as Khan Academy or National Geographic, etc. I often include links to these types of tutorials on my Fusion [school] page. I think upon searching for videos, the most frequently viewed educational videos would be accurate and relevant. This goes on my assumption that if a video is poorly done and not accurate, few people will have viewed it and it won't be very high on the search list.
Long story short, Wikipedia and YouTube are both welcome in my classroom. I urge students to be careful about where their information comes from and always double check with another source if the information is for research or test prep. Great sites, great information.
We appear to feel the same about allowing our students to view YouTube as well as Wikipedia because there is a ton of information that be very beneficial . My district try's to block YouTube bus somehow my students are still able to pull it up so push there skills to the next level and have them find something that will benefit the entire class.
ReplyDeleteI think the sites are good but they are have to be monitored very closely because students can get off track very quickly and have the class looking at things they have no business looking at.
Students can definitely get off track and look at silly cat videos or music videos instead of looking at educational videos, which is why they need to be monitored. The benefits however, outweigh the bad I believe.
DeleteBefore I read the article on news.cnet.com, I would've disagreed on the validity of Wikipedia. However, I do agree, Matt, that Wikipedia, (along with YouTube), can be useful sites for students to use. The problem is trying to make sure that students don't view inappropriate material while they are on YouTube. And I really didn't know that students could get around the blocks (As Andrea said), and STILL be able to get on YouTube. This is disturbing.
ReplyDeleteStudents do have to be monitored, but schools have to realize that Youtube can be a beneficial tool. Students always can find ways around anything. They always have and always will, trust me. It's nothing new.
DeleteWikipedia seems to be a source without a lot of worry for me. I never have an issue of students using Wikipedia inappropriately. The information is there for them to use if needed, and if it is a well-known topic, it is likely to be accurate and up to date. Again, I would understand if someone disagreed with its use as a primary research source, but I never do that. It's usually a way for students to get a quick definition including some background information.
ReplyDeleteYou Tube is a much harder sell for a lot of people. I personally use it a lot to show students different videos to clarify concepts or to show clips of lab experiments. Students can-and will-absolutely abuse YouTube at times. It is in the nature of teenagers/kids to get sidetracked and follow interesting/irrelevant topics. I rarely have students use YouTube in class on their own for this reason.
Personally I'm still not sold on Wikipedia as a sole source of information. It can be useful in a lot of ways, but not as a sole resource. As a starting point, yes, but not as a single resource.
ReplyDeleteNASA and a lot of organizations directly post to Youtube. A lot of professors and universities use Youtube, Vimeo, and other similar websites to post information. A lot of organizations and professors, doctors, etc. create science experiments, answer questions that can be valuable, which is why Youtube can be great in research. Of course, a lot of other videos that are useless or inaccurate are also there, which is why students have to be able to distinguish the appropriate videos for research and the not so appropriate videos.
Hi Matt, There seems to be lots of discussion in both ways about the use of Wikipedia and Utube in the classroom. I figure one should encourage students to not use any one source anyway, and that it is worth it to search for other sources with the same subject. So, I position is that these tools are allowed in my classroom, and I have been guilty of using them as well. The point is that we have to teach students to balance everything we write about.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone this is a good discussion about both tools and I think we want our students to know it is not safe to only trust any one resource. We also want to make sure the video's that they look at during class time is something that is educational and appropriate because some students will be watching movies or even shopping on line so teachers really have to know what students are looking at during class time.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I doubt there are many teachers out there that would want Wikipedia as a sole resource for any research, but at the same time, there aren't many teachers who would only want one source anyway.
DeleteAnd there are always distractions with any medium, old or new, and while redirection is sometimes necessary, I think we have to pick our battles and this is one I'm willing to step back on and simply redirect when the time comes.
So, overall, it sounds like the collective sense is to use it, but not by itself. As for YouTube, again, there's a sense of a greater need to police it. The question is, is it worth it? Also, you can decide whether to only use it for direct instruction (you to them) or for students to search and use in class (What they see/view/learn out of class using it can be a different discussion).
ReplyDelete