I love languages. Especially Hawaiian. There are all sorts of fun words on those islands. For example, did you know that the Hawaiian state fish is the “humuhumunukunukuapua’a”? It doesn’t get any better than that.
Hence my sincere joy in learning that the word “wiki” is not made up (as I once thought), but is actually another fabulous word from our 50th state. Yep – “wiki” is Hawaiian for “quick.” Who knew? Guess I missed the “Wikipedia” entry on Wikipedia. (Which is HERE for those interested in catching up.)
This fun little tidbit can also be found in Chapter 4 of Will Richardson’s book Blogs, Wikis, & Podcasts. Here, Richardson continues his discussion of technology in the classroom by positing that a use of and creation of Wikis – another type of collaborative online space – can add a lot to a classroom.
But what about the legitimacy of information that anyone can change & edit? Here’s one opinion:
Giving directions for one of those wonderful 20-page research papers, one of my college professors stated that “citing Wikipedia as a source is tantamount to admitting academic defeat.” Tough.
Richardson falls on the other side of the fence on this issue, arguing that Wikipedia is an accurate and an invaluable source. I found this part of the chapter particularly compelling, as I’m not yet sure how comfortable I myself am with this internet encyclopedia in an academic setting. The studies done by the University of Buffalo and the Denver Post are very heartening (who tested Wikipedia by placing false info which was quickly corrected, and who had experts “grade” Wikipedia, respectively).
Richardson exudes an optimistic outlook on the general good will of people and comments, “There are vastly more editors that want to make it right than those who want to make it wrong” (56). Additionally, “They do this with no expectation that their contributions will be in some way acknowledged or compensated” (57). I appreciated his confidence in the population and must admit that I had not considered Wikipedia from this angle. The idea of a class being among those who ‘want to make it right’ is appealing; what a great way to teach future voting citizens to hold others accountable!
And I must admit, I consult Wikipedia on a regular basis and have found it to be an incredibly useful tool….still have never cited it as an academic source, though. Maybe one day.
What about you? Would you let students cite Wikipedia on a research paper or project? I’d be interested to hear classmates’ opinions.
It seems like the more one uses the site, the more it gains in credibility, which may speak to perception and bias above all. I’d argue that particular entries are certainly “cite-able”…and some aren’t (just like some books in the library being credible sources while others aren’t)…
dc