Wikipedia vs. Britannica.com and Encyclopedia Americana
We always hear “don’t trust Wikipedia, because anyone can change it!” However, I do find it useful for a quick find. Today in class, Ashley, Jill, and I decided to note the differences of information regarding “Nematocysts.” First we read C.W. Coates’ interpretation of the topic in Encyclopedia Americana. After looking up the information on Wikipedia and comparing the two, I found the information to be similar.
Wikipedia offered examples of Nematocysts in a “dumbed-down” way. This was helpful, but not entirely relevant to the meaning of the word. After comparing the information from the Encyclopedia to the information on Britannica, we found that the information on the website offered very similar information and was much more understandable and factual.
In Chapter 4 of our textbook, we see that that a Wiki is “a Website where anyone can edit anything anytime they want.” Many students today are using Wikipedia as a source in their research, a fact that may make some of us shiver. Because anyone can edit the site, including your fifth grade brother, many believe that the information is unreliable. However, by incorporating wikis in the classroom, maybe we can have better feelings towards wikis.
According to Richardson, wikis are great for “sharing space” but unfortunately can be abused. However, all is not lost. Just revert the page back to the last correct version. Simple as that. I think the author said it well, “The collaborative environment that wikis facilitate can teach students much about how to work with others, how to create community, and how to operate in a world where the creation of knowledge and information is more and more becoming a group effort.” Amen to that.
