There was some interesting discussion around the use of Encyclopedias this week in our class:
Carrie raised the point that even printed materials have errors in it. She stated, " Wikipedia is just so easy to use and that is why I enjoy it. I know it is not 100% accurate at times, but my question is, "What resource is these days?"
I think Carrie raises an interesting point, about how printed materials may also be lacking in authority and so these may not always be reliable sources of information either. She drives the point home that it is important that the students be taught good information literacy skills no matter what type of format the resource is that they are using - digital, printed, realia, etc. We all know that if our source is human, they may present their story with their own biases and errors. We need to evaluate the source to best determine if the information is useful. Wikipedia has its place in research and like all research we need to look at more than one source and some are more authoritative than others.
Teresa stated, "There are encyclopedias for younger audiences. World book has a World Book Kids and World Book Student. VSB has the on-line versions available for students. It requires a log in and password though. This extra step might mean that students are more likely to use wikipedia."
I added to the discussion that our district has the passwords listed on the third page of the student school planners. But even with having the password there, I agree with Teresa however, that because of this extra step of entering a password, students may just not bother with it and use something else.
My favorite "boob" was a series of books written for younger readers on the Canadian provinces and where Saskatoon was identified as the capital of SK. These books were widely purchased because there were no alternatives. Again, just because things are meant for the very young, it doesn't mean that they have to be sloppy.
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