I love wikis! I use them every single day. One of my favorite sites is Wikia. Just type in a hobby or interest and you will probably find a whole wiki about that topic. Some of them are better than others, but there is quite a bit of information on this site. This site has expanded my mind and exposed me to new interests and hobbies. You can also go to Google. Type in a subject and add wiki to the end. If you look through the results you may find a whole site dedicated 
to that subject that uses the wiki technology. I know some of my favorite hobbies have their own site that uses wiki. WoW Wiki (a wiki for World of Warcraft information) is one I use every day. This is just one of dozens of different wiki sites I check daily. Another great site I would recommend is wikiHow.
It is hard not to mention Wikipedia. It is the site that made wikis popular. Because of this site many people have been exposed to the idea of wikis. Wikipedia has made wiki into this amazing platform for information. My favorite thing about Wikipedia is that I will start looking something up, and then find a few more links in that article about something completely different. Wikis are even used in some of my favorite sites. One great example is Last.FM. Last.FM allows you to change and edit the artist description through their wiki. They also use the wiki technology for lyrics.Because of wikis I have quicker access to information. If I ever want to know something I can go to Google. Type in what I am looking for and just add wiki at the end. And I almost always will find a wiki article about the subject. When I first got the Internet I would have never bothered looking something up if it was not important. It was harder to find quality information on certain subjects back before wikis became popular. Now things have become much easier with wikis. This has affected my learning. I have learned a great deal of knowledge over the years from different wiki websites; some useful, some not as useful.
I consider wikis to be the most important technology on the Internet. Streaming media sites are important too, but wikis have more quality content. I know some teachers, especially English teachers, will tell students that you can not use wikis. Every one of my English teachers I have had would take points off if you reference Wikipedia. I completely disagree with them, and I think they should take more time to understand this amazing technology before dismissing it. Without wikis I would be a completely different person.
5 comments:
I don’t think I have ever used a wiki other than Wikipedia, so thanks for the references! I just checked out wikiHow and ended up adding some information to the “How to Make Maple Syrup” article.
I think I understand both sides of the argument when it comes to referencing Wikipedia in research papers. I think many instructors wrongly assume that the information there is not credible. While in some cases this may be true, a lot of the articles are intelligently written and provide a list of credible references and in-text citation.
One issue I do see with using Wikipedia is that sometimes it is the only resource the student uses. There is no attempt to verify the accuracy of the information or explore different points of view. While Wikipedia can seem to provide more than enough details, it is important to conduct a balanced research that explores the subject through a variety of sources.
When I am researching online, I often start with Wikipedia to give me a general overview of the subject and help me determine the best search terms to use. From there, I will look through the references provided below the article and use a search engine to find other resources. Used in this way, I think Wikipedia is valuable research tool.
While I agree with you about wiki's be extraordinary for gaming or general information, I also agree with the teachers when it comes to a being a credible resource.
Watching the video, we learned that wiki's are editable by anyone and that the information may not always be correct.
I agree that Wikipedia has the potential to mislead students with inaccurate information. It is definitely important for teachers to educate their class on the best research methods. It is not enough to simply ban Wikipedia. They need to train students how to validate information and determine the credibility of the source.
This is a skill that will also be valuable outside of the classroom. As young people are bombarded with an increasing amount of information, it is important that they learn how to process and sort it effectively.
CharlieC: Watching the video Bill also pointed out that Wiki's have more accurate information than encyclopedias. Wikis have a lot of different ways to protect the information. Especially if people are trying to change it to be wrong on purpose.
Their are many ways to find out if the information is correct. I generally do not include information from Wikis that have no sources. Wikis have sources and many Wiki communities require them to have accurate information. Some of my wiki sites I visit will make the information unavailable if their are a lot of errors. This is rare, especially on Wikipedia.
One thing you also have to remember is their are mods and other users in the community just like us. They do not want the information to be wrong either so they are constantly checking it. Their is also a discussion and history tab on all Wiki articles. Generally I found that if the information is wrong it is really clear. I think most college students should be able to tell the difference.
Susan: I also start with Wikipedia. I go to the sources and look for additional information. i also take some the major points in the article and use them as search terms and find out additional information.
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