Journal # 10

"Learning Connections: What? Wikipedia In History Class?" By Jeremy Boggs (NETS 1,2,and 4)


Boggs, Jeremy. (2010). Learning connections: what? wikipedia in history class?. Learning and Leading, 38(4), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Learning_Connections_What_Wikipedia_in_History_Class.aspx

Summary: In this article Jeremy talks about how he uses Wikipedia in his history classroom. He does this through a project that he assigns to his students. He says that this assignment, that has his students research and write an article for Wikipedia, makes them become more responsible digital citizens. He also says that this assignment shows his students the differences between fact only writing and analytical writing, introduces them to research methods and shows them the benefits and pitfalls of Wikipedia. First he has his students select a relevant topic based on their interests. Then they have to write a five hundred word article that is required to have bibliographic data from two books, two websites, and also two other Wikipedia pages. After the students publish their articles they must periodically check them to see if anyone has added anything or made changes. They must then connect with the people who made the changes. At the end the students have to write a reflection on the project. The last thing he says is that it also helps students learn to format online and write professionally for publication.

Question 1: Do you think this is a good project for students?
A: I want to be a history teacher. In my opinion this is a great project. It teaches students a ton of skills! Also it makes the grading process paperless becasue the educator can just go on Wikipedia to see the students work. The only downfall that I see is some students may not have access to the internet at home so the whole project would have to be done in school.

Question 2: What is the big deal about Wikipedia in the classroom?
A: Wikipedia is a great resource if used correctly. There is a wealth of general research information and it is a great place to get a little background on a topic. That being said anyone can edit the information available so some of it may be less reliable. Pages can be marked for deletion if there is false information. Use with caution.