Wikipedia is one form of social media, and often at the bull’s eye of “new media myopia” (Obar, 2012). When asked to do research, Wikipedia is usually the first place students look. While we might want to teach students that Wikipedia is one place to start, it usually is not the one place where we want them to end. Therefore, incorporating Wikipedia into classroom instruction is a powerful way to teach students how to analyze the sources they use. This presentation will introduce educators to possible ways Wikipedia can be utilized in the classroom as a teaching and learning tool.

1. Wikipedia
A Tool for Teaching
(Skeptical) Research
Presented by:
Loren Kleinman, Director, Writing Center,
Passaic County Community College
Ken Karol, Technology Resource Specialist,
Passaic County Community College
Elizabeth Nesius, Director, Academic Foundations English,
Hudson County Community College

2. Wikis & Wikipedia
 Wiki – collaborative Web site edited by the
user community
 Theoretically, always a work in progress,
never perfected
 Wikipedia – free, multilingual online
wiki/encyclopedia (hence ―Wikipedia‖)
– Over 4 million articles
– Nearly half a billion unique visitors per month
– Essentially, the default encyclopedia of our
time

3. What we hear from faculty
 ―I don’t allow my students to use
Wikipedia.‖
 ―Wikipedia is not a valid source for
research.‖
 ―Wikipedia is not accurate and the
entries are not complete.‖
 ―Wikipedia is the source for
misinformation.‖

4. Myths & Fears about Wikipedia
 Full of inaccuracies
– Anyone with Internet access can edit
– Articles are constantly being changed
 Loss of control
– Academics and librarians no longer gatekeepers
– Not vetted by ―professionals‖
 Too easy

5. Realities about Wikipedia
 Wikipedia is the largest collaborative writing
project in human history
 Well-Monitored
– Inaccurate information will not last long; repeat
offenders’ accounts disabled
– Insignificant information (e.g. vanity entries) will
not be published
 Information must be verifiable to stay
 While it is easy to access (in multiple senses),
readers are directed to more sources for
deeper information

7. Embracing Wikipedia
 Generally well-cited
– Leads to other sources of information
– Citations for information offered or requested if unavailable
 Neutral voice
– Having multiple contributors leads to a consensus
 Provides good topical overviews
– Better than most free Web sites
 It’s timely
– Updated more often than traditionally published
encyclopedias
– Updated more often than most other websites

8. Title V Writing Initiative at PCCC
(2007-2012)
 40 sections of Writing Intensive general education courses
(Composition 1 prerequisite)
 Portfolio assessment of writing, critical thinking, and information
literacy
– Info lit assessment had already been conducted for 10 years in
PCCC’s first-year experience course
 Information literacy weak spots: citation and evaluation of
sources
 Problem not that students were using Wikipedia but rather they
weren’t citing it and weren’t exploring other sources
 Students were using it even if they were told not to (and then
simply didn’t cite it)
 However, instructors often did not suggest alternative outside
sources of information

9. Incorporating Wikipedia into the
First-year Experience
 Every section of the First-Year Experience has an
Information Literacy module
 Librarians present during one class period
 Students complete an Exercise for homework and
a Project that is 25% of their final grade for the
course
 Inspired by findings in WI course assessment,
Wikipedia incorporated into Exercise and Project
– Students find Wikipedia entry on their selected
research topic
– Students cite the Wikipedia entry in MLA format
– Students explore one of the citations included in the
original entry

10. Composition, WAC &
Wikipedia
 Don’t have to use Wikipedia as a reference
source; use it to bring authentic, immediate
audience for student writing (Cummings).
 Wikipedia assignments offer the chance to
consider student writers' responsibilities in topic
selection (Cummings)
 Use it as a teaching tool as part of the Bookshelf
Project.
 Creating knowledge rather than consuming it
 Use as an opportunity to teach critical thinking.
 Teach the importance of credibility and clarity in
writing.

11. Case Study
 Robert Cummings, author of Lazy Virtues: Teaching Writing in
the Age of Wikipedia and an assistant professor of English and
director of First-Year Composition Program at Columbus State
University, in Georgia.
 Robert Cummings says, ―As a class we then observe how
Wikipedians react to our contributions and get advice from each
other to develop effective rhetorical strategies before we
respond to our audience online. Lastly, students are asked to
compose an essay where they reflect on the experience of
writing for this large audience, and how the experience fails or
succeeds in helping them to develop their writing skills. Their
grade is determined mainly by their participation in these offline
writing assignments, and not the text contributed to Wikipedia
itself.‖

12. Using Wikipedia in Class
 Make sure your students understand how it
works
 Demonstrate (or have them try) changing an
article—can you get through a lecture without
the changes being reversed?
 WID
– Form carries out purpose: Articles on different
topics look different
– Gives context to the rules of discipline-specific
writing

13. Collaborative Learning
 Wikipedia can support collaborative
learning for students and faculty:
Students Faculty
Support peer-to-peer interaction Engage in the student writing
in virtual spaces process on a deeper level
Distribute and share knowledge Connect student learning with
what they will most likely be
doing after graduation
Students as writers, editors, and Promote and foster instructional
contributors rather than change
readers/consumers

14. What We’ve Learned
 Wikipedia sparks conversation!
 Students are going to use it no
matter what, and it’s our job to
make sure they use it well.

15. Questions / Comments
 Has your perception of Wikipedia
changed?
 Would you continue this conversation
with colleagues at your college or
university?
 Would you be willing to integrate
Wikipedia into your research or writing
lesson planning?

16. Works Cited
 Cummings, Robert. ―Are We Ready to Use
Wikipedia to Teach Writing?‖ Inside Higher
Ed. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.
 Patch, Paula. “Meeting Student Writers
Where They Are: Using Wikipedia to
Teach Responsible Scholarship.‖
Teaching English in the Two-Year College,
v37 n3 p278-285 Mar 2010. National
Council of Teachers of English. Web. 25
Feb. 2013.