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Should Schools Block Sites Like Wikipedia?
Londovir asks: "Recently, our school board made the decision to block Wikipedia from our school district's WAN system. This was a complete block — there aren't even provisions in place for teachers or administrators to input a password to bypass the restriction. The reason given was that Wikipedia (being user created and edited) did not represent a credible or reliable source of information for schools. Should we block sites such as Wikipedia because students may be exposed to misinformation, or should we encourage sites such as Wikipedia as an outlet for students to investigate and determine the validity of the information?"
It will always have enough quirks to make it unacceptable. Just like linux has only 1% market share Wikipedia will have only 1% reliable information. You must remember that if you are paying thousands to get a degree you should be learning to use sources that are reliable. If you think wikipedia is reliable then your job will be outsourced to countries where they ban wikipedia and have properly educated people and you will be flipping burgers for the rest of your life.
Wikipedia makes people stupid. The most visted articles are about sex and Naruto.
Compared to the "Dog ate My Homework Routine" we're now getting from the White House, Wikipedia just got its credibility moded up.
By this standard, the students will have to have the White House website blocked as well. Its simply not fact based and the last thing we should be doing to further damage the already declining morals of American youth would be to expose them to the immorality of this presidency. Especially, since today the White House announced that POTUS has made it official. He is now on record as supporting the World Bank president's right to get blowjobs at taxpayers expense. I had thought that kind of moral failing went out with the Clinton years.
I'm shocked just the quickly right wing nuts on the wheels of state have lost their bearings. No wonder the Repooplican party is in such disarray. One has to ask just how long they will continue to engage in this kind of facistic behavior just to continue to provide cover.
Yes, I've been to school, with several degrees, and in several countries. And I've taught in several schools in several countries.
And you obviously haven't read about the inaccuracies in Encyclopedia Britannica...:-)
So, it would appear that you really do believe that you are capable of determining 'accurate' info?
Such arrogance. Must be an American. May I suggest you start with Socrates "All I know is that I know nothing", and work on from there.