Wikipedia Won't Work...

Should Wikipedia be forbidden in students' social studies research?

As teachers, we want to prepare our students for assignments they will have in college. Most classes will require them to write papers in APA format. They will also have to write research papers based on reliable sources. Wikipedia is not one of these reliable sources. Of course there are many unreliable sources that students will encounter, but Wikipedia seems to appear at the top of every search regardless of the search engine. Wikipedia does offer a wide variety of information on basically any topic. The downfall of the site is derived from it's very name WIKIpedia... it is a wiki and the information on a wiki can be altered by anyone. When searching for information on social studies topics (or any other topic) for a research paper, students need to be able to validate the source so that they know their information is accurate. Since Wikipedia's creator even stated that the website was an unreliable source, I feel like there should be no doubt in any one's mind that it should not be used by students.

Web 2.0 Resources

Technology is a great way to add creativity to any classroom. For my ED 505 class, I chose to create Web 2.0 Resources that related to the topic of Long Division. I used the resources Glogster, Animoto, and Blabberize for this assignment. I have used Glogster as a resource in the past and it has many creative and fun ways to gain the attention of any aged classroom. Glogster is very user friendly and would be a great resource for any teacher who is just starting to incorporate technology in his/her classroom. I am a first time user of Animoto but I found that it was also very user friendly and fun to use once I figured out how to navigate the website. I think that Animoto could be used in any subject area and for any age group. Animoto is free for short videos (30 seconds long). Middle and high school students could easily make a video with Animoto has an assignment for any class. The final resource that I used is Blabberize. I had never heard of Blabberize and I never imagined a website like this existed. Blabberize allows you to take any picture and make the picture talk to you. It is very simple to create and the possibilities are endless. I literally was laughing out loud as I created talking pictures of my family members for this project. I would suggest Blabberize to any teacher who wants to capture their students' attention!


To check out the Glogster Page I created CLICK HERE.
To check out the Animoto Video I created CLICK HERE.
To check out the Blabberized pictures I created click on PICTURE 1, PICTURE 2, PICTURE 3.

Introduction

My name is Rachel Callahan. I am a graduate student at The University of West Alabama. I am working towards a special education degree (K-6). I live in Tibbie, AL and I work about 30 minutes from my home in Jackson, AL. I am a Case Manager at Jackson High School for the Workforce Investment Act “Winning Ways” grant. This grant allows at-risk juniors and seniors to receive remediation and tutoring. I also help these students with the Alabama High School Graduation Exam, core classes, and work skills. My goal is to increase graduation rate at Jackson High School. If they successfully complete this program, they are eligible to receive full college tuition for any two year program.