I came across this neat video at Kimberly Christen’s blog, Long Road, on students’ thoughts on whether it is OK to use Wikipedia as a source for research or not.

What is interesting about the video is that it states that professors tell students not to use Wikipedia as one of their sources even though students will still use it and just not cite it.  I absolutely agree with the professors’ stance on not using it.  ANYONE can change the content of a given article, regardless of the author’s credentials.

On the other hand, there are professors who do not discourage students from using Wikipedia.  They will use Wikipedia in their courses.  Last semester, I took an online course; in the course materials, I found many citations from Wikipedia!  I was a bit disturbed because seeing my professor use Wikipedia as one of the sources made me feel unsure of whether or not I got an accurate content of the course and a good quality education on the subject.

Any thoughts on whether it is OK or not for professors to use Wikipedia in their course materials?

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