Has anyone ever edited/created a Wikipedia entry?

[Unassisted]

Are you talking about high school? I was referring to college. I don't remember if I was allowed to use Wiki in HS. I hope not.

My kids have used it as a research source in elementary, middle and high school. Maybe 1-2 teachers didn't allow it, but the majority have permitted its use as a source. When they're allowed to use wikipedia, it's difficult to convince them to go to the trouble of using the really good online resources that are available from libraries. If I worked at an encyclopedia publisher, I'd be very afraid of Wikipedia.

[Hap]

I edited one that said Barry Larkin took over the Reds shortstop duties from Mariano Duncan.

[KronoRed]

I edited one that said Barry Larkin took over the Reds shortstop duties from Mariano Duncan.

I edited that one as well a long time back when it said that Larkin had to fight Nick Esasky for the SS job

[cincinnati chili]

My kids have used it as a research source in elementary, middle and high school. Maybe 1-2 teachers didn't allow it, but the majority have permitted its use as a source. When they're allowed to use wikipedia, it's difficult to convince them to go to the trouble of using the really good online resources that are available from libraries. If I worked at an encyclopedia publisher, I'd be very afraid of Wikipedia.

I try to be open minded about teaching methods, but this is very, very bad advice on the part of the teacher.

Wikipedia is a source of rumor. It's not a real "source" in either the journalistic or academic sense. It's a great place to START research, but all such items should be verified by something reliable. Similarly, if you are a reporter for the Enquirer and somebody tells you a member of the Reds is a drug smuggler, you don't IGNORE that information, but you don't report that until you find confirmation.

I don't care if it's a sixth grader or a graduate student, anything on wikipedia should be off limits.

[cincinnati chili]

I've used wikipedia for papers before but never as a direct source. It's a good place to start when dealing with a particular subject area b/c the better written entries are referenced and you can jump directly to those referenced footnotes and evaluate that source on it's own merits.

what he said. Some of the entries are quite good, even complex legal stuff. Rumors sometimes turn out to be true.

[RBA]

I just finished a college speech class. And you would be amazed on how many "students" would try to cite wikipedia or an obvious left wing/or right wing blog as their sources. The professor but the clamp down quickly on that.

[SandyD]

And that needs to start early on. Learning how to find information, and determine the validity of the source is one of the most important skills kids can learn. Not because all kids are going to college or into fields that require high level research skills. But ALL KIDS are going to be consumers, and hopefully voters. The better equipped they are to evaluate the enormous amount of information we encounter, the better off we'll all be.