Hi Students. Here is another quick video from me this week. Please watch. Then, scroll down.
NOW: On to the promised video links. I need you to watch these two videos. These concepts are going to be super important to us going forward:
AND FINALLY: please write in comments to this post and tell us your reactions. What do you think?! Do you read, laterally, as a rule? Were you told that Wikipedia is “bad”? I want to get some dialogue going on this post. So any reflection you have about your past or your style of research is really encouraged. (And, by the way, I LOVE Wikipedia! And I hear this all the time.)
I think that when it comes to the information we obtain online, it is always good to approach it with a skeptical mindset. I find that reading laterally is a good practice when it comes to research because it allows you to cross-check the information you are reading with other sources to determine its accuracy. Personally, I have more experience when it comes to writing scientific research papers and have always been told that Wikipedia is not a valid source. However, though I’ve never cited the Wikipedia site itself, oftentimes I like to use the resources listed on the Wikipedia page to gain access to more up-to-date articles related to my topic. Though Wikipedia may contain mistakes from time to time, it is a good source to go to locate the most current information on a subject.
Tina is correct; you never know which website will provide the correct information. I usually check a variety of sources for responses to ensure that the results are correct. A teacher cautioned me in middle school to stay away from Wikipedia. I, of course, did it. Since then, I haven’t used any of the information I gathered there. However, the videos I’m seeing right now have changed my mind. I feel compelled to use it to find answers to all of my questions about things. It appears to be a valuable website, but all I have to do now is figure out how to utilize it properly.
Because when Trump was president there were many different headlines for somethings, like FOX and CNN had a very different POV so I did not know what to believe. On social media you would see people with different opinions too so I would do my own research by reading multiple sources and looking for non bias information. Ever since I was little I would go to Wikipedia for research papers but now that I am older since I was told many times that it isn’t trustworthy I try to avoid it. I usually read 5-10 articles and look for evidence to make sure I am not wrong and sometimes I watch videos too.