@emmathepineappleyt4418
Teens at school: smokes in the bathroom Teachers: Ehh - Teen: breaks a window Teacher: Ehh - Teen: uses Wikipedia for a source on their report Teachers: HELL NAW
@krisselissan6539
Most of my University professors have actually told me that the best way to get started on a project or paper is to either read the wikipedia article on it and then go through its sources, or to just go through the sources. One of my Linguistics professors told us in our first lecture to prepare for the next one by reading the assigned chapter as well as the Wikipedia article on whatever feature we would be discussing. She always begins her lectures with a question round, where you can mention things you read on Wikipedia that were not included in the book. If it’s a false piece of information she corrects it, if not she integrates it into her lecture, which in my opinion is a fantastic method.
@cristad.7295
For a brief 2 minutes in 2017 (or was it '18) Wikipedia listed Paul Ryan under 'Invertebrates'
@colinflack4517
don't cite wikipidia as a source, cite the sources at the bottom
@kalaash8025
i've long taught middle and high school students that wikipedia can be a great source of sources, but, as you said, not a source that you'd actually cite in a school assignment.
@rdreher7380
One thing I've often noticed about Wikipedia, it's articles about mathematics are often impossible to understand. They are full of esoteric jargon and explanations, explaining simple things with way more advanced things. I think this likely says something about the kind of people who end up editing these pages, probably people immersed in their field not really thinking about how to explain a concept to those that don't have all their technical background, or maybe are too eager to get down everything about a topic without understanding how much that confuse someone, especially in math. It's a very good point in general that Wikipedia is biased towards having more information on topics that are popular among their community. My impression over the years has been that generally "nerdy" things do quite well. Just an impression though.
@rev.rachel
There are also some university libraries and other academic institutions that are particularly interested in digital scholarship who hire someone as a “Wikipedian-in-residence.” Their entire job is to expand and tweak Wikipedia articles, especially on topics related to specialties of the university’s professors or the items in its special collections, for instance, to increase their reliability and the completeness of their information.
@camiloiribarren1450
And we all know Wikipedia is great as a starter site to understand the basics of topics
@lhfirex
Wikipedia: pretty good for getting info most of the time. Wackypedia: only good for getting info on April Fool's Day. I also think we should write some John Green fanfic called "The Fault in Our Star-Nosed Moles" but I know I'm not up to the task. All I have is the title. Somebody please take up this torch.
@benran6124
OMG ! I've just realised you're John Green ! My favorite author ! I've watched many of your helpful videos especially those about history and I did not recognize you ! ugh , how foolish of me Thank you for all your efforts in this youtube channel and mostly your fascinating books !
@Beryllahawk
I am so glad that you used the phrase so much. "It's a great place to start looking for information." Exactly, exactly, exactly that. I wish more English teachers would get with it and make that clear to their students, instead of of harping on and on about "don't ever use Wikipedia" as if it were the Mos Eisley of websites. I mean, yes of course don't go citing Wiki articles as your main source of a quote or fact! But why can't the teachers - oh I don't know, how about a revolutionary idea - TEACH the kids to use the site in an appropriate manner???
@DeegeCar91
Never has advice had a more immediate positive impact on my life. I was just reading a wikipedia page and thought, huh, this looks like everything from an about page on a website. Then I checked the sources and most of them were the primary source. I looked at the top of the page, and realized it was already flagged for looking like an advertisement, and citing excessive or inappropriate references to self published sources. Time for a new tab! Maybe next time I'll look at the flag header first, instead of ignoring it...
@Inerize
I'm amazed how often people undervalue Wikipedia! It's the best thing Internet has ever created, after YouTube of course 😂
@jackanderson6966
This video must be shared with every english teacher ever
@cupwave2
As a 7+ year user and editor of Wikipedia, thank you! Informative content about how to use the site properly like this are very appreciated.
@mariodavidpalacio
I freaking love this course. I know, you said it before, but it really is an extension of Media Literacy, which opened my eyes to certain things. THANKS!
@gianordano
I’m a teacher and I approve this message. I have to defend Wikipedia almost every day from colleges who dogmatically condemn it as unreliable. Students are amazed when I recommend them to start their research by reading up on Wikipedia. This topic shouldn’t be hard to grasp. It’s not rocket science. It’s not even brain surgery. If you don’t believe me, look it up on Wikipedia.
@thomasr.jackson2940
Checking the references is terribly important on Wikipedia. It is common, I find, especially in more controversial articles, for the references cited to support particular statements not only are of poor quality, but frequently do not actually support the statement that cites them. While you certainly told of the importance of checking references, I do wish that you had emphasised this a bit more, perhaps with its own example in the Thought Bubble. But the gist of your article, that Wikipedia is a great source when used correctly, is very much true.
@ethan-loves
I find this Crash Course series especially empowering. Thank you for it! I consider it a great service to humankind.
@WikimediaUK