Posts Tagged ‘Wikipedia’

As some of you might guess, I get mixed reactions whenever I reveal that I use Wikipedia in my history classes. And not just for reading; I actually assign my students to research and write an article for Wikipedia. And it has consistently been one of my most successful assignments. It shows students the difference between fact-only writing and analytical writing, it provides an introduction to research methods, and it gives them more insight into the working of Wikipedia, so they understand why they should or shouldn’t use it for various circumstances.

Since speaking at the American Historical Association meeting last month about Teaching History in the Digital Age, I’ve thought a bit more about what my new roles are as an educator using technology and social media. I’ve come up with three that I think help me be a better teacher.