Using Wikipedia (from Civic Online Reasoning)

Using Wikipedia

Effectively Using Wikipedia in the 21st Century.

Multiple Choice

True or False. Anyone can write anything they want on Wikipedia.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False. A new writer can put all of their original research on Wikipedia

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False. Everything posted to Wikipedia must be verifiable

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False. Mr. Vooys has a Wikipedia account. He therefor could write an article about the cat he had when he was growing up.

• True.

• False.

Multiple Choice

You can always trust EVERYTHING you read on Wikipedia

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False. Once you register for a Wikipedia account then you can edit any Wikipedia article

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which of the following wiki pages do you think would have the least restrictions when it comes to making edits?

• Russo-Ukrainian War (war between Russia and Ukraine)

• Tom Brady

• West Springfield Middle School

• The 2024 Presidential Election

Multiple Choice

What are the little highlighted numbers in brackets at the end of some sentences in Wikipedia articles?

• The number of unique facts/details in the article

• The number of unique editors who have made edits to the Wiki entry

• A link to a specific citation/source cited at the bottom of the page.

• Just the numbered sentence in the article. First sentence is 1, Second is 2, etc.

Multiple Choice

True/False. All facts/details/evidence found on a Wiki article MUST be linked to a digital online version of the source to prove where the information came from.

• True.

• False.

Multiple Choice

If you were to read laterally on this story. What would be the best approach?

• Read through the article and look for information that sounds true.

• Check the grammar and spelling of the article.

• Open a new tab and search for any information you can find about the website that published the article

• Find the "About Us" tab on the ProPublica (the site that this article is on) website.

Open Ended

Use Lateral Reading, specifically with Wikipedia to tell me what you can about this Newspunch article:

Multiple Choice

True / False. Mr Vooys loves using Wikipedia. Therefor you should definitely cite Wikipedia as a source for your next Research Paper

• True.

• False.

Use Wikipedia... wisely. carefully.

Part of lateral reading

• A research paper should be your collection of other sources, wikipedia is not original research

• Use it and the attached cited sources to try to find other ways to verify a piece of information.

• It is simply one of the tools to finding good information. Should NOT be the only tool you use.