Why do some teachers hate wikipedia?

Question

I know that at my high school they have the "anti-wikipedia" people. I think its funny.

Answer 1

Wikipedia isn't considered a scholarly source because anyone off the street can add information to it so it limits the credibility of the information given. There have been people who claim to be experts on there and have PhD's and in actuality they have never even been to college.
See their own disclaimer if you have any further questions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer

"Wikipedia is an online open-content collaborative encyclopedia, that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of human knowledge. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information.

That is not to say that you will not find valuable and accurate information in Wikipedia; much of the time you will. However, Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here. The content of any given article may recently have been changed, vandalized or altered by someone whose opinion does not correspond with the state of knowledge in the relevant fields."

Answer 2

I can't understand that anti-Wikipedia hysteria. I have been using encyclopedias since before I could read, and I soon learned that _all_ encyclopedias contain mistakes and omissions! In the old paper encyclopedia's we had to write corrections in the margins. Later on I started encyclopedias on CD and DVD, and there I couldn't correct anything! At least in Wikipedia, I can dive right in and correct and add info, knowing that hundreds of people will come by soon, and verify my corrections. But most of the time it's just some small piece of vandalism that has to be cleaned up, and most of of the time I have to be quick about it, or somebody else will have done it for me.

I don't think that Wikipedia is the best encyclopedia ever. But the fact that thousands of volunteers keep it up-to-date, verify the articles and add new info everyday, makes it a _great_ encyclopedia that can hold its own against the competition. It's just that _any_ encyclopedia has its _own particular_ weaknesses.

Answer 3

i like wikipedia. its a great source.
but ppl can edit the info, and at times, things can be inaccurate.
at times their students may hav had some bad reports wen they used wikipedia so that may be another reason.
wat i think is that there may be a cyber war going on btween teachers and wiki lol!

Answer 4

And probably because you don't really have to "research" a topic. You can just paraphrase what's in Wikipedia, without really understanding what it really means.

School is not about answering questions, it's about understanding the subject so that you can apply your knowledge later.

Answer 5

I don't know, but my American Lit. teacher hates it. She said it's the devil. I don't know what's she talking about because I love Wikipedia!

Answer 6

A lot of information on wikipedia is inaccurate, there really isn't anyone controlling what goes on there so who knows what kind of information you will be getting.

Answer 7

It's because anyone can add stuff to it without it being verified by a professional. Not only that, but people can re-write articles so that they have a bias.

Answer 8

they hate wikipedia becuz it is free and the teachers just wanna waste your money!!

Answer 9

Because people could edit the articles.

Answer 10

because its not always accurate and some teacher find it to easy like youve jst been handed the questions, teachers hav small mind so they dont understand