Submissions:2015/Wikipedia in the Global Social Studies Classroom


 * Title: Wikipedia in the Global Social Studies Classroom


 * Theme: Education


 * Type of submission: Presentation


 * Author: Kofi Khemet


 * E-mail address:


 * Username: kkhemet


 * Affiliation: Blakfacts Educational Research, Inc.


 * Abstract:     As a public school teacher it’s come to my attention that Wikipedia is one of the most used, yet reviled resources teachers love to hate. This has brought a lot of questions to mind, including, but not limited to the following:

Why do teachers tell their students not to use Wikipedia as a resource for their research paper? If Wikipedia is such a bad resource, why is it a primary resource used by teachers? Is there something inherently wrong with Wikipedia? How can this perception of Wikipedia be improved?

These are the primary questions this presentation seeks to answer.

I’ve used Wikipedia as a homeschooler, public school teacher, charter school principal, curriculum specialist and as an author of historical textbooks and Wikipedia articles and found it to be a fairly reliable resource. However, many of my colleagues and students seem to think that Wikipedia is some kind of pariah. This presentation seeks to explain the negative perception among educators and those they seek to educate.

Throughout this presentation I will give examples from articles I’ve written or edited, as well as articles written by other Wikipedia contributors, with a focus on articles of a historical nature. My purpose is to show how Wikipedia can be effectively used in classrooms to teach one particular subject, social studies. I picked this subject, because of my familiarity with Wikipedia’s strengths and weaknesses in this area.

I will use a combination of slides from screenshots, some of the 30 plus Wikipedia books I’ve created and of course participants will be able to access the actual Wikipedia references for themselves, using whatever electronic device they have at their disposal.

Ultimately, the goal of the presentation will be achieved if participants walk away with a new understanding of how Wikipedia can be a most useful social studies resource; what it’s weaknesses are; and how it can be substantially improved. Last, but not least I would like to give participants talking points to promote the use of Wikipedia as a useful resource, in teaching social studies, as opposed to a questionable source.


 * Length of presentation: 30 min.


 * Special schedule requests:


 * Will you attend WikiConference USA if your submission is not accepted?: More than likely.

Interested attendees
'''If you are interested in attending this session, please sign with your username below. This will help reviewers to decide which sessions are of high interest. Sign with four tildes. ( ~ ).''' Kkhemet (talk) 16:34, 24 August 2015 (EDT)


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