1. The Pros and Cons of
Ms. Ludwig
Hamden Hall Country Day School

2. What do you think of Wikipedia?
Write down 3-5 thoughts or opinions you have
about Wikipedia. You might want to address
whether or not you:
● use Wikipedia
● like Wikipedia
● trust Wikipedia
● cite Wikipedia articles in your research

3. What is Wikipedia?
● An online encyclopedia
● It has a neutral point of view
● It's free and no one "owns" it
● People who use it should be respectful and
civil
● It does not have firm rules
These are the Five Pillars of Wikipedia
Let's figure out what each one means.

4. Encyclopedia
What kind of information can be found in an
encyclopedia?
What is the difference between primary and
secondary sources? Which kind does an
encyclopedia have?
What is "original scholarship?"

5. Neutral point of view
What does that mean?
What is bias?
How can different people have different points
of view? What can affect your POV?

6. Free and open
Why is this so important to Wikipedia?
How does this make Wikipedia different from
other sources of information?
How do you think this affects the information
you can find on Wikipedia?

7. Respect and civility
What does this mean?
Why is this so important?

8. No firm rules
What the heck does THIS mean?
Why would an organization not want to have
firm rules?

9. The anatomy of a Wikpedia article

10. Reading

11. Editing

12. History

13. Discussing

14. More basics
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

15. Some questions
What do NOTES and REFERENCES tell us
about an article?
What is AUTHORITY? How can we apply that
concept to a Wikipedia article?

16. Who can edit or write an article?
Anyone!
You must use the Wikipedia manual of style
A limited number of Administrators are editors
with more control. They can LOCK articles,
DELETE users, REDIRECT articles, etc.
There is a "counter-vandalism unit." Volunteers
explore Wikipedia articles to address
vandalism.

17. Flags
Would you use this article? Why is the flag
there?

18. Time to debate!
Class will be divided into two groups. Each
group must select one note-taker. You have 10
minutes to formulate your arguments and
evidence.
Group 1: PRO Wikipedia
Group 2: ANTI Wikipedia

19. Debate rules
Group 1 will lead off with their first argument;
Group 2 will counter. Ms. Ludwig will
adjudicate.
Each argument will continue until Ms. Ludwig
calls an end to the argument (usually because
the evidence has been exhausted)
Then, Group 2 will lead off with an argument
and Group 2 will counter.
We'll continue to swap back and forth until

20. What do you think now?
Write down what you think of Wikipedia now
that we're done. Please reflect on some of
these questions:
● What do you think of Wikipedia?
● Will you use it?
● What will you use it for?
● How will you use it?