Wikipedia: banned or embraced by schools?

The question was posed Friday evening on Slashdot as to whether schools should block Wikipedia:

Should we block sites such as Wikipedia because students may be exposed to misinformation, or should we encourage sites such as Wikipedia as an outlet for students to investigate and determine the validity of the information?

Any educator or school administrator worth their salt will be concerned about the validity and accuracy of information students are exposed to in the learning environment. In that regard, Wikipedia should not be blocked because while it is very possible for misinformation to be published it can be corrected just as easily, while any mistake in a hardcopy textbook might be missed and perpetuated for potentially years.

In addition, the ease with which online references like Wikipedia (which tries its best to make sure all articles site verifiable sources) can be updated make them an invaluable resource to education in this information age.

I remember in grade school when we learned about the recent fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of East and West Germany, but it was still a couple of years before we had updated history books that reflected this.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: Wikipedia, education