Taming the Wild Wiki - Lesson Lesson Plan

Level: Grades 7 to 9

Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts

Duration: 2 hours (excluding assessment and evaluation tasks)

This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & CREATE: A Digital Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.

Overview

Students are introduced to Wikipedia, the user-edited online encyclopedia, and given an overview of its strengths and weaknesses as a research source. They are taught how to evaluate the reliability of a Wikipedia article and then attempt to improve an existing article.

Learning Outcomes

 Students will:

  • learn how to evaluate a Wikipedia article for reliability
  • learn how to effectively use Wikipedia as a research source
  • assess the reliability of sources
  • state and defend an opinion
  • research a topic and publish their research
  • contribute to a public debate

Home and School Connection

This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) is available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.

Lesson Kit