Here are five reasons I believe we should be doing the opposite—encouraging students to use and contribute to this vast repository of knowledge—from my perspective as both a middle school teacher and a scientist. 1. It’s a good place to start: Wikipedia is the first place many of us go when we want to know something.

Despite the pitfalls of Wikipedia’s potential inaccuracies, when it comes to conducting research and building Internet and information literacy, the site can be a gold mine. The following student rules will help you guide kids in properly navigating this vast resource.

Wikipedia is an opportunity to teach students essential 21st century skills that most will use in their careers and personal lives. Wikipedia is a valuable public resource, and in a classroom environment, students learn how to contribute to it and how to use it properly.

As one blogger wrote about Wikipedia, "Educators shouldn't allow students to simply use the site at will, without filtering. Educators can use the site to teach about online credibility, fact checking, primary and secondary sources, crowd sourcing … rather than simply banning it."

Educators can use Wikipedia to help students, especially those less experienced in conducting research, become more critical consumers of information.