Why Blogs, Wikis, and the vast Majority of Internet Sites Cannot Be Used for Class Assignments

University Policy is strictly against the use of blogs, Wikis, and the Internet as a source for your academic work. For some reason, students believe they can continue to use them as a source for written assignments. You can’t. University Policy is explicit in this regard. The University Library has a tutorial that explains, in great detail, why Wikis (etc.) are not suited for academic work. Each assignment will require you to use a source beyond the textbook. If you use a blog, a wiki, or the Internet (there are exceptions to the Internet like Forbes or other major publications but it must be a credible source unlike, for example, “The Smoking Gun”) then you will lose 10% of your grade automatically. Use the University Library and your textbook.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Write a 500 word (or more) paper (APA formatted paper and without any grammatical errors) explaining why you cannot and will not use blogs, Wikis, or the Internet as a source for your work on any assignments in this class. There is great information in this weeks reading that will explain the weakness of blogs and Wikis and their negative impact on SEO (think “content farms”). I think this assignment gives the student who reads the material a full understanding of why these sources do not work for academic purposes. I suggest reading the assigned material thinking of this assignment. Also, as noted previously, the University Library has a great tutorial on this topic.