You shall not pass (if use use credible websites way more accurate than our textbooks)

"If you use Wikipedia in your essay, I'll know."

An iconic lie by three high school teachers and four college professors. This line was about as believable to us students as, 

"It'll be obvious if you don't read the book, SparkNotes isn't a good idea."

Let's be real, most people have never actually made it past the third chapter of Lord of the Flies and have flocked to sources like Quizlet and SparkNotes. 

Anyone that was born before or in this generational gap we are in would probably say utilizing those sites mentioned above is cheating. How?

We are engaging our students in the Internet of Things, they are learning valuable research skills, and at the end of the day, if they the assignment is constructed in a way that encourages critical thinking rather than simple fact-based answers, the origin of the knowledge of  the book is insignificant. 

The bottom line is that these resources are here and they aren't going anywhere. in fact, there will always be even a better and more efficient option taking their places in a blink of an eye. Instead of shunning them and kids taking extreme measures to cover up their inevitable usage. Utilize those incredible sites and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge (and even the occasional radically off base ideas) and have the kids make an impact and engage them in much bigger ideas. 

I love the idea of teaching kids credibility online by using the "World's Rubric" in Wikipedia. I think using that and having students edit those low graded pages is an incredible way to validate student work.