This presentation will address some of the issues that teachers and students have about using Wikipedia. Short answer is YES, with some caution. With a little understanding and know-how Wikipedia articles can be a gateway to a whole new world of research for teachers and students, especially for those that are having a hard time getting started.
Take a tour of Wikipedia and how it can be used as a resource when doing the first stages of Research. This is part of a larger Crash Course set of videos dealing with Media Literacy.
Article about the reasons to use Wikipedia in your classroom with your students.
Another Ed World article about the evaluation of information and the foundation of Fact vs. Opinion that students need to do research
This tool is intended for higher education but there are lots of resources and ideas that can be adopted to different grade levels.