User:Jzhui

As a senior at Ball State University, I have done many tutorials for classes. There have been some that I liked, many that I did not, some that were very organized and concise while others were simply poor and confusing.

I felt that the Wikipedia tutorial was simple to use, understand, and to learn from. The organization was very well grouped together for understanding purposes. Since this was my assignment for a computer class, and the fact that it was a basic tutorial designed for everyone to use on the web, I figured that it could not have been extremely difficult. Sure enough, it walked me through each step enough for me to understand the basic principle being explained.

After using and learning more about Wikipedia, I have concluded from pros and cons with this website. The advantage of this is its simplicity and ease of use. Anyone can log on and search for whatever information they need. I am fluent in searching for academic related information, however if I want to learn more about something non-school related like Honda's NSX sports car, I have the opportunity to search this website for a variety of information. That flexibility comes to another advantage; if anyone can use and add to the topic of information, I can search and get a wide range of knowledge for my subject of intrest along with the ease of editing the information. All of this is very convienent assuming the information is from a credible source or knowledgeble person. There lies the problem, the disadvantage of this search site is if anyone can edit or add information, the information may or may not be completly accurate. This can be corrupt and be a major disadvantage for a student of academics if the source of the information is less than consistant and therefore not very crediable.

The 5 pillars of Wikipedia are, 1. It is an encyclopedia of generalized information, 2. Wikipedia has a neutral point of view that does not discriminate nor favor a point of view, 3. it is free for anyone to edit, 4. it has a code of conduct that must be respected by other users, 5. Wikipedia does not have firm rules beside these 5 pillars. I feel that the best method for providing information is to be non-biased, open minded, unliminted free thinking material. These 5 pillars allows the users to join together for the intrest of knowledge in a non-discriminatory manner. It allows users the freedom of speech while being respectful to one another. I would have to agree on the 5 pillars that guide Wikipedia and realize that some of the information must be "taken with a grain of salt".

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