Most schools have it wrong. Most schools either ban the use of Wikipedia as a source in reports altogether, or they give the "three sources" rule" which states that if they can find the same information in three sources they can cite it. This is nonsense. If I can find corroborating statements by Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, then I can state them as fact? The number of sources isn't enough; everyone needs to learn to evaluate where they get their information. The issue of whether Wikipedia as a whole can be cited or not is moot, because the quality varies widely. But aside from whether an article is cited in a research paper, it is a wonderful source for teaching information literacy. Here's why:

Each Wikipedia article needs to be evaluated separately.
Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any time, and as such, it is always a work in progress. Some articles are very good quality with a lot of references and written by editors who are very knowledgeable in the subject. Others are questionable. How do you tell the difference?

• Featured article- Wikipedia has its own criteria that it uses to determine the quality of articles. Featured articles have gone through a peer-review process to determine whether the article meets Wikipedia guidelines. Still, it is important to check the history tab to see if there have been any recent changes.

• Check references- Look at the references the article offers and see if they are from authoritative sources. Is the article written by one guy who cites himself as a source? Or does it cite the latest government statistics? Which is more trustworthy?

• Check user contributions- Was the article written mostly by one person? Look at the history tab, and click on "contribs" next to their name to see what other articles they have contributed to.

Think of it as a starting point
Even if a Wikipedia article is not an acceptable reference in itself, it often serves as a good starting point to give a general over view of a subject.

• Often the article will contain external links that are useful for further research.

• The "What Links Here" link under the Toolbox at the left-hand navigation bar can be a helpful resource to find related Wikipedia articles.

Use Wikipedia as a way to teach discourse.
Because Wikipedia depends on volunteers to write its articles, it encourages discussion between contributors to work out disagreements.

• Use the "Discussion" tab to find out what has been taken out or added to the article, and why. Oftentimes this is a place to discover controversial issues about a topic that might not be included in the article.
• Contributors also need to justify their edits. This is a good place for students to learn the art of discourse. How is a contribution justified? What is the criteria for including it? How did the contributors come to a consensus?

In today's world, there is more information being thrown at us than we know what to do with, and it is up to us to filter it. We need to teach students how to evaluate what they read, how to civilly argue (and concede) a point, how to contribute to the world of information around them. If they don't learn to think, someone will do it for them.

Researching with Wikipedia- from Wikipedia