College professors in US telling students to use Wikipedia for class

Washington

MOST college freshmen learn on Day 1 that they shouldn't use Wikipedia. It's framed as a crime on par with cheating: a mortal sin against the gods of academia.

In hundreds of classrooms across the US, though, some professors have begun taking a very different tack. Not only are their students encouraged to see Wikipedia as an important information source, but they're required to edit it for class assignments.

Students at Emerson College, for instance, are responsible for Wikipedia's "Theatre and disability" page. The encyclopedia article on minor depressive disorder …