In response to a Telecom marketing initiative linking broadband to education, Steve Biddle at Geekzone expressed some reasonable concern about kids relying on the Interweb as a source of credible information.

I'd go further and be concerned if anyone was using any single source of information for any purpose.

Teachers, text-books (Feynman's experience), parents, poets, priests, politicians, the books in the library, newspapers, TV news; all suffer from weaknesses, biases and plain inaccuracy.

There's no perfect source and trying to identify it is not the skill that's needed. Discrimination is whats required, to learn to discern at best the probable accuracy taking into account source and a whole lot more.

So I agree, kids shouldn't rely on the Interweb, or anything else in isolation.

"Many eyeballs make all bugs shallow" also works in reverse.

This multi-source approach is acknowleged in the press release:

“The great thing about using broadband is that you can do so in conjunction with other excellent learning resources such as library and text books” — Telecom GM of Consumer Marketing Kevin Bowler.

The line I heard and like about Wikipedia is that it might be the first place you go, but should never be the last.

And if schoolkids using it for homework is a concern, how about the American mid-term elections?