University students banned from Google and Wikipedia

A lecturer from the University of Brighton has banned her students from researching their essays on Google and Wikipedia, dubbing the phenomenon ‘The University of Google’. Speaking to the Brighton Argus newspaper Professor Tara Brabazon said thousands of students across the country, including those at the universities of Brighton and Sussex, were churning out banal and mediocre work by using what search engines provided them:

“I ban my students from using Google, Wikipedia and other websites like that. I give them a reading list to work from and expect them to cite a good number of them in any work they produce.”

She will be giving a lecture on the issue, called Google Is “White Bread For The Mind”, at the Sallis Benney Theatre in Grand Parade, Brighton, on Wednesday at 6.30pm.

 Update: The professor in question actually has a – presumably unbanned – Wikipedia page.