“This is just one other way to connect to the broader scientific community, escape the academic ivory tower, and expand your knowledge dissemination outside of paywalls and the confines of an academic journal. With the ease at which information, and more importantly misinformation spreads within our digital age, it is even more imperative that the source options that are open access have curated, accurate information presented in ways that everyone can understand.” – former Wiki Scholars participant
Wikipedia is one of the most important resources for public education, as it’s openly licensed and freely available worldwide. Wikipedia is an open educational resource (OER), offering millions of readers information produced by content experts that they can access from anywhere. Educators use Wikipedia in their curriculum design, and students often read Wikipedia to learn about topics beyond the scope of their textbooks, giving them access to deeper learning and more equitable knowledge.
The community who builds and maintains Wikipedia is more than 20 years into this project, and yet the OER content itself is still incomplete, outdated, or missing entirely. To amplify research about open educational resources to the public, Wiki Education and the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) are partnering to close this content gap. In a 6-week training course, Wiki Education will guide GO-GN members through the process of improving Wikipedia pages related to OER. Participants will collaborate to update pages about open educational resources, open educational practices, the OER ecosystem in specific regions, research related to OER and social justice, or any notable topic related to participants’ expertise and interest.
Through this project, we aim to provide Wikipedia’s readers with a better understanding of the existing OER landscape, various paths for joining the OER movement, and the benefits and challenges of adopting OER into both K-12 and higher education classrooms.
ENROLLMENT CLOSED
The Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) is a network of PhD candidates around the world whose research projects include a focus on open education (i.e. OER, OEP, MOOC). These doctoral researchers are at the core of the network, raising the profile of research into open education and promoting equity and inclusion in the field of open education research. With a comprehensive understanding of the current scholarship related to OER, GO-GN’s members are positioned to analyze Wikipedia’s OER coverage and identify existing gaps. The Wikipedia experts at Wiki Education will guide a group of these scholars through the process of bringing these pages up-to-date.
Join the movement!
OER Wiki Scholars will emerge with a deeper knowledge of how we maintain Wikipedia, the skills to add information, and the preparation to continue editing Wikipedia or lead efforts to train others. Participants will develop the technical skills and Wikipedia know-how to disseminate research to the public. Plus, we’ll have fun along the way!
Course details
- Course dates: May 25th – July 2nd (6 weeks). Meeting time will be determined by applicant availability.
- Application deadline: May 24, 2021
- Time commitment per week: One 1-hour meetings per week; 3 additional hours of independent work.
- Cost: free for members of GO-GN
- Goal: Create or expand at least one Wikipedia article related to open educational resources, including the OER article itself. Participants may work in groups or independently select a topic related to their area of study and expertise. Additionally, participants will develop the skills to continue improving Wikipedia beyond the course.
Expectations of participants
- Qualified applicants are scholars interested in open educational resources.
- No experience with Wikipedia is required or expected.
- Available for virtual meetings on Zoom, weekly for one hour.
- Participants commit a minimum of 4 hours/week, including a one-hour weekly class and independent work.
- Participants will make significant contributions to at least one article by the end of the course, improving Wikipedia’s coverage of OER.
- Participants must have access to the internet and a computer.
- Participants will fill out a short survey at the end of the course.
- Select participants will get the opportunity to be featured on Wiki Education’s blog.
ENROLLMENT CLOSED
Testimonials
“Seeing your article has been improved – by other people you’ll never meet or know! – is a really joyful experience. Knowing that you’ve contributed to something that will grow and be improved by others (and that you can come back to it and improve it yourself) really makes writing for Wikipedia feel worthwhile.” Read more…
“By the end of the course, I was incredibly proud to have written Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities. I was both dismayed but unsurprised to find a paucity of information on the topic, but I’m hopeful that my article sparks others to think about how COVID has affected populations already at high risk for a host of physical, emotional, and socioeconomic disadvantages.” Read more…
“I’ve been really surprised and happy by how many people in the Wikipedia community have reached out to thank me for my work on this. It feels really validating that people care about trans representation on the site, and understand the importance of updating images to reflect people’s identities.” Read more…
“During those six weeks I gained an invaluable amount of knowledge and experience to help improve my skills to successfully lead a Wikipedia project assignment. Each week, our instructor Ian Ramjohn walked us through the basics of Wikipedia with the goal of improving a Wikipedia article on the 2020 elections. The accessible and insightful training modules and exercises coupled with Ian’s vast knowledge of, what I would say, “Wiki-Everything,” helped to build my confidence immensely over a short period of time. ” Read more…
“Meet the public where they are. This is simple, profound, and my biggest takeaway from the Wiki Scholar experience. Contributing to Wikipedia directly responds to the public’s existing digital habits and browsing patterns….As I continue to reflect on the potential of digital exhibits and rethink what a digital history experience can look like, Wiki Education offers a compelling model for how historians can engage with the public.” Read more…
Contact us
If you’re interested in buying out a similar, customized virtual course for members of your institution, contact Director of Partnerships Jami Mathewson at jami@wikiedu.org.
Please fill out the form below to receive updates on future course opportunities. Direct any questions here or to jami@wikiedu.org.
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