The Wiki Education group has been fantastic. We worked with them last year to help a group of undergraduate students learn how to edit Wikipedia pages on Delftia acidovorans. Helaine Blumenthal is the Senior Program Manager at Wiki Education and has helped me set up courses and work with new editors. I was happy to see Blumenthal on the list of Open Ed 2021 speakers, and tonight we watched a session entitled “The Wikipedia Assignment as Open Education Praxis.” Blumenthal gave a quick overview before introducing instructors who use Wikipedia assignments. Delia Steverson uses the Wiki assignment in the courses they teach on Africana Studies. Steverson mentioned that a lot of the authors and contributors in this field don’t have a presence on Wikipedia. Steverson allows people to work together on a page. For example, they edited the page for the novel A Visitation of Spirits. Steverson mentioned that it is not about the number of pages, but the quality. Some pages caught the attention of journalists! Steverson uses the assignment every semester for eight weeks or more. This made me think about how to incorporate into an 8-week module. Another example of a Wikipedia Assignment was from Senior Lecturer Helen Choi who teaches advanced writing and communication for engineers course with graduate students. Choi shared how many edits the USC students made: it was impressive. In class, Choi discusses different ways of editing Wikipedia articles. Topics that students select include sustainability, non-fungible tokens, bubble tea… and many more! In some cases, students were unable to find resources and learn about writing in emerging fields. Choi also mentioned that students learn digital citizenship: “the desire to contribute to and ensure the accuracy and accessibility of information.” I love this quote!
digital citizenship: “the desire to contribute to and ensure the accuracy and accessibility of information
Helen Choi, Open Ed 2021
Heather Sharkey from the University of Pennsylvania engages students in Wikipedia. Sharkey is involved with students in editing, and they read academic articles about the politics of Wikipedia before editing. What a great idea! They often work in groups and analyze as a class Wikipedia articles to get examples and inspiration. Sharkey mentioned that students learn about what they can and can’t edit, the style of writing for Wikipedia (“formal and neutral”), and licensing. Students contribute, and it is not a disposable assignment: “it has the potential to last!” Sharkey mentioned that it is important to think about when to use Wikipedia. Blumenthal chimed in and said that Wikipedia should be a starting point and they say: “write it, don’t cite it!” Sharkey shared a thought that was intriguing: Wikipedia ends up privileging online sources and sometimes leaves archival resources behind. Steverson emphasized how easy the dashboard is to use. I agree! Steverson mentioned that the first challenge was not putting in enough effort. Steverson took the educator’s institute that I would like to take. This session inspired me to reach out to Blumenthal and the Delftia group to continue editing and improving the resources for Delftia on Wikipedia.
