The Van Gogh Museum had 366K in-person visitors in 2021. Meanwhile, the Vincent Van Gogh article on Wikipedia had that many views in one month alone. In an increasingly digital world, appreciators of European art young and old are flocking online to learn more. And they’re especially going to Wikipedia. That’s why we’re thankful that … Continued
For public policy students, writing for Wikipedia is a way of participating in conversations important to our democracy. Students embody a new and important role: conveyors of fact and truth. They must ask themselves, What information are people looking for? What sources are most trustworthy? What is the right tone? Aaron Franklin, a third-year at … Continued
Women are often the de facto leaders in community change, social movements, and political groundswells. So why are only 19% of Wikipedia biographies about them? That’s what Natchee Barnd set out to correct in our recent Women in Red Wiki Scholars course. In the virtual course, a group of experts spanning many disciplines gathered together … Continued
One day in December, Naven Parthasarathy ran into his professor Diana Strassmann, who, to his surprise, congratulated him. “She was like, you didn’t hear?” Naven recounts. It turns out, the Wikipedia biography that he had written about Kiyoshi Kuromiya as part of Dr. Strassmann’s course at Rice University had been read 800K times in the … Continued
When women are exposed to women role models in science, they are more likely to pursue STEM careers and feel a greater sense of belonging in them–a key indicator for career longevity. Reading just one story of a woman in a successful career makes a difference for the confidence and performance of undergraduates in the … Continued
For students hoping to pursue medical careers, distilling science into plain language for a general audience is an invaluable skill. Collaborating with peers about how best to communicate important concepts is also important. And practicing writing these explanations for a real-live audience of thousands is even better. When students learn to adapt course content and … Continued
You’ve seen this spider, right? It lives in close proximity to humans and is one of the most common spiders in North America. You may have even Googled it to see if it’s poisonous, whether you knew the name or not. If you typed something like “spider with orange spots” into the search bar, you … Continued
Can’t get enough of other instructors’ experiences with the Wikipedia assignment? Dr. Laura Ingallinella of the University of Toronto has just published an excellent journal article in the Bibliotheca Dantesca: Journal of Dante Studies that details her successes, challenges, and learnings incorporating Wikipedia editing into her teaching at Wellesley College. Dr. Ingallinella outlines the benefits … Continued
Wiki Education hosted webinars all of October to celebrate Wikidata’s 10th birthday. Below is a summary of our fourth event. Watch the webinar in full on Youtube. And access the recordings and recaps of the other three events here. For our fourth and final webinar celebrating Wikidata’s birthday, Hilary Thorsen, Julian Chambliss, Kate Topham, and … Continued
