Highlights Wiki Ed’s development team organized an event at the Palm Room in the Presidio, hosted by Board Members Sue Gardner and Lorraine Hariton. The event was intended to introduce our work to individuals interested in higher education, tech, and philanthropy. Wiki Ed staff has been busy with academic outreach for the Year of Science. … Continued
The Wikipedia Year of Science is an unprecedented initiative to improve science content on Wikipedia. Students at the University of Oklahoma are participating as part of Peter Barker’s “Cold War Science” course. These students research the politics around weapon systems of the Cold War and beyond (1945 to the present), exploring their connections to nuclear … Continued
What does a billion years of boredom look like? Thanks to student Wikipedians in George Waldbusser’s Biogeochemical Earth class at Oregon State University, we have a pretty good idea. Those students created an article about the “Boring Billion,” a billion-year period of our planet’s history when not very much happened at all. Ironically, it’s pretty … Continued
Here’s some student feedback you don’t see every day: “The most fun part about this project is how it forced me to study more and read more science articles.” That’s real student feedback given to Dr. Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh, whose Plant Physiology and Development course at the University of Washington-Seattle asked students to contribute knowledge … Continued
When many people want to understand the side effects of a medication, or to diagnose a new pain or rash, the first line of inquiry for medical advice is a doctor named Google. Many—if not most—of those searches end up on Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia has 25,000 medicine articles, seen by 200 million people per … Continued
Highlights The Wiki Education Foundation organized its all-staff meeting in February. The meeting provides an opportunity for face-to-face meetings between local and remote staff, and encouraged an atmosphere of increased collaboration focused on skills development and the annual planning process. Between training sessions and discussion of annual plan priorities and goals, staff also engaged in … Continued
1. People read it. With a term paper, a student is spending a term preparing to write a paper they print out, submit for a grade, and then throw away. How many envelopes with graded papers are left in your mailbox at the end of every term? Think about research as a fuel. Students are … Continued
Our Year of Science initiative aims to improve Wikipedia’s science content and student communication skills. We’re also dedicated to improving Wikipedia’s coverage of women in science. We’ve talked about the importance of role models for young women in science. Today, we want to share some exciting articles students have written about women scientists as part … Continued
Of course we think teaching with Wikipedia is rewarding for students and Wikipedia alike. After all, that’s our job! But every term, we put that theory to the test by surveying our participating instructors. We ask every instructor who taught with Wikipedia through our program to share their thoughts on what’s working, and what isn’t. … Continued
