Since 2010, more than 36,000 students in the U.S. and Canada have edited Wikipedia as a class assignment. It’s easy to quantify their impact to Wikipedia: they’ve added more than 30 million words (or two-thirds of the last print edition of Encyclopædia Britannica) on a range of academic subjects that were either underdeveloped or entirely … Continued
Though chiefly concerned with the past, an increasing number of historians are turning to new technologies to ply their trade. The growing field of digital history is helping historians to comb through large quantities of historical data and to, in many instances, reimagine the past. It’s no surprise then, that a number of historians would … Continued
Wiki Education supports thousands of students from hundreds of classes each term, but we rarely get to meet these students face-to-face. We get to know them through the millions of words they add to Wikipedia and through feedback from their instructors. Thanks to our course Dashboard, we’re able to support all of these students without … Continued
As more archives become digitized, historians are turning to new technologies to delve into the past. Drawing from a variety of disciplines, ranging from computational science to digital mapping, the burgeoning field of Digital History is enabling historians to comb through vast amounts of historical data and visualize the past in new ways. From archiving … Continued
Whether via social media, email, or text messaging, we increasingly communicate online. Sites like Facebook and Twitter let us keep up with friends and family, but they also give our words the potential to reach a very large audience. This explosion in online communication can be a powerful force for unification, but it can also … Continued
Have you thought about adopting a Wikipedia-based assignment, but are struggling with how exactly to incorporate it into your class? Have you ever wondered what other instructors teaching with Wikipedia are doing in their courses? Is this the first time you’ve heard of Wikipedia assignments, and you’d like to know more? In October, we had … Continued
The scientific community has a vested interest in a well-informed society, and the public at large is yearning for accurate scientific information. Despite these intersecting goals, a large gulf still persists between scientific expertise and public knowledge. In an age of instant access to information, reliable scientific knowledge still remains out of reach for many … Continued
The public is yearning for scientific knowledge, and scientists wish to make their findings and expertise available to the world at large. Despite these intersecting goals, the public often struggles to find clear, comprehensible scientific information. Meanwhile, the scientific community often finds its work tightly guarded behind paywalls, or drowned in the sea of media … Continued
I’m pleased to announce that Dr. Zachary McDowell has been named our 2016-2017 research fellow. Zach will investigate the student learning outcomes of a Wikipedia assignment at the higher education level. Dr. McDowell joins us from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he completed his Ph.D. in communication. He has taught courses with Wikipedia since … Continued
