Interdisciplinary scholars are bringing their expertise to Wikipedia
Our new program trains scholars to improve Wikipedia articles in their areas of expertise. The 3-month online course (which meets virtually once a week) presents an opportunity for professional development and public scholarship, equipping scholars with the tools they need to expand the impact of research in their discipline. So far, cohorts are improving Wikipedia’s … Continued
Science experts learn how to bring their knowledge to Wikipedia
Contributing scientific content to Wikipedia means being able to distill complex topics to a general audience who may not have a scientific background. Experts are well positioned to do this sort of ‘translating’ because they have access to the latest research and have a deep understanding of these topic areas. It’s no secret that the … Continued
Why academic institutions are supporting experienced Wikipedia editors
The Visiting Scholars Program at Wiki Education creates a bridge between academic institutions and experienced Wikipedia editors. This bridge allows Wikipedians to disseminate Universities’ scholarly sources and collections to the millions of reader accessing Wikipedia every month. The Wikipedian is thus supported in their efforts to continually improve the world’s largest repository of free knowledge; … Continued
New Fellows cohort to make academic research accessible to as many as possible
We kicked off another cohort of Wikipedia Fellows last week. Fellows in this cohort will have the opportunity to explore contributing to areas of their choosing. We selected Fellows with a diverse set of interests so that they may contribute to and improve a wide range of Wikipedia articles. Familiar with sources in their areas … Continued
Academics to improve Wikipedia articles related to midterm elections
This week, Wiki Education kicked off a new project to engage academic experts to improve Wikipedia articles on issues and candidates related to the upcoming midterm elections in the U.S. As part of our ongoing efforts to improve politically relevant topic areas on Wikipedia, we are supporting academic experts to improve these articles over the … Continued
Announcing Jean-Philippe Béland as the Visiting Scholar for Rutgers University
Jean-Philippe (User:Amqui) has been a Wikipedian since 2006. He has improved and created many articles on French-language Wikimedia projects as well as the English Wikipedia, including writing several featured articles for Wikipedia and Wikivoyage. In fact, he has created over 1,900 articles on the French Wikipedia alone. Currently, he is working in the Wikiversity to … Continued
The success of our first Wikipedia Fellows cohort
Our very first Wikipedia Fellows cohort has finished! For the first three months of 2018, we piloted a new program in which nine academic experts completed rigorous training and contributed to more than sixty articles on Wikipedia. We are proud of their work and are excited to have new Wikipedians out in the world! From Race to Masculinity to Margaret Atwood, you … Continued
Visiting Scholars opportunity at North Dakota State University
We have another exciting announcement for Visiting Scholars. We have an opening at North Dakota State University in partnership with almost 100 departments. Founded in 1890 as North Dakota’s land grant university, North Dakota State University (NDSU) is a Carnegie-Classified “Higher Research Activity” university. As a land grant university, there is a strong focus on … Continued
What happens to a student’s motivation when their work has an impact beyond the classroom?
“Pseudotransactionality is the practice of having students pretend to write a letter to an employer, a newspaper article, or even a tweet” to situate their learning in ‘real-life’ contexts, writes Dr. Kathleen Sheppard, an instructor in our program. “It’s a real process, but with an artificial end. Students know this, so they tend not to work … Continued
Announcing a Visiting Scholar opportunity at the University of New Mexico
I’m excited to announce a new opportunity at the University of New Mexico (UNM) for a Wikipedian interested in the following areas: Southwestern, Hispanic or New Mexican culture, health in the high desert, or environmental policy in the Southwest or Latin America. As of today, the English Wikipedia has just short of 5.6 million articles. … Continued