Improving Wikipedia’s coverage of Indigenous Canadians
Improving Wikipedia’s coverage of historically marginalized populations has long been a driving force behind our work, so we’re proud to highlight the incredible work of two classes from Fall 2020 that sought to advance Wikipedia’s content around Indigenous populations of Canada. Both courses tackled the systemic biases that continue to pervade Canadian institutions as they relate to Indigenous peoples … Continued
Student adds history of Montreal’s Black Power movement to Wikipedia
Dr. Thomas Peace taught a course called Crises and Confederation at Huron University College in the spring. The course focused on Canadian history from 1867 to the present and explored four main themes: Indigenous peoples, language and multiculturalism, war, and gender. “In the past I have had students prepare proposals for exhibits that connect the broad themes … Continued
Student-written Wikipedia articles compiled in textbook for future classmates
This term, Dr. David Webster is trying something new. “This year’s textbook [is] written by previous years’ students,” he announced over Twitter, much to the excitement of his followers. Dr. Webster has taught his students at Bishop University how to contribute to Wikipedia as a classroom assignment for a few terms now. In his Spring 2016 course, Memory, truth … Continued
Putting it all together: details of a Wikipedia assignment
John Kleefeld taught with Wikipedia in Spring 2017 as associate professor at University of Saskatchewan’s College of Law. He has since joined the University of New Brunswick faculty as dean of law. This is a republication of his reflections about a Wikipedia assignment, originally published at the conclusion of his Spring 2017 course on the University of Saskatchewan’s … Continued
When students write Wikipedia articles about law
Millions of users traffic Wikipedia every month, looking for information on a wide variety of topics. Many of those users then take that information into account when making political and behavioral decisions. That’s why Wiki Education is committed to improving Wikipedia’s coverage of topics relevant to an informed citizenry. Our Future of Facts initiative encourages participants in our … Continued
University of Windsor Seeks Wikipedia Visiting Scholar
Windsor, Ontario incorporated as a small village in 1854. The University of Windsor was founded just three years later. Today, Windsor is a major Canadian city and the school is a large, public university counting more than 15,000 students in 255 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With 160 years of history, the university’s library has … Continued
Student at York University wins faculty writing prize for Wikipedia article
“Did you know… that the Canadian government invests millions of dollars in First Nations communities to close the digital divide in Canada?” On February 8, 2017, this blurb appeared on Wikipedia’s main page in the Did You Know? section, which features interesting facts from newly developed articles. In this case, the article was created and fleshed out … Continued
Roundup: O Canada!
O Canada, land of the maple leaf and the United States’ neighbor in the North. Some see this nation in term of its stereotypes: everyone loves ice hockey, lives in the wilderness, and drink nothing but beer. The truth of the matter, however, is that Canada is a country with a rich culture that is … Continued
Wiki Education runs Wikipedia workshop for Montreal-area instructors and faculty
On August 10, Outreach Manager Samantha Weald and I hosted a workshop in Montreal alongside the pre-conference workshops for Wikimania 2017. This four-hour workshop offered an opportunity for Wiki Education to connect deeply with new instructors and university faculty members in the area who were interested in learning more about teaching with Wikipedia. Since we ran … Continued
Wiki Ed attends “Festival of Learning” in British Columbia
Last month, I attended the Festival of Learning in Burnaby, British Columbia. The session about teaching with Wikipedia, co-facilitated by Dr. Rosie Redfield, Dr. Judy Chan, and Clint Lalonde, was a great opportunity to showcase Wikipedia’s efficacy as a pedagogical tool for students. Dr. Redfield taught an ecology class at the University of British Columbia. It’s … Continued