When BC senior Marie Pellissier was asked to identify figures associated with the “West,” she had a few ideas. “Most of the class, myself included, listed men like Buffalo Bill Cody or Sam Houston,” she said. The imagination of the American West, it seemed, had been largely shaped by men. Marie (User:Pellissm) was a student in Professor … Continued
Wiki Ed’s Classroom Program is focused on improving Wikipedia by having university students in the United States and Canada write high-quality articles that fill content gaps as part of their coursework. And in fall 2014, the program filled more content gaps than ever before, with improvements in subject areas like archaeology (improved by students from … Continued
Highlights The fall 2014 term wrapped up, with Wiki Ed supporting more student editors, courses, and instructors than ever before, and the most content added to Wikipedia. While the majority of student editors added high-quality content, a handful of courses encountered challenges adding quality content to Wikipedia, and Wiki Ed’s Programs team is working on … Continued
I’m pleased to announce a new hire at the Wiki Education Foundation this week. Ryan McGrady will be the interim Classroom Program Manager this spring while Helaine Blumenthal is on maternity leave. Ryan earned a masters in digital media studies at Emerson College, and is completing his PhD dissertation with North Carolina State University on … Continued
Highlights Joined by volunteer Becky Carmichael, Jami attended the National Women’s Studies Association’s annual conference to recruit instructors to join the Classroom Program. During the 3-day event, they engaged with instructors who teach in Women’s Studies and related departments as potential target group for closing content gaps on Wikipedia. Becky and Jami hosted an exhibitor’s … Continued
1. Highlights The Assignment Design Wizard, our tool for streamlining and automating curriculum design for instructors, has been deployed for testing and feedback. This tool simplifies the support required for setting up new instructors or courses per term, furthering our goal of bringing more student editors into the program. The fall term is well underway with … Continued
Around 9 out of 10 of the editors on Wikipedia are male. What this means is that articles are shaped by one voice, and missing the diversity of content that different perspectives bring. Wikipedia articles on women are more likely to be missing than Wikipedia articles on men (compared to other encyclopedias). It’s natural: When … Continued
Contributed by Andrew Stuhl, Bucknell University. The entire semester hung in that moment. Twenty-six college students and I had spent four months updating Wikipedia articles on the History of Ecology. Now, as their research went live on the web, we sat in our classroom, thinking about what all that work meant. What did students take … Continued
1. Highlights The staff moved into our first office, half of a two-story historic 19th century officer’s home in The Presidio of San Francisco. We’re getting up to speed by adding new furniture daily and are excited to collaborate together in person. Two staff members have joined the Programs Department. Helaine Blumenthal is the new … Continued
