Jump to content

Submissions/Utilisation of Wikipedia within a learning environment

After careful consideration, the Programme Committee has decided not to accept the below submission at this time. Thank you to the author(s) for participating in the Wikimania 2015 programme submission, we hope to still see you at Wikimania this July.

Submission no.
6012
Title of the submission
"Now remember class, DO use Wikipedia!"
Type of submission (discussion, hot seat, panel, presentation, tutorial, workshop)
Presentation followed by a discussion
Author of the submission
ellis.o22
E-mail address
ellis5956@gmail.com
Username
ellis.o22
Country of origin
England, United Kingdom
Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.)
Personal homepage or blog
Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal)
"Now remember class, DON'T just use Wikipedia; you can never trust it and it's probably all incorrect!" As a student myself, those words have reverberated throughout my time in education. As an editor, however, I feel obligated to defend Wikipedia and the power it can provide students and teachers alike when using it for research.
In my experience, not many teachers know how about Wikipedia's sourcing and referencing policies; if you can't back up the statement you are making with a source, it won't be on the page. Educating teachers about said sources will allow for a whole new learning experience; it can enable teachers to know when and how to use Wikipedia efficiently and productively, without only scratching the surface and with accurate referencing skills. Students can also benefit. It's a fact that a high volume of students use Wikipedia for research within school assignments. Again, in my experience, students frequently copy and paste phrases and sentences from the Wikipedia entry itself as opposed to visiting the source from which that nugget of information was retrieved; the source could have a plethora of information that could be even more relevant to their task in hand. This also then enables the student to build up a reputable set of sources as opposed to a single and often-discriminated source of information that is Wikipedia. I myself have frequently assisted my peers in doing this. Educating students and teachers about how Wikipedia can be used positively in education will allow for a reliable way of thinking; my long-term outcome would be to hopefully have the students develop a love for learning and use Wikipedia further to expand their own general knowledge.
Wikipedia is one of the most-visited websites in the world; it is also perhaps one of the most-frowned-upon and unnecessarily so. I intend to demonstrate how to put an end to that as well as how Wikipedia can successfully be utilised in education establishments by students and teachers alike.
Track
Length of session (if other than 30 minutes, specify how long)
30 minutes
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
I hope to!
Slides or further information (optional)
Special requests


Interested attendees

If you are interested in attending this session, please sign with your username below. This will help reviewers to decide which sessions are of high interest. Sign with a hash and four tildes. (# ~~~~).

  1. AKoval (WMF) (talk) 15:38, 3 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Iván Montejo-Martínez (talk) 15:29, 7 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Joalpe (talk) 23:04, 24 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  4. FKoudijs (WMF) (talk) 16:52, 2 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Add your username here.