Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Northern Illinois University/NNGO 350 Community Organizations in a Digital World (Spring 2018)
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- Course name
- NNGO 350 Community Organizations in a Digital World
- Institution
- Northern Illinois University
- Instructor
- Alicia Schatteman
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Nonprofit and Community Use of Technology
- Course dates
- 2018-01-16 00:00:00 UTC – 2018-05-12 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 50
Students in this course examine how they use technology in their daily lives, how technology supports a strong civil society, and what technologies can they use to support the goals of their community or nonprofit organizations to assist in social change.
Timeline
Week 11
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 27 March 2018 | Thursday, 29 March 2018
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.
Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the "Get Help" button on this page.
To get started, please review the following handouts:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.)
- It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.
Week 12
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 3 April 2018 | Thursday, 5 April 2018
- Assignment - Evaluate a Wikipedia article
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
- Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate. As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
- Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
- Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
- Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
- How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
- How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
- Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — ~~~~.
- Assignment - Choose your topic / Find your sources
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook and the "Finding your article" training, linked below.
- Then look up 3-5 potential topics related to the course and your interests that you might want to update on Wikipedia. Review the content of the article and check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians are already contributing. Identify one or two areas from each that you could improve.
- From that list, choose 1 potential article that you can improve throughout the rest of the assignment, and post a link to the article and your notes about what you might improve in your sandbox.
- Think back to when you did an article critique. What section or content is missing? What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page.
- Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
- When you've finalized your topic, assign it to yourself on the Students tab of this course page.
Week 13
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 10 April 2018 | Thursday, 12 April 2018
- Assignment - Draft your article
You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing. First, take the "Sandboxes and Mainspace" training, linked below.
Creating a new article?
- Write an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section." Write it in your sandbox.
- A "lead" section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. The first paragraph should include important, broad facts about the subject. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas.
Improving an existing article?
- Identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Think back to the skills you learned while critiquing an article. Make notes for improvement in your sandbox.
Resources
- Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
- You can also review and download the additional subject specific handouts for editing Wikipedia topics about women's studies, psychology, sociology, history, biographies, and more as they are relevant to your work.
- Keep reading your sources, too, as you prepare to write the body of the article.
Week 14
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 17 April 2018 | Thursday, 19 April 2018
- Assignment - Peer review
Individual assignment
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- Select a classmates draft that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the article that you want to review. Then in the "My Articles" section of the Home tab, assign it to yourself to review.
- Peer review your classmate's draft. Leave suggestions on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
- Assignment - Respond to peer review
Group assignment
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback to improve your article!
- Read Editing Wikipedia pages 12 and 14.
- Return to your draft or article and think about the suggestions. Decide which ones to start implementing. Reach out to your instructor or your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
Week 15
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 24 April 2018 | Thursday, 26 April 2018
- Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper - the "mainspace."
Editing an existing article?
- NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
- Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!
Creating a new article?
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
- You can also review the Sandboxes and Mainspace online training.
Week 16
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 1 May 2018 | Thursday, 3 May 2018
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles.
- Consider adding an image to your article. Wikipedia has strict rules about what media can be added, so make sure to take the 'Contributing Images and Media Files' training before you upload an image.
- Assignment - Final article
It's the final week to develop your article.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Content Expert at any time!