Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/Oberlin/Environment and Revolution in the Middle East (Spring 2015)/Timeline

Timeline

Week 1: Wikipedia essentials

In class

• Overview of the course
• Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
• Handout: Editing Wikipedia (available in print or online from the Wiki Education Foundation)

Week 5: Editing basics

In class

• Basics of editing
• Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
• Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments
• Handouts: Using Talk Pages handout and Evaluating Wikipedia brochure

Assignments (due Week 6)

• Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
• Create a User page, and and click the "enroll" button on the top left of this course page.
• To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to any Wikipedians helping your class (such as a Wikipedia Ambassador), and leave a message for a classmate on their user talk page.

Milestone

• All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

Week 6: Exploring the topic area

In class

• Handouts: Choosing an article and How to get help and Citing sources on Wikipedia and Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia

In class exercises

• Critically evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to the class, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's talk page.
• Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you will consider working on as your main project. Ask your instructor for comment.
• Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.

For next week

• Instructor evaluates student's article selections, by week 7.

Week 7: Choosing articles

Before class

• Discuss the range of topics in country teams that individual students will be working on and strategies for researching and writing about them.

Assignments (due Week 7)

• Identify the article you wish to write or the stub(s) you wish to expand
• Prepare an individual PowerPoint presentation as part of your country team's presentation to the class

In class

• Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
• Q&A session with instructor and media assistant about

interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.

Week 9: Identifying Sources

In class

• Begin to compile a bibliography of relevant research and start reading the sources.

Milestone

• All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 10: Drafting Paragraphs

Assignments (due Week 10)

• If you are starting a new article, write a paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, write a summary version reflecting the content the article will have after it's been improved, and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page.
• Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues.
• Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.

Week 11: Moving articles to the main space

In class

• Handout: Moving out of your sandbox

In class

• Move sandbox articles into main space.
• Optional: For new articles or qualifying expansions of stubs, compose a one-sentence “hook,” nominate it for “Did you know,” and monitor the nomination for any issues identified by other editors.
• Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 12: Building articles

Practice outside of class in teams

• Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
• Share experiences and discuss problems.
• Handouts: “Uploading images” and “Evaluating Wikipedia article quality” (handed out originally in week 2)

Assignments (due Week 13)

• Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 13: Getting and giving feedback

In class

• As a group, have the students offer suggestions for improving one or two of the students' articles, setting the example for what is expected from a solid encyclopedia article.

Assignments (due Week 14)

• Peer review one of your classmates' articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
• Copy-edit the reviewed articles.

Milestone

• All articles have been reviewed by others. All students have reviewed articles by their classmates.

Week 14: Peer Review

In class

• Students give in-class presentations about their experiences editing Wikipedia.

Assignments (due May 16)

• Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
• Write a reflective essay (3 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.

Week 15: Due date

You made it!

Milestone

• Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading, and have submitted reflective essays.

(Click to return to your main course page and continue.)