Wikipedia:School and university projects/ISP/News

September 20, 2011
A group of International School of Prague (ISP) Upper School Teachers, Curriculum Coordinator, Head Librarian and US IT Integration Specialist met with two members of Wikipedia Czech Republic in an effort to launch a collaborative project with both faculty and students from ISP. The goal of this project is to have our faculty group (Beata, Bob, Patrick, Perry, Dianne, Robert B, Dan L and Carrie) learn how to become editors and contributors to the Wikipedia community. Understand how the articles are created, vetted, and authenticated. Then in collaboration with the Wikipedia teacher resources and lessons, and the support of the Czech Wikipedia team incorporate this into our own curriculum. In tandem expose our students to an authentic learning experience using an important reference and resource. The content areas we will hope to develop and work with in collaboration with the Czech Wikipedia team will be Czech History and Historical figures.

Participants (add your name here)

 * Patrick Green --Pgreensoup (talk) 13:32, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
 * John Mikton
 * Perry Barlien
 * dianne caskie
 * Beata Rodlingova
 * Bob Helmer
 * Carrie Reeb
 * Daniel Lamken
 * --Juandev (talk) 17:55, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Next steps
Our next steps before our face to face meeting October 11, 2011:  Next steps for Oct 11 session
 * Each member create account in Wikipedia.
 * Edit this page and add your name to the participant list.
 * Read this entry on editing (there are also entries on citations etc.)
 * Try editing in the sandbox
 * Teachers work up a plan for the scope of “project”


 * Faculty are trained on editing and adding pages to Wikipedia
 * Become familiar with the protocols and process of participating in Wikipedia as an editor
 * Develop a scope and sequence of actions to get students involved through faculty mentoring

October 11 Notes of Session

Beata, Patrick, Bob, Dan, Robert, Carrie, and Dianne met with Petr and Jan from Czech Wikipedia and had a first session learning on how to start creating/writing an article. This session focused on the mechanics and protocols to be followed as you generate an article. Language, tone, and mechanics of linking have been covered. Citation was also explained and the different ways of doing this within the Wikipedia protocols.The goal of this session was to get exposure and hands on experience working with the tools and mechanics of editing within the Wikipedia environment. Our coaches also showed us how to link to other articles and resources on the web related to the article being created.  Next steps

We will meet Nov 10 for a second session of editing and also start exploring ways to incorporate this in the curriculum.

November 10:

The group met again for a lunch session. This time we spent sometime on the rules and protocols of editing and working in a Wikipedia text. Also we had an opportunity to look at how to track changes, see how people comment and respond to issues with the Wikipedia environment. We learned about the talk page, where you can communicate with other members of the Wikipedia community, on issues related to article posts.

We then spent time on Wikipedia: Five Pillars, this are covers the fundamental principals by which Wikipedia operates.

One of the key concept discussed and shared, is the idea of neutral voice. In the Wikipedia environment it is important to write in a neutral voice with no opinion, or nuisances.

We have decided as a group to pick a couple point people to become trainers for ISP and spend more time with Jan getting trained, and then these folks will then train the faculty at ISP.

Dianne, Bob, Carrie and Patrick will be the point people for training.

Resources

 * 1) writing for Wikipedia as a learning task in the school's information literacy instruction
 * 2) From Wikipedia to the Classroom: Exploring Online Publication and Learning
 * 3) Wiki as a Teaching Tool
 * 4) Incentives for using Wikipedia as a teaching tool

We are excited to have this authentic learning opportunity, and will continue to share updates through ISP/Wikipedia project page.

ISP Wikipedia Group