Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Oregon State University/Writing for the Web (Spring Term)

We’ve got three chief objectives in this course. We need to consider how the unique properties of the internet-as-medium affects what kind of writing is considered compelling and persuasive. We must then ask what that means for us as writers—for our writing strategies, processes, and principles. We need to then respond with thoughtful discussion and deliberation, but also through evolution in our practices, such that when we write for the web, we do so with a keen awareness of online reading habits, mechanisms of circulation, and networked publics.

Week 5

 * Create an account and join this course page.
 * Complete the introductory training modules. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
 * Create a User page.
 * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
 * Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.


 * Overview of the course
 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.

Handout: [http://wikiedu.org/editingwikipedia Editing Wikipedia

]

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


 * Basics of editing
 * Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
 * Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
 * Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments

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Handouts:, Evaluating Wikipedia


 * Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.

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Handouts:

Week 6

 * Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

Handouts: and [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avoiding_plagiarism.pdf Avoiding Plagiarism

]

Training: [[../../../training/students/sources|Sources and Citations

]]


 * Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
 * Share experiences and discuss problems.

Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia

Week 7

 * Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.

Read: McMillen, &quot;The Troll Hunter&quot;


 * Expand your article into a complete first draft.


 * As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.

Training module: Peer Review

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.


 * Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.

Week 8

 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

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Handout:

Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.