Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Toronto/Exploring Heritage Languages (2016 Winter)

In this First-Year Seminar, we will explore how speakers use Heritage Languages in Toronto. We will examine recently collected data from Cantonese, Hungarian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Italian, Ukrainian and Faetar speakers in the GTA, so students should be familiar with one of these languages. We will collect and organize information about heritage languages in Toronto. We will look for speech patterns that differentiate first, second and third generation speakers in Toronto from corresponding speakers in their countries of origin, and look at the effects of cultural and language attitudes and usage.

Week 1

 * Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.


 * Overview of the Wikipedia portion of this course
 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Understanding Wikipedia as a community,  its expectations and etiquette.

Handout: Editing Wikipedia


 * 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

Handouts: , Evaluating Wikipedia


 * Create an account and join this course page. (Choose a username that will help others in the class, including the instructor, to identify you easily.)
 * 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. (Don't wait til the last minute or people won't be able to do the next step on time.)


 * 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.

Week 2
All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.


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

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Handouts: and

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Supplementary training: Sources and Citations


 * The class will collaborate to create an article about heritage languages in Toronto. We will describe their ethnolinguistic vitality, that is, their status, deomographics and institutional support. The &quot;stub&quot; for this page is in my (Naomi's) sandbox: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Naomi_TBB199/sandbox&action=submit


 * Choose the heritage language you will work on.
 * During the first hour of class in Week 2, we will learn about finding resources in Robarts. During the second hour of class in Week 2, you will begin to compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in periodically on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

Week 3
All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.


 * Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
 * Q&amp;A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.


 * Choose one existing article, identify ways in which you can improve and correct its language and grammar, and make the appropriate changes. (You do not need to alter the article's content.). This article doesn't have to be related to the course -- choose ANYTHING in Wikipedia that interests you.


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

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Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia

Week 4

 * Draft a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article section—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox.
 * Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article section and fix any major issues.
 * Continue research in preparation for expanding your article section.


 * We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
 * A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
 * Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
 * Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.

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Handout:

Week 5

 * 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.

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Supplementary training: Peer Review


 * Please peer review and copyedit contributions by 2 of your fellow students.
 * To simplify this process, please review according to the assignments posted in Blackboard announcements (and just emailed to you).
 * Please verify for me that you can access the article you are to review by clicking on the link in the Announcement/email. The link should take you to the user's space and then you can select their Sandbox.


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


 * Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article section for next week.

Week 6

 * Move your sandbox articles into main space. Your information should be appropriately inserted into the &quot;stub&quot; page I created at: 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_Languages_in_Toronto'.
 * So, you are expanding an existing article. Copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
 * (Note: If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the &quot;Moving out of your sandbox&quot; handout.)
 * Begin expanding our article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic of heritage languages in Toronto, focusing on the 3 parts of the Ethnolinguistic Vitality model as well as other relevant background/history..

Week 7
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.


 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
 * Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.


 * Identify an article (t could be from one of the other languages in our project) that would benefit from illustration, create or find an appropriate photo, illustration, or audio/video, and add it to the article.
 * All media uploaded to Wikipedia must fall under a &quot;free license,&quot; which means they can be used or shared by anyone. Examples of media you can use are photos that you take yourself, images and text in the public domain, and works created by someone else who has given permission for their work to be used by others. For more information about which types of media can be uploaded to Wikipedia, see Commons:Help desk.
 * To add a media file to an article, you must first upload it to Wikimedia Commons. For instructions on how to upload files to Commons, refer to Illustrating Wikipedia. This brochure will also provide you with detailed information about which files are acceptable to upload to Wikipedia and the value of contributing media to Wikipedia articles.

Week 8
Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.


 * Return to your classmates' article sections you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
 * 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.
 * Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article section, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.

Week 9

 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

Handout: [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polishing_your_articles.pdf Polishing your article ]


 * In class, write a reflective essay (1-2 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.