Education/News/June 2024/Wiki Movimento Brazil supports online and in-person courses and launches material to guide educators in using Wikimedia projects

Summary: The month's highlight is the MOOC "Paleografia na Rede Wiki," a free online course organized by Memória e Arte in collaboration with Wiki Movimento Brasil. The course offers an immersion in the social history of cursive writing from the 14th to the 19th century. It is held in a virtual format with synchronous and recorded classes, allowing participants to read historical documents, identify diplomatic characteristics, understand document production and circulation, and recognize custody institutions.
Video of the Introduction to Paleography and Social History of Written Culture class.
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MOOC Paleography on the Wiki Network: Free Online Course in Paleography explores the history of cursive writing

The course "MOOC Paleografia na Rede Wiki" organized by Memória e Arte in partnership with Wiki Movimento Brasil, offers a unique opportunity to learn about the social history of written culture, with a special focus on cursive scripts from the 14th century to the 19th. The course, taught by Prof. Dr. Alícia Duhá Lose, began on June 1st and continues until August 31st, 2024. Recordings of the classes are available on the MOOC course page on Wikiversity.

The course aims to enable participants to read historical documents, identify diplomatic characteristics of documents, understand the agents involved in the production and circulation of documents, and recognize the institutions that keep these documents. Participants are learning to analyze material elements essential for locating writings in space-time coordinates.

The free course is offered in a synchronous virtual format, with classes being recorded for later editing and availability on Wiki platforms. To obtain the certificate, participants must have at least 80% attendance in synchronous meetings and achieve 80% correct answers in assessment activities.

Partner institutions include the Philology Sector of the Institute of Letters of the Federal University of Bahia, the Center for Global Studies of the Open University of Portugal, and the Public Archives of the State of Bahia.

WMB holds workshops for Brazilian universities

Wiki Movimento Brasil has partnered with Brazilian universities to provide training on Wikimedia projects for students and teachers. During the month of June, Wiki Movimento Brasil will hold workshops at Brazilian universities to provide participants with a theoretical understanding of Wikimedia projects.

Editatona History and Theory of Art Laboratory

 
Class that participated in the Wikipedia editing workshop proposed within the Editathon of the discipline "Laboratory of History and Theory of Art", at UERJ

On June 14th, the State University of Rio de Janeiro held the third training session with the Editatona Laboratory of History and Theory of Art, UERJ. The program included a workshop on editing Wikipedia for undergraduate students enrolled in the "Laboratory of History and Theory of Art", taught by Prof. Dr. Fernanda Pequeno. The workshop was led by Juliana Cunha, Project Assistant of Wiki Movimento Brasil.

The meeting aimed to create and improve entries about female artists on Wikipedia. Participants had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and practically contribute to expanding and enhancing related articles.

This event was part of the partnership between Wiki Movimento Brasil and the Art+Feminism platform, focusing on the "Laboratory of History and Theory of Art" subject. It aimed to encourage students to enhance entries on modern and contemporary Brazilian artists, with the goal of reducing the gender gap on Wikipedia and increasing the dissemination and understanding of important works and biographies in Brazilian art history at the international level.

The initiative seeks to address the gender disparity on Wikipedia, as documented in data analyses and studies, which reveal fewer biographical articles about women on the platform. Existing articles about women are often less extensive and may contain prejudices.

Editatona Observatory of Latin American Intellectual Women

The first training sessions of the "Editatona Observatory of Latin American Intellectual Women" project will take place on June 21st and 28th. This project is a collaboration between Wiki Movimento Brasil and the Digital Humanities Laboratory of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (LaHDUERJ), under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Alejandra Josiowicz.

The training will include workshops introducing the Wikimedia Movement, discussing the concept of "Free Knowledge," and providing basic Wikipedia editing guidance. These sessions are aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Literature course associated with the Digital Studies Laboratory at UERJ.

The goal of the training is to provide a theoretical foundation about Wikipedia and to train participants in editing entries, with a specific emphasis on Latin American women intellectuals. The Digital Observatory of Latin American Women, led by Professor Alejandra Josiowicz, seeks to enhance the content about Latin American intellectual women on Wikipedia, promoting the dissemination of free and accessible knowledge.

XXXII Wikimedia & Education Workshop

Video of the 32nd workshop, June 6, 2024

The 32nd edition of the Wikimedia & Education Workshop, was held on June 6th and was attended by Profa. Dr. Elisa F. Garcia from the Department of History at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). She presented on "Indigenous women on Wiki: representation and teaching history." Elisa shared her experiences with the wiki education program, specifically focusing on "Teaching Indigenous History."

During the workshop, Elisa discussed the didactic and creative processes involved in editing Wikipedia entries with undergraduate History students at UFF. The activities, organized by Wikipedia's Indigenous Women's Laboratory, aim to enhance information availability on the topic through creating new entries and improving existing ones. This initiative has been positively received by students and teachers, addressing the lack of quality materials on indigenous history for use in secondary and elementary school classrooms.

Following Elisa's presentation, Alberto Leôncio, a member of Wiki Movimento Brasil (WMB), led a workshop introducing Wikisource, a digital library offering books and texts in the public domain or under licenses such as Creative Commons.

These workshops create opportunities for educators to engage with Wikimedia projects in their university practice and offer a platform for sharing inspiring educational experiences. Each event includes a presentation from those currently utilizing Wikimedia platforms for educational purposes, followed by a practical tutorial led by a Wikimedist.

WMB launches material to guide educators on Wikimedia projects

 
Slide da capacitação

Wiki Movimento Brasil has released new materials to help educators effectively utilize Wikimedia projects in educational settings. The material highlights the benefits and opportunities offered by four specific projects: Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikiversity.

These Wikimedia projects are recognized as valuable platforms for sharing scientific knowledge and providing open educational resources. They enable collaboration between teachers and students for the production and dissemination of free knowledge. The material provides practical suggestions and examples on integrating these projects into educational activities, making the most of the available tools and content.

The material emphasizes how Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikiversity can be integrated into school and academic curricula, especially in extension activities, promoting collaborative and hands-on learning experiences. The aim is to give teachers a comprehensive overview to help them take full advantage of the opportunities provided by Wikimedia projects.