Grants:IdeaLab/How about improving Wikipedia articles as class projects?

Inspire campaign

How about improving Wikipedia articles as class projects?

From personal experience, kids and teens with internet access reach Wikipedia mostly to satisfy some small curiosity or do homework. While it's possible to build better entry points for both use cases, I believe it is the second one, homework, that has better chances of developing users that contribute to Wikipedia and value its mission.

An example of a project along these lines might be to float the idea of improving Wikipedia articles as class projects. Hire some people with knowledge of pedagogy and education in countries of interest to figure out how to approach teachers and write pieces on how teachers might include Wikipedia within their processes. A straightforward application might be to focus on an article, new or incomplete, as a homework for a period of a week or two, and assign points to students for valuable contrbutions. A more invested approach to this application, after proven interest, would see Wikipedia developing an online tool where students authenticate as part of a classroom and contribute edits to an article specified by a teacher, who then aproves these contributions to assign points to students.

Focusing on homeworks, in contrast to leisure use cases, carries the benefits of concentrating attention on topics of more encyclopedic value, fostering an authoritative status for Wikipedia, creating incentives for first contributions, and understanding Wikipedia as an accessible commons.

countryBolivia

contact email• josemauricioforonda@gmail.com

idea creator• Mforonda

this project needs...

volunteer

created on20:49, 31 January 2018 (UTC)

Audience

Who are the people you want to introduce Wikipedia to?

Try to be as specific as possible about this group.
K-12 Students

In what languages do they search for information, online or otherwise?

Whatever language their teacher demands a homework in

In what ways does this group communicate with each other?

This can include services and apps in social media, mailing lists, physical spaces like conferences or lectures, or at specific institutions like at a library.
Face to face, WhatsApp, Facebook, email

What are some reasons this group would use Wikipedia? How would they benefit from it, or what would they find useful?

Think about what they would be interested in reading and learning about; does Wikipedia provide better access to information this group cares about?
Students would improve their grades, teachers may like the idea because it's an easy way to create some lasting value inside the classroom and because they appreciate Wikipedia themselves.

Project idea

What language Wikipedia projects will you promote to new readers?

Whatever language their teacher demands a homework in

Describe your idea to engage new readers. How might it be implemented? What will you tell people about Wikipedia?

Think about the steps that might involved to make this idea happen, and what you might teach people about your experience or others' experiences using Wikipedia.
Reiterating from the idea: Hire some people with knowledge of pedagogy and education in countries of interest to figure out how to approach teachers and write pieces on how teachers might include Wikipedia within their processes. A straightforward application might be to focus on an article, new or incomplete, as a homework for a period of a week or two, and assign points to students for valuable contrbutions. A more invested approach to this application, after proven interest, would see Wikipedia developing an online tool where students authenticate as part of a classroom and contribute edits to an article specified by a teacher, who then aproves these contributions to assign points to students.

How will you know if this project is successful? What are some outcomes that you can share after the project is completed?

If you’re not certain about how to respond to this question when starting your idea, you do not need to answer it right now. Campaign participants and Wikimedia Foundation staff can help you consider some options.
It depends on the specific implementation, but generally the project would increase new Wikipedia personal accounts and contributions so that might be a good metric.

Do you think you can implement this idea? What support do you need?

Do you need people with specific skills or resources to complete this idea? Are there any financial needs for this project? Do you need advising from Wikimedia Foundation staff?
Personally I have little knowledge of pedagogy, cognitive development or classroom dynamics, and my experience with the education system in Bolivia is only as a student, so this is probably as far as I can responsibly get on this project. But I believe there's something interesting to be explored here.

Get Involved

About the idea creator

An avid Wikipedia reader, I enjoy falling into rabbit holes from historic topics and poking into the Wikipedia API to build small personal tools.

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No funding needed?

Does your idea not require funding, but you're not sure about what to do next? Not sure how to start a proposal on your local project that needs consensus? Contact Chris Schilling on-wiki at I JethroBT (WMF) (talk · contribs) or via e-mail at cschillingwikimedia.org for help!