WikiIndaba conference 2018/Submissions/An easy way to teach new editors

Submission no. 055

Title of the submission: An easy way to teach new editors

Type of submission (lecture, panel, tutorial/workshop, roundtable discussion, lightning talk, birds of a feather discussion): lecture

Author of the submission: Gereon Kalkuhl

Language of presentation: English

E-mail address: gereon.kalkuhlwikipedia.de

Username: Gereon K.

Country of origin: Germany

Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.)

Personal homepage or blog

Abstract (up to 300 words to describe your proposal)

Schooling new users is necessary and there are many projects in different surroundings such as schools, universities, museums or, for the general public, libraries. A problem with that is that schoolings often are not basic enough. They are too technical, too demanding of attendants who don’t have a technical or internet publishing background and so don’t let them continue contribution when the schooling is over.

I would like to show a framework for schoolings that starts at the basics, stressing how important it is to start from scratch, even for attendants of workshops that have some Wiki experience. Most readers who use Wikipedia as a source of knowledge often have not looked beyond the articles. Show them that every page has a talk page and how it can be used. Show that every user can and should be contacted. Show how to read the contribution history. Show how important it is to explain the Five Pillars, how to explain hive mind in a very simple way, how to explain the reliability of Wikimedia projects.

At the same time there are many different Wikimedia projects, but even experienced users don’t know them all. There is something for every interest. When introducing these projects there is a high likelihood that an attendant of a schooling will find a project hat she or he is really interested in. This includes talking about Wikidata, Commons, Wiktionary, Wikisource, Wikibooks, Wikispecies, Wikinews, Wikiversity, Wikivoyage and many other Wikimedia projects.

What will attendees take away from this session?

Theme of presentation: Education

For workshops and discussions, what level is the intended audience?: All

Length of session (if other than 25 minutes, specify how long): 25 minutes

Will you attend WikiIndaba if your submission is not accepted?: yes

Slides or further information (optional)

Special requests

Is this Submission a Draft or Final? final

Interested attendees

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Committee decision

Accepted