WikiWomen Erasmus+ Project/Results

WikiWomen Pupil Materials edit

Secondary school pupils today need to build up their digital skills to function in our increasingly online world. In a world where most information is available at the click of a mouse, they also need strong (digital) research skills in order to success in further education and work. Wikipedia, as an open-source digital tool, is well suited to teaching a range of digital skills, from research and content creation to online collaboration. In a minority language context, it also offers a way for pupils to actively engage with an contribute to the online presence of their minority language, essential for its preservation as a community language. The first result will be a pack of learning materials for secondary school pupils with various activities to guide them through the WikiWomen programme: first selecting a female figure who interests them, learning how to research both online and offline, putting these skills to the test to research their female figure, learning how Wikipedia works, then bringing this all together to create a Wikipedia article about their selected figure in their minority language.

To guide pupils through this process, we expect the pupil materials to:

introduce the topics of the project (Wikipedia, women in history and society, minority languages)
help pupils identify a figure to research in more detail
build up their research skills both online and offline in GLAMs
teach pupils how to evaluate the reliability of sources of information
boost pupil’s language skills in their minority language so they feel confident writing a biographical article
introduce pupils to how Wikipedia works
guide pupils through the writing of a Wikipedia article

WikiWomen School Toolkit edit

Many schools are looking for ways to combine the teaching of language skills with the teaching of other essential and societally relevant topics: digital and research skills, and gender equality. This is particularly true in schools in minority language regions, where it’s even more important to show the relevance and broad scope of possibilities available to pupils in their second language, despite its smaller size. By mainstreaming language teaching and learning across the curriculum, we aim to create language aware schools which celebrate and encourage the linguistic diversity of their bilingual regions. Current learning materials outside of the specific language subjects (e.g. Frisian) aren’t always set up in a way which allows language learning to be brought in and reflect the needs of schools in a multilingual context. The second result will focus on the needs of teachers and school leaders, introducing them to the ways in which they can use Wikipedia to teach digital, research and minority language skills and guiding them through the process of carrying out a pupil project with local GLAMs and language institutions using Wikipedia. The schools toolkit will include:

A teacher’s pack linked to the pupil learning materials (Result 1) to guide teachers through their use and help combine different activities to create their own WikiWomen programme which fits their school’s context
A project pack designed to help schools to implement the WikiWomen programme structurally within their school. This will be full of inspiring good practices, tips on how to work with local GLAMs and language institutions, and a step-by-step action plan for schools to follow to add WikiWomen to their curriculum.

WikiWomen GLAM Toolkit edit

Educational outreach has become a core role of GLAMs across Europe, but this is often ad- hoc and not fully integrated into wider school curricula when it comes to school engagement. They are not always prepared to bring digital skills into their school engagement. We feel that the combination of Wikipedia as a free, open-source learning resource plus language and research learning can be a fantastic solution for GLAMs, who have a real added value in our project as it centres researching historically and culturally relevant female figures from our minority language regions whose lives are often only recorded in scattered and generally offline resources. The third result will focus on the needs of GLAMs and language institutions, giving them the tools and inspiration they need to successfully use Wikipedia as a tool to work with schools and engage with their region’s minority language.

The GLAM toolkit will include:

An educator’s pack linked to the pupil learning materials (Result 1) to guide educational outreach officers through their use and help combine different activities to create their own WikiWomen programme which fits their GLAM’s context. It will also give educational outreach officers the basis they need to work confidently with Wikipedia, guiding them through aspects such as article writing, moderation, editing etc.
A project pack designed to help GLAMs and language institutions to implement the WikiWomen programme structurally within their educational outreach activities. This will be full of inspiring good practices, tips on how to work with schools and fellow GLAMs in their region, and a step-by-step action plan for GLAMs to follow to include WikiWomen in their work. It will also more generally guide GLAMs and language institutions through the various ways in which they can use their minority language Wikipedia in their broader work and contribute to the online presence of their language.

Are you interested in the project and want to learn more? Contact Simon Tubb (simon@learninghubfriesland.nl) or Mirjam Vellinga (Mirjam.Vellinga@afuk.frl)