Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/U of Maryland/Digital Rhetoric (Spring 2021)
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- Course name
- Digital Rhetoric
- Institution
- U of Maryland
- Instructor
- Melanie Kill
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Course dates
- 2021-01-25 00:00:00 UTC – 2021-05-14 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 20
This course explores digital rhetoric through the lens of technofeminism, attending the histories and possibilities of intersectional feminism in digital and digitally mediated spaces. On Wikipedia, we will be working to address knowledge gaps and increase knowledge equity.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 26 January 2021 | Thursday, 28 January 2021
- Listen to Wikipedia
Before we dive into policies and page types, I recommend spending a few minutes listening to Wikipedia. It is really quite a beautiful way to get a sense of how Wikipedia is made.
About: Listen to the sound of Wikipedia's recent changes feed. Bells indicate additions and string plucks indicate subtractions. Pitch changes according to the size of the edit; the larger the edit, the deeper the note. Green circles show edits from unregistered contributors, and purple circles mark edits performed by automated bots. You may see announcements for new users as they join the site, punctuated by a string swell. You can welcome them by clicking the blue banner and adding a note on their talk page.
- Introduction to the Wikipedia Project
Welcome to your Wikipedia project timeline! If you are here, you've successfully created an account and joined this course page using the enrollment link that I (Dr. Kill) shared with you.
This timeline page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete as we progress through this project. Using the tabs in the menu across the top of this page, you can also get an overview of our collective efforts (Home), find your classmates on Wikipedia (Students), view the articles we are editing (Articles), view files we've uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (Uploads), check recent activity (Activity), and find additional Wiki Ed resources and training modules (Resources).
Our class has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. Any time you have a question about Wikipedia, you can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.
We'll use the following guides this semester. Begin to get oriented by reading the opening pages of each:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia, pages 1-4
- Assignment - Get to know Wikipedia
Get started by working through the training modules above to learn about Wikipedia's core policies and the pages where editors draft, discuss, and keep tabs on articles.
- Milestones
This week everyone should have a Wikipedia account and a basic sense of the policies and software behind Wikipedia.
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 2 February 2021 | Thursday, 4 February 2021
- Assignment - Get started editing Wikipedia
Now you are ready to get started editing by making some small edits on one or more articles of your choice. Try looking for opportunities to fix punctuation, improve wording, add links to other articles, and so on. Leave an edit summary and publish changes after each small change.
Wondering where to start? You might take a look at WikiProject:Guild of Copy Editors, WikiProject:Women in Red, or WikiProject:Feminism to get ideas about where to start. WikiProjects are spaces where editors interested in a particular topic or task organize their efforts. There is also a list of all articles tagged as needing copy editing.
Aim for at least 10 edits. When you are done, head back to ELMS to post a link to your user contributions page and share one new thing you learned by editing Wikipedia.
Resources:
- ** Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
- Milestones
This week everyone has evaluated and contributed to a Wikipedia article.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 9 February 2021 | Thursday, 11 February 2021
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia's entry on "Digital rhetoric"
For this exercise, everyone will evaluate Wikipedia's article on Digital rhetoric. What would it take to get it ready to nominate for good article status? Keep both the good article criteria and the issue of content gaps in mind as you work through the evaluation form. Once you've published your completed evaluation form, be sure to go to the article's talk page to leave a note sharing your most pressing concern about the article and any questions you have for other editors about next steps for improving it.
When you are done, post links to your completed article evaluation and your talk page note in ELMS.
NOTE: If the evaluation form autogenerated through the link at the beginning of the exercise module interferes with a previous article evaluation, you'll need to create a new subpage and respond to each set of questions in the module (i.e., no need to copy the form text). Reach out to our Wikipedia expert if you have any questions.
- All together now!
Next week we'll work together as a class to make a plan and begin improving the article on Digital rhetoric and getting more comfortable contributing to Wikipedia along the way.
To prepare for Digital Experiment 1 in class, please read the following:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 6-12
- Evaluating Wikipedia, pages 5-7
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 16 February 2021 | Thursday, 18 February 2021
- Assignment - Practice adding citations and new information
This week you'll get to work planning, doing research, and adding content and citation as you carry out your revision/development of Digital rhetoric and linked articles. Keep in mind what we've discussed about content gaps, the encyclopedia genre, and Wikipedia's good article criteria as you begin to improve and expand the article.
Aim to add content drawn from 3-5 different sources. Publish no more than a sentence or two at a time and be sure to leave edit comments. Cite everything.
Use the talk page to coordinate with and give feedback and encouragement to classmates working on the same article. Don't be surprised if editors outside the class respond to your edits and reply to your comments.
When you are done, head back to ELMS to post a link to your user contributions page and a brief overview of what you've accomplished so far.
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9
- Milestones
Everyone has contributed new content to Wikipedia.
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 23 February 2021 | Thursday, 25 February 2021
- Assignment - Respond to feedback
You might have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether these make your work more accurate and complete, and edit to incorporate those changes.
Resources:
- ** Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
- Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
- Assignment - Continue improving the article
Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.
Once you are satisfied with your work, post a link to your user contributions in ELMS with a summary of your efforts.
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 2 March 2021 | Thursday, 4 March 2021
- Assignment - Polish your work
It's the final week to develop your article. Continue to expand and improve your work, formatting your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards detailed at Wikipedia:Manual of Style.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final checklist before completing your assignment.
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!
When you are done, post a final link to your user contributions page in ELMS.
Week 7
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 9 March 2021 | Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Assignment - Reflective essay
Now that you have completed each of the trainings and tasks for the previous weeks, it's time to reflect on what you've contributed to Wikipedia and what you've learned as a writer of Wikipedia articles.
Post a 300-500 word reflection to our ELMS discussion board that considers the most relevant of the following questions:
- Wikipedia generally: What did you learn from contributing to Wikipedia? Why is this important?
- Knowledge gaps: Did your contributions improve Wikipedia's coverage of historically underrepresented or marginalized populations or topics? If so, were there any challenges unique to contributing in these subject areas?
- Evaluating articles: What did you learn about writing for Wikipedia by evaluating existing articles?
- Summarizing your contributions: Include a quick summary of your edits and your goals for revision. How does the final version of article you improved compare to the version you started with?
- Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Wikipedia editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback?
Post your reflective essay to ELMS.
- Milestones
Congratulations! You have finished your work with WIkipedia for this course. Don't let that stop you from continuing to edit Wikipedia!