Hey Alex, Yes a lot of that has been my starting point. FWIW there is a lack of content for the younger age groups (say 14-16) which is where my current focus is; the "beginner" guides are more suited (at least in my experience of teaching) to older students. I'd also like to see some more material on the goals/ideals of Wikipedia (as that seems a better start point before leaping into account creation :)).
Also I noticed that a lot of the focus is on editing or contributing Wikipedia. I've approached this from a slightly different perspective - which is that most of the kids I will be talking to aren't interested in writing (and probably aren't yet capable of doing so) a Wikipedia article. On the other hand I aim to teach them about using WP as a resource (and the potential pitfalls) as well as trying to get them to treat it with respect (i.e. quit the vandalism). Is there a place on Outreach where discussion of education/teaching materials is happening? Tom On 1 June 2011 17:15, Alex Stinson <stins...@dukes.jmu.edu> wrote: > "High school professors." Yikes! Meant teachers, not professors. I thought > I fixed that in a second read. Been working with universities for too long. > > Tom, that sounds like something that could really use some development in > the way of documented techniques or presenting the information. You may want > to check out the stuff on the Wikimedia Foundation bookshelf project for > materials you can destribute instead of making all of them yourself ( > http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Bookshelf). We also have been > developing a fair amount of stuff at the education portal on outreach, > though still a work in progress ( > http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education). Alot has already been > developed in fairly professional ways, it just needs to be applied in the > class room, > > Alex > > > On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 5:01 PM, Thomas Morton < > morton.tho...@googlemail.com> wrote: > >> Chris, >> >> Yes, that was my impression too - I have some ideas/proposals to try and >> bring into play but didn't want to step on top of an active project that I'd >> missed :P >> >> I'm based in Lincolnshire. >> >> >> Alex, >> >> I've been keeping a close eye on the Ambassadors project - it looks like >> some great work (yet another reason to wish I was a student again :)). >> Expanding that into schools is a major project, but one that I think would >> net us some massive gains long term. I'd be really interested in hearing >> about your work with the high school professors. >> >> In general: >> >> I've been interested in education for a while; I'm a scout leader here & >> my parents have their own business doing educational visits to schools on >> the topic of astronomy (so I have fairly extensive experience of that sort >> of "business model"). The reason I have a specific interest now is that I've >> been approached to look at doing an evening class on computers and the >> internet at a local secondary school. One of the topics I want to cover is >> Wikipedia and WP editing. >> >> I could put together some teaching material & release it for others to use >> on an ad-hoc basis, but I think there is loads more we could expand into if >> WMUK were behind it - stuff like working with the teaching bodies to get WP >> recognised as a resource, and perhaps even worked into the curriculum (at >> the very least work with them to provide useful material for >> teachers/students about Wikipedia). In fact, something like the training >> events Cancer Research people (but for teachers) would be really interesting >> to explore. >> >> Another off-hand idea; it would be great to try and team up with some of >> the GLAM institutions to run educational days (i.e. have groups of kids turn >> up to learn about stuff using local and Wikipedia content, and to get an >> introduction to Wikipedia). >> >> And more; we could use WMUK resources to train up and support Wikipedia >> volunteers who want to go into the classroom - because teaching kids can be >> damned hard! >> >> There's a lot to focus on, but I think it is one of our most important >> outreach areas in the UK. >> >> Tom >> >> >> On 1 June 2011 16:40, Chris Keating <chriskeatingw...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> I think it's been hibernating for a while. I haven't heard it mentioned >>> at all since the new Board took office. >>> >>> Of course, if someone wants to pick up the ball and run with it, that >>> would be very welcome. Whereabouts are you, Tom? >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Chris >>> >>> On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 10:51 AM, Thomas Morton < >>> morton.tho...@googlemail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Hey all, >>>> >>>> What is the status of our work with schools/education? >>>> http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Initiatives/Schools_project seems to be a >>>> little stagnant, there are references to other School interactions on the >>>> Wiki (including a link to a hidden office page about the educational >>>> budget). >>>> >>>> Is any of this still active? >>>> >>>> I only ask because I've been approached locally to do some in-school >>>> work relating to Wikipedia and it occurred to me that this is a major area >>>> we could be focusing on. >>>> >>>> I've got a decent amount of experience working with children, schools >>>> and educators and it would be great to contribute that on a wider scale. >>>> >>>> If none of those projects are particularly active, would anyone be >>>> interested in working on this (including volunteering to go into schools >>>> and >>>> youth groups)? >>>> >>>> Tom / ErrantX >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia UK mailing list >>>> wikimediau...@wikimedia.org >>>> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >>>> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >>>> >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimedia UK mailing list >>> wikimediau...@wikimedia.org >>> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >>> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia UK mailing list >> wikimediau...@wikimedia.org >> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediau...@wikimedia.org > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > >
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