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Critical Approaches to Wikipedia, Information, and the Collaborative Construction of Knowledge

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This is the course schedule. Here you can find:

  • what topics we'll cover each week
  • readings to complete before coming to class on a given day
  • links to weekly online discussions (which should take place before the first day of the week under which they are listed)
  • important dates to remember (i.e. due dates)

Important: This schedule is not exhaustive and is subject to change!

  • Some readings may also be assigned in class. The amount of notice you have will never be less than 47 hours and will be proportional to its length (something assigned for the following class period will never be more than a few pages, for example).
  • We may end up spending more or less time on a particular topic based on class discussions, cancellations, etc.
  • Assignments may be changed, added, or removed (with notice, of course).



Last update: 2013.03.25



Schedule

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Week 01: Introduction to the Course

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  • what to expect
  • course overview
  • beginning of semester survey
  • introduction to Wikipedia
  • anatomy of a Wikipedia article
Monday, January 07, 2013
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Wednesday, January 09, 2013
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Friday, January 11, 2013
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Note: today is the last day to automatically enroll in the course through MyPack. If you are still on the wait list after today, come see me after class; after today adds must be manually processed. If there are seats available, but fewer than the number of people waiting, priority will go to those who have been attending class regularly and keeping up with the work.

Week 02: Wikipedia Essentials

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  • wiki discussion topic: What is your relationship to Wikipedia? How do you use it? What is your opinion of its virtues and problems?
  • Wikipedia as an encyclopedia
  • neutral point of view
  • wikimarkup basics
Monday, January 14, 2013
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013
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Friday, January 18, 2013
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Note: Last day to enroll (register) or to add a course. Last day to drop the course, or change from credit to audit with tuition adjustment.

  • assignment due: make 15 minor changes to multiple articles on Wikipedia. Be sure to mark your edits as "minor edits" below the Edit Summary (this is how I will look to see if you've completed the assignment).

Week 03: Wikis and Web 2.0

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  • wiki discussion topic: In what ways are the way you write for the web and the way you write for text (outside of the web) similar or different? Aside from technology, what makes them different?
  • Web 2.0
  • participatory culture [share this!] [Tweet this!] [FaceBook this!] [comment!]
  • what is an encyclopedia?
  • wikis in education
Monday, January 21, 2013
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NO CLASS (MLK HOLIDAY)

Wednesday, January 23, 2013
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Friday, January 25, 2013
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Week 04: The Wikipedia Community

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  • wiki discussion topic: Is Wikipedia democracy or anarchy? Chaos or order? Explain your answer and how you define the terms you chose.
  • why people contribute to Wikipedia
  • assume good faith
  • manual of style
  • citing sources
Monday, January 28, 2013
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
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  • read: Wikipedia's Reliable Sources Noticeboard
    • noticeboards are always changing and can be rather long. I don't expect you to read everything here, but rather to get a general gist of the function of the page and how it works. Come to class familiar with at least one example.
Friday, February 01, 2013
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  • read: the Policy section of Wikipedia's Village Pump
    • this is a major venue for proposing changes or additions to Wikipedia policy. It can get rather long, so you're not expected to go through all of it. Instead, get a general gist of the function of the page and how it works. Come to class familiar with at least one example.
  • project milestone: come to class with more than one idea for your project article


Week 05: Authorship and Expertise

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  • wiki discussion topic: What was one of the most helpful Wikipedia articles you've read recently? What aspects of its content, style, or presentation made it so good?
  • the role of experts and expertise
  • rise and fall of the author
  • democratization of knowledge
  • Wikipedia's impact on journalism
Monday, February 04, 2013
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Wednesday, February 06, 2013
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  • read: A Wikipedia Without Graffiti (Slashdot)
  • assignment due: find five articles with unsourced potentially contestable statements (or "citation needed" tags) and add an appropriate source. Be sure to state that you're adding a source in your edit summary.
Friday, February 08, 2013
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Week 06: Wikipedia Is Not a Reliable Source

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  • wiki discussion topic: You've probably heard many somewhat similar explanations for what constitutes a "reliable source" when it comes to writing research papers, doing school projects, editing a newspaper, and other activities that require similar standards. What about the rest of the time? How do you determine the level of credibility your friend might have when she's explaining something to you over coffee? What sorts of things do you go by when evaluating information--aside from the factual content of the information itself? Does what you look for vary based on subject? Based on situation? Based on...? You don't need to answer all of these questions individually--just think about the ways you determine "reliable sources" in other contexts.
  • dynamic content
  • the encyclopedia anybody can edit
  • vandalism
  • truthiness and wikiality
  • Wikipedia in the classroom
Monday, February 11, 2013
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Wednesday, February 13, 2013
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Friday, February 15, 2013
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NO CLASS TODAY

Week 07: Wikipedia Is A Reliable Source

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  • wiki discussion topic: On the first day of class, several people brought up the fact that they have repeatedly been told not to use Wikipedia by teachers/educators. If you were teaching a class (you can decide which class), what would you tell your students? Base your answer not on what you feel is the "correct" answer in the context of this class, but on what you would really do given your own educational, practical, ethical, and/or epistemological values.
  • speed of updating
  • forces of good
  • studies/data on Wikipedia's accuracy
  • bots
Monday, February 18, 2013
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Wednesday, February 20, 2013
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  • read:Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View Noticeboard
    • as with other noticeboards, the contents here can get quite long. You are not responsible for reading all of the contents, but for getting a general gist of the page's function and procedures and for coming to class prepared to discuss at least one example.
Friday, February 22, 2013
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Week 08: Evaluating Information Sources (like Wikipedia!)

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  • wiki discussion topic: Where is "information" headed? Put on your futurist hats and make an educated prediction. There's no question "information" in 2013 is a completely different animal than "information" in the 1980s, which in turn is quite different from "information" in the 1880s. How will we understand, interact with, use, store, locate, organize, and/or share information in the future? (How far into the future you look is up to you).
  • how to evaluate a Wikipedia page
  • some basic rhetorical concepts
  • more tools to evaluate information (on Wikipedia, on the Internet, or otherwise)
  • peer-review and its role in the science and the academy
Monday, February 25, 2013
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
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Friday, March 01, 2013
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Week 09

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NO CLASS THIS WEEK (SPRING BREAK)


Week 10: Wiki War

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  • No discussion topic this week
  • edit wars
  • dispute resolution processes
  • notability
  • democracy vs. anarchy
Monday, March 11, 2013
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Note: today is the last day to withdraw from the course without a grade. In other words, if you're doing poorly at this point this is the last day to leave the class without a low grade.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013
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  • project milestone: progress reports
Friday, March 15, 2013
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NO CLASS TODAY

Week 11: The Dark Side of the Sum of All Human Knowledge

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  • wiki discussion topic: The term "digital divide" refers to economic inequalities between groups (demographic, geographic, etc.) in terms of their access to technology and/or information about technology. Without limiting the discussion to Wikipedia, respond to the following three questions:
    1. How big of a problem is the digital divide today?
    2. We talked last week about the future of information and technology; what do you think the implications are for the digital divide?
    3. Are there any steps now or in the future that governments, corporations, non-profit organizations, communities, or individuals can take to help fix the problem?
  • analyzing the Wikipedia mission
  • the problem of a single objective knowledge
  • power hierarchies
  • systematic bias
  • gaming the system
Monday, March 18, 2013
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
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  • project milestone: progress reports
Friday, March 22, 2013
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NO CLASS TODAY

Between 3/22-27 class will take place online only. Although we will not meet in person, there will still be assignments and online discussions which will be announced the week before. 3/27 is also a significant project milestone: it is by this day you should have a submission posted to the Wikipedia:Good article nominations page.

Assignment due Monday: Using Manypedia (the site we used in class on Wednesday), compare three different topics across two different languages. There is an assignment page which has more detailed instructions.

Week 12: Online-Only Week

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Between 3/22-27 class will take place online only. Although we will not meet in person, there will still be assignments and online discussions. Check back each day we would normally have class for the assignment and/or discussion due by the following class day. 3/27 is also a significant project milestone: it is by this day you should have a submission posted to the Wikipedia:Good article nominations page.

  • wiki discussion topic: On the Wikipedia Systemic Bias page we read about the "average Wikipedian" on the English Wikipedia. Who, in your estimation, is writing on the other Wikipedias? Other than the obvious differences in language and location, are they similar to contributors on the English Wiki? In discussing the role these differences play in what appears in the text of an article, be careful not to fall into the trap of considering the English Wikipedia as a kind of standard against which others should be measured (as should be clear from the systemic bias page, the English wiki is affected by particular cultural values, too).
Monday, March 25, 2013
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
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  • online-only day
  • assignment due: initial contribution to the Carr article discussion (see above)
  • no additional assignments due Monday. Focus on your group article and have a good long weekend.
Friday, March 29, 2013
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NO CLASS TODAY (SPRING HOLIDAY)

Week 13: Collective Intelligence

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  • wiki discussion topic: Although the name of Pierre Levy's book is Collective Intelligence, his is just one of many ways to understand that term. Offer your own definition of "collective intelligence." What positive or negative connotations does is have for you?
  • reframing commons-based peer production
  • virtues of collective intelligence and global knowledge systems
  • are some kinds of knowledge better suited for collaboration and networked deliberation than others?
  • what is a hive mind?
Monday, April 01, 2013
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Wednesday, April 03, 2013
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Friday, April 05, 2013
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  • project milestone: progress reports

Week 14: Access and Inequality

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  • wiki discussion topic: That access to information and the tools provided by the Internet and digital media are empowering hardly needs to be mentioned these days: people in remote areas gain access to massive libraries, people who might not be able to afford college can choose from tens of thousands of educational websites, people interested in any subject can find like-minded individuals with whom to learn, network, and socialize. The possibilities are massive, and I'm sure you can think of many many more. This week's discussion, however, is about the other side. What are the problems associated with the belief that "if we can just get people access to the Internet, their lives will be better?" By that I mean what assumptions are built into that statement and how might they differ from what happens in practice?
  • the idea of universal access
  • using Wikipedia in developing countries
  • language initiatives
Monday, April 08, 2013
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
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Friday, April 12, 2013
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Week 15: Free Content

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  • no online discussion for the beginning of this week
  • open source
  • intellectual property
  • Creative Commons
  • wikispam
  • publishing Wikipedia articles
Monday, April 15, 2013
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
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Friday, April 19, 2013
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NO CLASS TODAY

  • project milestone: articles should be done by today; use the day off to make sure they're polished for presentation next week

Week 16: Article Presentations/Critiques

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  • wiki discussion topic: no online discussion this week (spend the time working on your articles)
Monday, April 22, 2013
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  • groups 1, 2, and 3
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
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  • groups 4, 5, and 6
Friday, April 26, 2013
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  • groups 7, 8, and 9

As this course requires a paper and not an exam for the final, this will be the last time we meet in the classroom. I will be available for scheduled office meetings and through email for help with the paper.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

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Our final exam is scheduled to start today at 8:00 AM. As we do not have a final exam, this will act as the due date for your final paper. It is also the day that your article will be graded as it is, unless submitted beforehand. Note that materials submitted and edits made after 8:00 AM will not be counted.

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