Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Northwestern University/Online communities and crowds (Winter)
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- Course name
- Online communities and crowds
- Institution
- Northwestern University
- Instructor
- Aaron Shaw
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Communication Studies
- Course dates
- 2022-01-03 00:00:00 UTC – 2022-03-18 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 60
Online communities & crowds are fundamental to how people communicate, work, play, learn, socialize, and more. However, they can also threaten our well-being and undermine critical social institutions as well as the integrity of public discourse. This course seeks to understand online communities & crowds. It does so through an interdisciplinary inquiry into a set of practical challenges that confront online communities & crowds today. When and why do some efforts to overcome these challenges succeed? What insights and expectations can we draw from these experiences?
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Wednesday, 5 January 2022
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment
Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.
Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.
Resources:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
- Discussion
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 12 January 2022
- Assignment - Review the rules for health topics
- Assignment - Choose possible topics
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6
- Discussion
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Wednesday, 19 January 2022
- Assignment - Add to an article
- Assignment - Finalize your topic and find sources
- Assignment - Start drafting your contributions
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9
- Guide(s) for writing articles in example topic areas
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Wednesday, 26 January 2022
- Assignment - Peer review an article
- Discussion
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- Assignment - Respond to your peer review
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.
Resources:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
- Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Wednesday, 2 February 2022
- Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13
- Assignment - Continue improving your 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.
- Assignment - Polish your work
Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Wednesday, 9 February 2022
- Assignment - Final article
It's the final week to develop your article.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!
- Assignment - Reflection essay
See the course website for details: https://wiki.communitydata.science/Online_Communities_and_Crowds_(Winter_2022)/Wikipedia_assignment
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.