Submissions/Integrating Wikipedia Projects in Technology Courses - Lessons Learned and Unexpected Pedagogical Values Gained

This is an open submission for Wikimania 2011.

Review no.

158

Title of the submission: Integrating Wikipedia Projects in Technology Courses - Lessons Learned and Unexpected Pedagogical Values Gained

Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, panel, presentation): Presentation

Author of the submission: Kari Walters

E-mail address or username (if username, please confirm email address in Special:Preferences): Lsukari

Country of origin: United States

Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.): Louisiana State University

Personal homepage or blog: http://www.bus.lsu.edu/walters

Abstract (please use no less than 300 words to describe your proposal)

I am the Director of Instructional Support and Distance Learning at Louisiana State University College of Business. I am also an Instructor in Information Systems and Decision Sciences and a trained Wikipedia Campus Ambassador for LSU.

I am currently teaching an undergraduate course on Data Communications (ISDS 4120). In this course, my students are required to research highly technical topics related to computer networking and improve and/or create Wikipedia articles by contributing citations and substantive content. This presentation will cover how I used Wikipedia to achieve the learning objectives of my course (content mastery and research, writing, speaking, and visual communication skills). Learning to write about technical topics in a clear and concise manner is a skill that all students need, particularly those pursuing a technical career. I will share how I have helped my students learn this valuable skill—without sacrificing my course content or abandoning my original course objectives—using Wikipedia-based assignments.

Additionally, I will share details about how the dynamics, enthusiasm, and learning within my class have been positively affected by the incorporation of Wikipedia-based assignments. I will also cover what I plan to do (and not do) in future courses. Finally, I will share the unexpected portion of my teaching experience in which some of my ESL (English as a Second Language) students voluntarily explored constructing their assigned Wikipedia articles in their native languages of Hebrew and Nepali. As an English-speaking professor in an English-speaking university, I will share the exciting challenges and learning experiences my students and I encountered. I will also discuss the pedagogical value of empowering international students to share their learning through their native language and enabling them to ~contribute to the knowledge base of their home community through Wikipedia.

Track (People and Community/Knowledge and Collaboration/Infrastructure): Knowledge and Collaboration

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: Yes

Slides or further information (optional): Slides to be submitted later

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