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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Oregon State University/Writing for the Web (Fall, 2015)

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Course name
Writing for the Web
Institution
Oregon State University
Instructor
Pflugi
Subject
Writing
Course dates
2015-09-25 – 2015-12-14
Approximate number of student editors
25


Writing for the Web will prepare students to produce instructive, informative, and rhetorically savvy writing for Web-based locations and applications. To this end, Writing for the Web teaches students processes, strategies, and principles for analyzing writing contexts and producing writing for different content management systems, Websites, Webwares, and apps. Students learn effective strategies for writing and producing Web content, particularly through the use of existing Websites and services, but also through the construction of their own Websites.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Pflugi
Sassytina
CamilleTea
Wilsocam12
Alstonka1024
Katelin.walker
Weeks28
Tanyarandhawa
Osustudent82
Allygronholm
HanW20
Aventador SV
IrishViking60
Grohe419
Nur.misur1
Jrgonzalez93
Smiletodayisfriday
Neurotickle
Mnovell7
Cielletot
Siennaisakitten
Thehungryphilosopher
Pecknpaw
Jiraiya1449

Timeline

Week 1

In class - Wikipedia essentials
  • Overview of the course
  • Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
  • Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.



Handout: Editing Wikipedia


In class - Editing basics
  • Basics of editing
  • Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
  • Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
  • Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments



Handouts: Using Talk Pages, Evaluating Wikipedia


Assignment - Practicing the basics
  • Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
  • Create a User page.
  • To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
  • Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.



Resources: Online Training for Students


In class - Exploring the topic area
  • Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.



Handouts: Choosing an article

Week 2

In class - Using sources
  • Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.



Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism


In class - Discuss the article topics
  • Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.

Week 3

In class - Wikipedia culture and etiquette
  • Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
  • Q&A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.


In class - Moving articles to mainspace
  • We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
  • A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
  • Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
  • Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.



Handout: Moving out of your Sandbox

Week 4

In class - Building articles
  • Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
  • Share experiences and discuss problems.



Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia

Week 5

In class - Group suggestions
  • As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.


In class - Media literacy discussion
  • Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.


In class - Discuss further article improvements
  • Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.