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Description
Session Description
Wikimedia UK believes that open access to knowledge is a fundamental right, and a driver for social, educational and economic development. We work with the Wikimedia Projects to enable people and organisations to contribute to a shared understanding of the world through the democratic creation, distribution and consumption of knowledge.
One of the charity’s strategic aims is the development of Wikimedia as a teaching and learning tool, as we believe that engaging with Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects – particularly through becoming a contributor – can enable learners to understand, navigate and critically evaluate knowledge and information.
Wikimedia UK’s partnership with the University of Edinburgh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:University_of_Edinburgh), where a Wikimedian in Residence has been based within the Learning, Teaching and Web Services directorate since January 2016, has proved to be a highly valuable testing ground for how to successfully use the Wikimedia projects as a tool for teaching digital literacy skills. We are also about to launch a new residency in partnership with Coventry University, with this role having a focus on digital media literacy and decolonising the curriculum.
Through our Wikimedian in Residence at Mentor Mon in Wales, Wikimedia UK has worked with informal learners in Anglesey through a project to enable local residents to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of their area and heritage. We have also developed some pilot initiatives with the schools sector. In 2018, alongside our partners in Wales, we achieved a major breakthrough with the inclusion of Wikimedia within the Welsh Baccalaureate. You can read more about our work in education in Wales on the following blog post: https://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2019/05/education-in-wales-and-wikipedia/
Over the next few years, Wikimedia UK’s work in education will focus even more strongly on digital, data and information literacy. We aim to facilitate innovative projects in collaboration with formal education sector partners such as schools and universities, as well as informal groups and communities. We will advocate to government and relevant bodies for the inclusion of Wikimedia in curriculum and syllabus development. We will also seek to develop new partnerships that help combat the effects of misinformation by developing more informed, information-literate citizens.
In this panel session we will outline the thinking and research that underpins Wikimedia UK’s education programme, present some of the work that’s been delivered as part of this programme over the past few years, and discuss opportunities for future educational partnerships. We will also highlight to participants the ways in which they can get involved in this work at an individual and/or institutional level, and the benefits of working with Wikimedia in education.
The speakers on this panel will be:
Lucy Crompton-Reid, Chief Executive of Wikimedia UK
Daria Cybulska, Head of Programmes and Evaluation at Wikimedia UK
Lorna Campbell, OER Service at University of Edinburgh and Trustee of Wikimedia UK
Ewan McAndrew, Wikimedian in Residence at University of Edinburgh
Session content
Short presentations from the lead and additional speakers plus a Q&A with the audience. We will also ensure that there is a mechanism in place for remote participation, such as Padlet or an open source alternative.
References
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