Wikipedia:Writing Wikipedia Articles course
Writing Wikipedia Articles is a free online course conducted right here on Wikipedia! Our last session was on Monday, February 13, 2017. We have run the course four times, starting in 2013.
If you can read Wikipedia, you can help build it! We will teach you about the community, technology, and rules behind this ubiquitous and community-built online encyclopedia. We focus on articles about openness in education: open educational resources, MOOCs, Creative Commons licenses and more. Students learn about the values and culture that have driven millions of volunteers to build Wikipedia, which has generated millions of free articles in hundreds of languages since its 2001 launch. We cover the technical skills needed to edit articles, and share practical insights into the site's collaborative norms and social dynamics. Our students gain confidence in taking on technical challenges and editorial disagreements, and graduate with a sophisticated understanding of how to use Wikipedia both as a reader and as an active participant.
If you're curious what articles have earned past students the WikiSOO Burba Badge, here are some examples:
We offer this course periodically, in a format where students can join live webinar sessions. We have a one-hour lecture followed by unstructured editing/homework time every week, for six weeks. The last course began in February 2014.
(Are you an experienced Wikipedian, or an educator? Please get in touch with Pete if you would like to help out with the course, or offer it on your own!)
The Writing Wikipedia Articles course was originally designed to be taken as part of a class, in a set six week period. But if you prefer, you can take it at your own pace! Please see the home page for self-paced students.
