Program guides/Education/Student support

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Program Guides: Education

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Student support Training Students can learn how to edit independently using interactive training programs online developed by WMF or the Wikipedia Adventure. These programs can be localized. Educators can teach editing workshops using handouts, videos, and on-wiki tutorials. Invite a Wikimedia volunteer to come in to teach a class. Some education programs have trained staff at libraries or student support centers to conduct trainings, support educators and answer student questions. Teach important lessons in class: Regardless of how students learn to use Wikimedia project, make sure to teach a few key lessons about copyright, rules and norms, and the 5 pillars in class. Make it easy to identify students and their work. This will make it easier for the community of Wikimedia volunteers to work with students. Help students produce quality work Best practices for improving the quality of student work. Motivate students. Teach according to student ability: Not all students have the writing skills necessary to start new articles. Adjust teaching methods and assignments when working with students at different age and ability levels. Set timelines to check in on the progress of student work: Students may be used to completing a traditional assignment just before it is due, but waiting until the last minute to complete a Wikimedia assignment is not a good idea. Make sure students know where to find help Tell students about the Teahouse or local equivalent, where new editors can post questions. Post links to places where students can find help or answers to commonly asked questions on the course page. Programs with local portals can add a directory of information to answer student questions. The Catalan education portal includes a 'help' button to that will direct a question to an online volunteer. On English Wikipedia: If you place {{Help me}} "then your question" on your talk page, a volunteer will visit you there! Ask volunteers to help students by being online mentors, joining an IRC channel for student questions or by visiting the Teahouse or local equivalent regularly. Monitor student work: Catch and fix mistakes in student work and identify participants who may need extra support to begin editing. Check to see if students understand what you are teaching: Sometimes students may not understand something from training or understand how to begin an assignment. This may mean they make mistakes, or worse, they may not edit at all. Monitor student work to improve quality: Use tools track student contributions efficiently. Improve student retention: Converting students to regular editors should not be a primary goal for an education program. Some programs have been successful in doing this, but is not a common outcome. Invite students to participate in contests and local events. Ask students who have completed a course to become Ambassadors who can help teach and mentor students online and in person in the next term. From working with senior citzens: After the lesson ends, send every participant an e-mail summarizing what has been done during the class (and ask them to try something at home on their own). This improves the retention of your participants. References

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