Meeting: WMAU Community Meeting (April 2021)

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'''Present: 19 attendees'''

Could students learn to edit Wikipedia as part of their studies? In 2019, a secondary school in Melbourne tested the waters, hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon for its history students, with a focus on content about Australian women. Educators found it gave students real world experience and a greater appreciation for the way that history is not fixed but is continuously evolving. They recently wrote about the experience for Agora.  

Mary Tomsic, Research Fellow in the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Australian Catholic University, Clare Crowe, an English and Literature at Avila College and Helen Morgan of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation at the University of Canberra will join us to reflect on this experience and share their thoughts on what opportunities there may be to teach with Wikipedia.

Agora article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350512887_Women_History_and_Wikipedia_Editing_Agora_561_2021_50-53

Key discussion points:
* One-off event or ongoing approach could work
* More resources/support for teachers needed
* The support of experienced Wikimedian essential
* Real world environment a powerful motivator for students
* Great way to teach referencing/citations
* Visual editor preferred
* Working on existing pages as opposed to new pages
* Prioritising notable subjects also useful to avoid conflicts
* No evidence of long term retention (but that may not be the goal)
* More research needed on learning outcomes
* Exploration needed into integration into curriculum
* Difficult of fitting session within existing timetable (short timeframes)

===== Other discussion =====
* Ongoing editing and maintenance issues
* First Nations engagement - place names focus

[[Category:Meetings]]