Wikipedia at the classroom Workshops_Activate the Classroom
This activity is conceived as a new space in which teachers can acquire knowledge and tools that they can later apply directly in the classroom. These practical workshops will be imparted by artists, other active agents from the art scene, and experts from the educational community.
How can concepts linked to contemporary artistic language be transformed into practices that can be implemented in the classroom? Using this question as a starting point, the workshops aim to provide tools and generate content that participants can apply in real learning contexts, through creative processes presented by professionals from the art field.
We offer six editions of this course: Wednesadys 19 November, 10 December, 21 January, 18 February, 18 March and 15 April, from 6 pm to 9 pm
Programme
Venue: MACBA
Fee: free
Wednesday, 19 November 2014, 6 to 9 pm
Wikipedia in the classroom. Beyond the ban
Presented by Amical Wikimedia
The idea of this session is that teachers learn how the online encyclopaedia works and become familiar with the philosophy of collaborative work so they can incorporate it as a management tool in educational projects at each centre. The course will consist of a theoretical section (what a wiki is, how it works, what are the eligibility criteria for an article, how information is referenced...) and a section on teaching proposals, explaining projects already underway in the classroom that are easy to implement.
What can Wikipedia offer?
To students:
• Motivation: their work is not put in a drawer where only the teacher sees it: it serves everybody.
• Meaningful learning: as you cannot copy from other sources, the wording has to be original, thus promoting a form of non-rote learning that will not be forgotten once an exam is finished. The links help to connect concepts and give a sense to what is provided, because others can view it.
• Digital competence: learning to use a powerful digital tool as well as related concepts (licensing and copyright, peer validation, history of changes, consulting a variety of sources and information management...)
• Collaborative work: articles are never the work of one person, but will expand with everyone’s contribution. Learn to accept foreign standards, consensus policies and discussion of content. Increase the capacity for effort, because an article does not get accepted on ‘the first submission’, without further thought, but requires several revisions to meet quality standards.
• Epistemological reflection: knowledge is not monolithic or unique, but varies according to the consulted version. It cannot be argued that there is only one truth when anyone can add to or modify existing content. Students increase their critical ability when they question the validity of what is written, while valuing their own knowledge.
To teachers:
• Innovation: Wikipedia allows you to work differently, incorporating the vision and tools of the twenty-first century to give more relevance to classroom work. Access to the digital world is simple because there is help and guidelines at every step.
• Changing dynamics: the teacher may assign a role to the student, who then becomes an active part in the construction of knowledge and not just a passive recipient of data. Thus the teacher is freed to advise on the process of information search, evaluation, discussion...
• Richer evaluation: not only the end result but the process is evaluated thanks to the history of the article and follow-up meetings with students. You can discern the work of each member of the group where necessary and augment it with the opinions of others (Wikipedians) to incorporate in the final result.
• Teaching materials: articles in many languages can serve as counterpoint and comparison to the traditional material from textbooks, magazines or essays, to encourage debate in the classroom and the correction of errors in real time.
educacio [at] macba [dot] cat
