- Summary of the event
EduWiki was a day-and-a-half conference looking at Wikipedia, Wikiversity and related charitable projects, not in terms of educational resources, but educational practice, including collaboration, open review, and global participation. It was a chance to talk about innovative work in your classroom, your institution or online community, and shape the future of Wikimedia UK's work in this area.
We explored the ways these projects can support innovative education. We discussed the Wikipedia Education Program (in which university students improve Wikipedia articles for course credit). We learned from universities where the program is already embedded, exploring the educational opportunities and drawing lessons from the experience so far.
| Themes |
Who was it for?
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- The Wikipedia Education Program
- Open Educational Resources
- Critical thinking, digital literacy and wiki-literacy
- Assessment and accreditation
- Open learning communities such as Wikiversity
- Secondary and further education
- The meanings and benefits of "open" education
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- Educators in universities and schools
- Support staff from institutions and funding bodies, including management, staff developers, learning designers, and librarians
- Students
- Contributors to Wikipedia, Wikiversity or the other Wikimedia projects
- Contributors to other open education projects
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For further background, see the draft education strategy.
Feedback from a participant:
Not being an education provider or likely contributor to the event, I was thrilled to bits to be asked and even more thrilled to be able to attend. Leaving with increased enthusiasm towards the Wikimedia project, I have now applied to become a member and have gained just enough confidence to start contributing to articles. Once again, thanks and I look forward to the continued growth and hopefully my useful participation in what has to be a truly exciting effort towards an informed global community.
The summary of the delegates' feedback can be seen here.
Reflections and coverage
(Pre-event publicity can be found here).
Outcomes
Apart from raised awareness of our Education work, there was a number of concrete relationships that have been moved forward as a result of the conversations during the conference. A selection of these include:
- Work with Digital Distuption and Demos
- Further work on increased cooperation with JISC
- NIACE conference - Innovating Learning on 4/12/2012
- Attendees included representatives from:
Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln,
British Library,
British Psychological Society,
De Montfort University,
ITESM-CCM,
JISC,
Medical Research Council,
University of Manchester,
NIACE,
Royal Veterinary College,
Sheffield Hallam University,
University of Adelaide,
University of Bradford,
University of Cambridge,
University of Coventry,
University of Exeter,
University of Hull,
University of Leicester,
University of Liverpool,
University of Loughborough.
Programme
The conference ran from Wednesday morning until after lunch on Thursday.
Wednesday 5 September
| Wednesday
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| 09.30–10.00
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Registration and Tea/Coffee
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| 10:00–10.30
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Welcome from Wikimedia UK - Dr Martin Poulter (Slides)
Welcome from University of Leicester - Dr Alejandro Armellini, Senior Learning Designer at University of Leicester. (YouTube); (Slides).
Write up of the introductory exercise
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| 10.30–11.30
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Keynote: Annie Lin (Global Education Program Manager, Wikimedia Foundation), Wikipedia and Education globally (YouTube); (Slides)
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| 11.30–12.00
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Presentation: Cornelia Trefflich (Wikimedia Deutschland), How Wikimedia has developed ways to support educators and other target groups (YouTube); (Slides)
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| 12.00–13.00
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Keynote: Leigh Thelmadatter (Instituto Tecnologico y Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México), Running Wikipedia assignments (YouTube); (Slides)
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| 13.00–14.00
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Lunch
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| 14.00–15.00
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Presentations: Wikipedia in university teaching
Dr Toni Sant (University of Hull @ Scarborough), Wikipedia Assignments & Assessment (YouTube)
Phil Wane (Nottingham Trent University), Wikipedia books (YouTube); (Slides)
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| 15.00–15.20
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Coffee
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| 15.20–16.20
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Presentations: Other wiki educational projects
Alannah Fitzgerald (Concordia University, Canada, and Waikato University, New Zealand), Language teaching with Wikimedia (YouTube); (Slides)
Fabian Tompsett (Leutha) (Wikimedia UK), Wikiversity and Open Educational Resources (YouTube) (Slides (on Wikiversity!))
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| 16.20–17:20
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Panel discussion: Openness in UK Higher Education
Amber Thomas (Programme Manager, Digital Infrastructure, JISC)
Sarah Currier (Jorum Service Manager, University of Manchester, Mimas) (Slides)
Terry McAndrew (Advisor, JISC TechDis)
Martin Poulter (Associate, Wikimedia UK)
Video of this session on YouTube
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Evening: coaches into central Leicester and a cultural tour of Leicester Guildhall.
Thursday 6 September
| Thursday
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| 09.00–09.30
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Registration and Tea/Coffee
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| 09:30–10:50
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Presentations: The bigger picture
Keynote: Amber Thomas (Programme Manager, Digital Infrastructure, JISC) on Wikipedia in universities and colleges (YouTube); (Slides)
with a response by Martin Poulter for Wikimedia UK
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| 10.50–11.10
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Coffee
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| 11.10–12.10
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Panel discussion: Assessment and accreditation in an age of open learning
Doug Belshaw (The Mozilla Foundation), on Open Badges
Lawrie Phipps (Programme Manager, Users and Innovation, JISC)
Leigh Thelmadatter (ITESM, Mexico)
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| 12.10–13.10
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Presentations and discussion: Next steps
Chris Trace (e-Learning Coordinator at the WikiVet project) (YouTube); (Slides)
Martin Poulter (WMUK), What will you do now? Being a wiki advocate within a university
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| 13.10–14.30
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Lunch
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| 14.30–16.30
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Wikipedia training workshop - offered for the Wikipedia newcomers so they can learn more about how Wikipedia works and how to contribute.
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Getting there
Venue and travel
University's Oadby campus; Stamford Hall's postcode is LE2 2ND, while John Foster Hall is LE2 2LG.
Leicester's location within Leicestershire and the rest of the UK
- Train. Leicester has a main line direct connection to London St Pancras (travel time around 75 minutes). The north and the Midlands are connected via East Midlands Trains with regular connections to Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham and Lincoln.
- Taxi. The campus is 3 miles from the Leicester Rail Station. It takes approximately 10 minutes and costs around £6 to the Oadby Campus and NOT the University of Leicester.
- Bus. Route 31/A from City Centre via Leicester train station to the Halls of Residence
- Air. East Midlands Airport, Birmingham International Airport, Luton, Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow all have connections to Leicester. Please see here for more details.
Built in 1907, Stamford Hall combines oak-panelled rooms with modern facilities and wi-fi. Free car-park on site was provided, so was lunch and refreshments on both days.
The rooms and dining area are all on the ground floor and the buildings have access ramps. A disabled toilet is available close to the meeting rooms.
In the area
The University of Leicester Harold Martin Botanic Garden is a garden located close to the event's site. It has been set up in 1921. Other attractions in Leicester include National Space Centre and New Walk Museum and Art Gallery.
Booking
Booking is now closed.
Speaker were offered a conference fee refund.
Accommodation
Bed-and-breakfast accommodation was available at John Foster Hall, a few minutes' walk from Stamford Hall. The rooms included en-suite bathroom and shower, wired internet access and access to a kitchen/ shared space. The cost was £40.80 per night including VAT.
Volunteers presenting/helping during the event
- Wikimedia UK volunteers coming to deliver a talk/help on the day were offered expenses support.
- We were not able to support Wikimedians coming to the conference as participants.
Any Questions?
Contact Daria on daria.cybulska
wikimedia.org.uk.
Costing breakdown can be found here.
EduWiki Conference 2012
