Wikimedia UK Education 2016

Help shape open education across the UK,

and support access to knowledge for all.

12pm-5pm, Saturday 21st May, Leicester

Wikimedia UK Education 2016 - In a nutshell

Register here

Details

Wikimedia UK is a charity that works with volunteers to support and promote Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, and this free event will be an opportunity to help shape the organisation’s future direction in relation to education. In particular, we are interested in expanding our work with higher education partners, and exploring the potential for pilot activities across the formal education sectors.

Audience

Educators and students who are interested in engaging with Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia projects to support learners, staff and organisational development. Existing Wikimedia volunteers and educators. Attendees should be interested in discussing how Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia projects can support schools, FE, HE and/or adult education.

Agenda

11.40am: Arrivals

12.10pm: Introduction to the day & aims

12.30pm: Lucy Crompton-Reid, CEO Wikimedia UK: Wikimedia UK, education & future directions plus Q&A

1pm: Break

1.20pm: Presentations - short presentations on current and past education focused projects

• Mira Vogel works with staff and students at University College London to plan, run and evaluate a range of digital education activities. Initiatives like UCL's Connected Curriculum give students reasons to produce work "directed at an audience" and "out to the world". The fertile terrain of Wikipedia includes the Talk and History pages, and corresponding articles in different languages. UCL Wikipedia work evaluations confirm that student activity depends heavily on their tutors' lead, so sustaining Wikipedia work within a curriculum depends on how tutors understand the potential of Wikipedia and explain it to their students. This talk will introduce some hopes, fears and misapprehensions.

• Charles Matthews has been a Wikimedia volunteer since 2003, working on Wikipedia, Wikisource and Wikidata projects. He is Project Leader for the Wikimedia UK Virtual Learning Environment. His talk will concentrate on matters arising from the VLE project, as seen from a Wikidata perspective.

• Stefan Lutschinger is a creative professional, curator, and lecturer in Media, Culture and Communications at Middlesex University. Stefan's talk will cover his experience of integrating Wikipedia into the MED3040 Publishing Cultures course at Middlesex.
• Jason Evans was appointed as Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Wales in January 2015. Since becoming a Wikipedian in residence Jason has organised public events and shared digital content and is now looking to take Wikipedia into schools and universities through a number of initiatives. He will talk about developing projects and building trust in order to engage schools and universities with Wikipedia.

2.20pm: Discussion - past, current and future directions – mapping the terrain & strategic priorities

2.50pm: Workshop sessions:

• Sector specific (e.g. supporting schools in getting the most out of Wikipedia; promoting and expanding the Wikimedian in Residence programme)
• Project specific (e.g. education policy, institutional collaboration)

Workshop streams will be determined by attendees

4pm: Reporting back, summing up & next steps

5pm: Close

Useful Links

(cover only, for full link see text)

• Open Education Handbook This gives an overview of Open Education and is available in various formats. This link is to the version on Wikibooks.
• The Education pages at Wikimedia UK - these have not been updated recently, but have some very useful information

Location

The Learning and Work Institute is located at the red dot

The event will be held a short walk from Leicester Railway Station.

Travel Bursaries

A limited number of bursaries are available for those who would like to participate in the event, but for whom travel costs represent a barrier to attendance. If you would like to apply, please contact Daria Cybulska (daria.cybulska(at)wikimedia.org.uk) by 15th April 2016 with the following details:

• Where your journey starts
• The cost of advanced standard travel
• A sentence or two on why you’d like to attend, and what you’ll be aiming to contribute on the day.

Daria will be contacting applicants as soon as possible after the closing date.