Many thanks to Sophie and LiAnna for the post!
Indeed, my experience also leads to similar conclusions. Not everyone will be hooked in the same way we did to Wikipedia. Consider the percentage of recurring editors with the total number of readers - I guess it's probably the same as the results we get in a class. So if one or two students get truly contaminated with the Wikipedia virus, so to speak, it's already a huge plus.
But this doesn't mean we're failing in our goals, at all. It's amazing when we realize that most people actually don't understand what Wikipedia is. First we should understand the idea of a free wiki encyclopedia - there's a lot to discuss about these three words, for a start! Then the students can become better users - and editors, even if just in that occasion.
It's easy to get carried on by our excitement with the new. I'm seeing the same thing with the MOOCs right now (not just here on the list, but everywhere). I don't mean to say that it is wrong to do so, but we do have to remember that everyone have different paces, goals and levels of interest. I for one am very excited, just like the rest of us. ; )
Juliana.
On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 9:27 PM, Μίνα Θεοφιλάτου
<theoth@otenet.gr> wrote:
Great post indeed! I've made the same mistakes myself...
We Wikimedians tend to assume that EVERYONE shares our enthusiasm and passion for CONTRIBUTING to (not plain "using") Wikipedia and participating in wiki-communities, when that is simply not the case.
Have a look at the "Wikipedia Quick Start Guide" that I put together for a European workshop for educators in Prague two years ago. It was the product of "brainstorming" how to get my audience involved "on the spot" (I only had 45 minutes). Perhaps someone might find it useful...
Greetings from Greece
Mina ("Saintfevrier")
On Feb 14, 2013, at 8:55 PM, LiAnna Davis wrote:
I wanted to draw your attention in particular to this excellent post from
Sophie Österberg from Wikimedia Sverige -- she's put together a very frank list of mistakes she's made and what she has learned from them. I highly encourage everyone to read the post and add your own learnings, either through commenting on the blog post or through discussion on this list. I think it would be great if we got better as a community of bravely sharing not only what goes well, but what doesn't, so that we can all learn from each others' experiences and not make the same mistakes!
Thanks, Sophie, for the great post:
LiAnna
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