Wikipedia talk:Writing Wikipedia Articles course/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archive 2

Blog, Facebook, Tweet and Social Media Posts

Now that we published our article PhET Interactive Simulations on Wikipedia (with great thanks to Peter and Sara), today we

• Blogged at PhET Blog
• Tweeted with reference to #WIKISOO
• Posted on our Facebook page

Thanks for a great class! --Klidessau (talk) 00:09, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks to classmates, Pete, and Sara

Thank all very much for sharing, reflecting, encouraging, and criticizing (with genuine interest in promoting growth). Personally, I had only visited WP under 50 times before this class. Although I am just barely proficient as a Wikipedian (if you are not a teacher, that's standardized testing vocab for C-), I do feel much more confident in sharing ideas on the web. Not only did I participate in WP, but today I submitted an idea to Xchange which is a High School Teachers online group under American Chemical Society umbrella. I have had an idea for almost a year, but felt under-qualified to submit. Now, I hope that the reviewers will consider my work seriously because I do feel like I made it decent. Some who are familiar with my PhET teaching ideas which are posted on the PhET website might be surprised at my lack of participation outside of PhET since I had over 1 million downloads of my activities last year. I have always felt very safe sharing with other HS teachers. See you at the reunion, Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 15:27, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

NSDL needs help!!

NSDL article National Science Digital Library got three flags

The PhET article was similarly flagged, so we have been actively working to address the concerns brought up by the reviewers. Anyone who would desire to help NSDL would be helping the OER community. I am hopeful since this class has many OER interested folks that someone will jump in. Thanks, Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 20:32, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

Welcome new students to round 3 of the course!

Post any and all questions here! - Sara FB (talk) 18:24, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

Did you know that you can easily email other wikipedians like your team members?

I was reading the first page of this course and noticed that there were directions on how to email WP members {after you select the users "talk" there is link on the left hand nav column). I never found this last round. (This is my second time taking the course). Personally I was delighted because as a novice, I was uncomfortable with using talk pages for some things since everything is to public. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 20:35, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

How to find the "email user" link

Thanks for pointing that out Patricia, very helpful! I should have mentioned this in class. Here's a screen shot that hopefully will make it easier to find. This link will show up whenever you're looking at a "User" or "User talk" page. (Unless the person never entered their email address in the preferences -- which happens occasionally.) -Pete (talk) 21:39, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

One of my favorite things about this course is this talk page. It is so nice to ask questions and get help! My team has started an email thread, but we do plan to "Be Bold" and move to talk and sandbox pages quickly. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 23:03, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

Archive of Week 1 class posted

Hi everyone -- in case you didn't see in your email, the archive from the first class session has been posted -- if you need to review anything you missed, or if you missed the session altogether, take a look.

(For future reference, the archives will be linked in the box at the bottom of our course's home page -- that's the box that looks like this:

The "Blackboard" archive has been posted, so what you'll want to do is click that link in the first row. We will hopefully have archives on YouTube or another video format shortly, but not yet!

See you in the lab session in about 14 hours! -Pete (talk) 00:15, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Inserted a Citation!!!

This is so exciting. Tooled around in an article until it finally became so obvious even I could not miss it. John Worgan I added Citation 2!!!Lorrie (talk) 17:26, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Good job Lorrie! I see you added an internal link as well. Here is the diff link to your changes in case others want to check it out :)

To all who have submitted your projects: it looks like I may have a pretty busy weekend, so I may not be able to review them all thoroughly until Monday -- but I will do my best! Thank you for the excellent submissions. -Pete (talk) 23:55, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Last class someone shared 2 ways to find resources that really helped me - using Google: after entering topic, go to “News” tab and also use “Search Tools” to pull up archived results and CiteSeer was also mentioned as a great resource for citations (science article-based) Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 23:12, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

From Glen 2 during lab week 2 "Google scholar is also fabulous for specific published research. Can be filtered an number of ways including date" Hope that is ok that I put this in, it certainly seems helpful for me. Thanks, Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 15:44, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

How to use revision history?

In the first class, Pete showed some basics of the Revision page. I really don't know how to use it very well, although I have experience reverting in GoogleDocs. One of my problems is that I don’t really understand the WP etiquette well. Also, I had some problems last class when I would be working on an article and hit save and got a message that my work was not uploaded because someone else had uploaded too (conflict error message). Unfortunately, as far as I could tell, all my work was gone. I began to work in my Sandbox and then copy it over to upload. Have you had similar issues and what was your solution. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 22:59, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

Excellent question, Trish! I can address this in the lab session tomorrow. I'd encourage any past students to post an answer here if you like; I can return after the lab and offer some thoughts if nobody has gotten to it first.

Thanks for making the video on the week 1 class page in the part called "Watch this" I will watch it! Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 15:27, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Pete, I added a link to your helpful video on Help:Page history. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 19:30, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Adding images

I am not find help for adding images. I tried the new editor and reading the Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback/Archive 2013 and tried copying source code from other pages like the image of Pete on the front page of this course. But I can't get my image in. The image I am trying to put in is [1] Can you give me help with a link. And more generally, what's the best way to find help with WP editing. I know when I wanted to learn how to upload images to commons, I gave up looking and just asked a teammate. Can you review how to get to the WP help? Thanks Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 02:48, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

I had some luck with Wikipedia:File Upload Wizard Jg1141 (talk) 04:27, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

I used the new visual editor which worked well, but I didn't find a way to put in a caption. So I looked at the source on the image of Pete for the course. I just added "|the caption text I wanted" at the end of the inserted source. This worked well. It looked like "File:PhetUniveristy.jpg|thumb|200x200px| PhET sim used part of a large lecture course" with the double [ 's around it. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 18:42, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Finding WP help pages

Finding the WP help can be difficult. In week 1 lab, Pete showed an important tip: If you use the "Help" link on the left hand nav, "Help:Contents" then you have to go to "Browse" and make sure only "Help" is checked in the search window that is on the help page. If you do not go to "Browse", you can to do search and then select "advanced" to select only Help articles. Someone else mentioned another idea is to use Google and look for Wikipedia articles with starting with the namespace "Help:" Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 18:56, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

No choice "Course" at top of screen?

Did I not register properly or something? Jg1141 (talk) 04:24, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Here is my set of menu choices:

jg1141, no, I think something did get mixed up in the enrollment -- I don't see you on the student list. No big deal though, we'll figure it out. If you're in lab today, that would be a good time to sort it out. Otherwise I'll come back afterward with more specific instructions. -Pete (talk) 14:27, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

jg1141, sorry for the delay. The part of the enrollment process that seems to have gone awry is this:

• Click here and enter the word "WIKISOO".

That should add you to the student list; you should see your name at the top of the list on this page, and you should see the "courses" link at the top of your screen.

Give it another try, and let us know if it works? -Pete (talk) 18:55, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

I was seeing the same problem even though my name was present in the student list. I went to preferences - misc tab and enabled "Show a link to your courses at the top of every page." and clicked Save.Abhisek Sanyal (talk) 13:37, 11 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Abhisek. Your suggestion worked for me after following Pete's suggestion. Jg1141 (talk) 01:17, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

TEAM OER discussion space

Add anything you want - I just thought we might want a central space that is more connected than our talk pages. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 21:42, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

I learned how to upload images to WP Commons and added a couple to the PhET article. I also put a link to Pete's video on the Help: Revision Personally, I am interested education research discourse around using simulations. Rosemary and I visited via Skype and she has already some references in mind. I don't know what else I want to work on yet, but if anyone has an article that they want me to participate in, please speak up. I send an email with to everyone with a link to this page. Hope this helps us connect. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 21:42, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

I wonder if anyone else thinks the "History" section covers so much of the same material as the lead that the article would be improved by deleting the "History" section? Or should the lead focus more on what PhET provides and move some of the historical parts to the History section? Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 18:10, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

What is the PhET article? Link?? Jg1141 (talk) 00:47, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

PhET Interactive Simulations -Pete (talk) 14:25, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

How to approach potential plagiarism

From Getting Started I chose a random article in need of internal links: Mobile entertainment. This article is also unassessed and tagged for "multiple issues." After finding significant portions of the article's Definition section to be verbatim passages taken from two of the citations under References, I inserted quotation marks and added the relevant citations. (I haven't even gotten to the second section, Review and Redefine, whose title doesn't conform to wiki standards and is actually the subtitle of one of the papers cited!) It seems to me that before the content can be improved and any more internal links made, all passages lifted from published works should be identified and dealt with first. Comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! --Litjade (talk) 01:03, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

Hi Jade, this is a good project, and you're right, it might be a little challenging! Let's take a look if you're in lab today; if you're not, I'll come back with some more detailed thoughts later today. One thing you might consider is leaving a note on that article's talk page about what you're trying to do; you never know, you might find there are others interested in helping out, who have worked on the article in the past and put it on their watchlist! Talk:Mobile entertainment -Pete (talk) 14:29, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

Creating an article: where do I start?

I searched Wikipedia for Shikkhok but there doesn't seem to be any article yet. It's an innovative educational project that aims at reaching out to Bengali speakers, especially in rural communities, to improve their educational experience through provision of quality courses online as well as on mobile phones and TV. In 2013, the project has won a Google RISE Award, a Deutsche-Welle Best of Blogs Innovation award as well as an Isif Asia Award in the category Innovation on learning and localization.

My question is: Where do I go to suggest this article? How do I go about contacting a related project? There might be a Bengali article but I don't read Bengali so if anyone here does, do look it up ;)
Thanks for your help.--Hardcorekancil (talk) 19:36, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

Hi Hardcorekancil, glad to know you are already thinking about an article to start. The questions you are asking are going to be the main substance of the upcoming class (Week 3), so I'll give you a short answer now, and we can explore in more depth then.

The first consideration when starting a new article is whether it meets Wikipedia's criteria for its own article. The awards you note above bode well for that, but may not be enough in themselves. The main page you will want to look at is the Wikipedia "general notibility guideline", which lives here: WP:GNG (which is a shortcut to: Wikipedia:Notability). As you'll see, the main consideration is how much coverage the topic has had in reputable, independent media.

After a brief look, it seems to me that this topic may be in a grey area: maybe notable, maybe not. If that's the case, it would make a very challenging first article; you may want to start off by finding related articles to add information to (for instance, Education in Bangladesh.) If you will be in the lab session today, let's discuss! -Pete (talk) 14:23, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

I couldn't make it to the lab today but I do appreciate your patience in answering my question. Like you said, this topic looks like it's in a grey area: it has received several prizes and been featured on some websites but I haven't found much coverage in mainstream English language media. Maybe not the best place to start out then ;)

Are you saying it would be ok to add a line or two about Shikkhok on the page Education in Bangladesh for example? --Hardcorekancil (talk) 19:04, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

You would still need a good source or two to add it to an existing article; but you don't need as many. I don't want to give you a definite answer, but if you have a link that mentions the award, I think you should give it a try -- and leave a note at Talk:Education in Bangladesh at the same time. That way, Wikipedians who know more about the topic can give you feedback, which in this case is better than feedback from me :) But, leave a note here too if you do this, and I will keep an eye on it. -Pete (talk) 19:13, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

Started an article, please comment

I'm using the draft feature to try starting a biography for someone named in an existing Wikipedia page (a red link), Bret Victor. Jg1141 (talk) 03:54, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

I saw where this page had been deleted twice in the past, so I have included a citation from the Financial Times which establishes the significance of this individual. Jg1141 (talk) 03:59, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Glad to see you guys working away! see you in class today I hope! - 108.90.244.45 (talk) 14:38, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

Is this first draft of the Bret Victor article ready to submit? or not? Jg1141 (talk) 01:16, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

Not hearing any comment, I went ahead and submitted. Now I have to wait a week ... Jg1141 (talk) 01:42, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

MOOC article editing for Team Europe!

ORANGEABUNDANCE wrote: "please dear Europe Team lets meet again in thursday LAB session just to organize and begin our mutual collaboration" - suggesting work on the MOOC article and the MOOCS in Europe issue. - Sara FB (talk) 15:46, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

We love volunteers to spearhead "fixing" OER articles!

If you, or any team, wants to use the Collaborate OER space before or after the lab session, you are very welcome to do so! -Pete (talk) 23:24, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

OER WikiProject

Is there a WikiProject for all of the OER articles. I'm looking at the list and there's so many of them that they could at least be added a separate task force under Wikipedia:WikiProject Open Access. →ozhu量 (talk·contribs) 18:39, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

Ozhu, your best options at the moment are WP Open Access (as you mentioned) and WP:COMMOER. Hopefully we will be able to establish a more coherent WikiProject structure by the time this course is done, though! The interest expressed by you and other students is a big help, and we will need your continued engagement to make it a thriving WikiProject. Stay tuned, this is a topic we will revisit throughout the class! -Pete (talk) 18:24, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

How to shorten successive references to the same cited source

This may be a learning by trial-and-error in the Sandbox, but I need a little help first. In the Olinguito article, I noticed that many of the footnotes are listed with a number and a superscript alphabet to show that the cited source was used more than once in the article. So, for example, 1. ^{a b c} means footnote 1 was cited three times in the article. In Edit source view, first use of footnote 1 is formatted as <ref name="Koepfli2007"/>. Also the Reference section is formatted with {{reflist|2|refs=. This seems to be a different method from the Phalaenopsis hieroglyphica article, in which we used {{reflist}} to create the footnote section and the citation templates available under Edit source to create each footnote. --Litjade (talk) 13:59, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Great question, Litjade. I think the answer you need is outlined pretty thoroughly here: WP:NAMEDREFS Let me know if this doesn't answer your question, though! -Pete (talk) 18:20, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Which page to sign up for teams?

I followed the link from the first week and signed up for a team here, but I noticed that the blurb for Week 2 links here. Should I sign up on both to be part of a team? or was there a reorganization during the Week 2 session? →ozhu量 (talk·contribs) 17:53, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Ozhu, from what I can see, you've successfully signed up for a team on the current (Round 3) class team page. The second link you found, here, is the team page for the previous (Round 2) class. --from your fellow classmate, Litjade (talk) 19:16, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Litjade, thanks for jumping in to clarify that! I have done a little reorganizing to hopefully prevent this confusion in the future, and added a big red "archive" note at the top of the Round 2 Teams page. (Because of my reorganizing, the links you guys put in above actually go to the current page now.) -Pete (talk) 18:17, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Badge requirements

What is 'start' level in Wikipedia quality terms?

Where are the quality levels detailed and how do I know when I have brought an article from one level to the next? --Tbirdcymru (talk) 13:37, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

Hi Tbird, this is another topic we'll be covering in some depth this coming Tuesday. If you'd like to read ahead a bit, take a look here: WP:QUALITY -Pete (talk) 14:30, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

I have forgotten to tell how many "real contributions" I have made. I know that Talk pages don't count. I went to my Contributions User contributions but I remember seeing a page that showed a better summary. Maybe it was on the course pages somewhere? Or can I use the filter somehow? thanksPatricia.Loeblein (talk) 21:14, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Hey I found the "help" I needed Help:User_contributions in the "Total edit count" section I made it to 200!! I will reapply for my badge sometime soon. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 22:30, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Sorry another thing - I know the badge has a relevance to a level of contributor in WP, can you provide the link to the info on the levels. I obviously do not know the proper term for searching. When I get my badge (which I plan to do), I want to know how to put something proper on my User page. Thanks, Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 22:23, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Congratulations Trish! I noticed you were getting close. Your new submission doesn't need to say anything fancy; from my previous review, the only thing that was missing was that 200 edit count.

The page that describes the different levels is WP:Service awards. These aren't really anything official, but can be a nice way of tracking your progress! It should be obvious how to place this on your user page when you receive the badge -- and feel free to ask more questions if needed. -Pete (talk) 23:09, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Pete.I didnt really get 200 in 1 month, but I read the requirements and don't feel like I would be bragging too much. It is interesting to me to take a course to get a badge. Our organization is looking at badges for participating on the PhET Teach site (not live yet). I can see that for some people, a badge on their user account would be meaningful. Trish Patricia.Loeblein (talk) 01:41, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Oh, it just means that you've been active for at least a month -- not that all your edits have to be in that time! You're good. Let me know if you'd like to discuss badges more generally some time. -Pete (talk) 02:42, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Notability requirements discussion.

This is the issue that I raised in the lab this morning. I was looking at a list of search engines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines and noticed a list that was labeled Geographically limited scope. I knew of a search engine that fit this description so I tried to add it to the list. The search engine that I added did not have its own wiki page so I started one and supported it with the citations that I could find. It was initially scheduled for quick deletion and deleted. I restored it and added more resources and a rationale for why it should be kept but was unable to convince some Wipipedia admins that it made an appropriate contribution to Wikipedia. What confuses me is looking through the other search engines listed on the original page, for example Goo, Japan -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goo_(search_engine). I have trouble seeing how it is any more notable or well supported, yet it remains. Some of the entries have been tagged for improvements but have not been removed outright. Is the criteria of "significant" one that is open to interpretation? negotiation? Or have I just caught the eye of some overzealous editors who now have this on their watchlist. ggatin (talk) 21:17, 15 August 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gating (talk • contribs)

Hi Gating, the unfortunate but realistic answer is yes, the notability requirements are definitely subject to both interpretation and negotiation. And yes, it is common that once an experienced Wikipedian has determined that something is not notable, in practice it can be very difficult to convince them otherwise -- whether they are right or wrong! So, it's not uncommon to find cases where one article is deleted while another remains, even though they are very similar with respect to notability; it depends a great deal on who is watching them, who created them, when they were created, how that creation was approached, etc. It is worthwhile to read WP:OTHERSTUFF which discusses this topic (in the context of arguing for the inclusion of an article).

For this reason, I generally encourage new Wikipedia contributors to avoid creating new articles that are in a grey area, i.e. that may not be considered notable. You will generally have an easier time in these dynamics once you have a solid general familiarity with how Wikipedia works; but these kinds of issues can be a tricky way to gain that familiarity. If you want to dig into this one, I'm happy to take a closer look; but you might also consider holding off, and coming back to it in a month or two.

If you like, list the name of the article here, and I will take a closer look at the issues you bring up and give you some more detailed feedback. -Pete (talk) 23:16, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, Pete. The article is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/First_Nations_Seeker I also liked the idea of writing something for publication elsewhere to increase the bone fides of the entry. I made a connection with the fellow who designed the site and I'll consult with him. ggatin (talk) 09:35, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

I restored your version of the article here: User:Gating/sandbox2 -Pete (talk) 15:46, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

I guess this is a case for developing an article in the sandbox although I did that and thought I had a good start. It is frustrating to have it speedily deleted and targeted for deletion before others can help to build out the article. I thought that the editors were arbitrary and quick on the trigger. I would like to keep trying with this article because as I mentioned I would like to use the maps included on this page as part of a project for a digital humanities class.Turning the First Nations Seeker Maps into a Google Earth Layer Any help gratefully appreciated. ggatin (talk) 16:03, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Yes, I think so. Let's talk it over again before you make another attempt. I should note, after having looked through the revisions closely, the second indpendent reference wasn't added until 14 July, but there were two "delete" votes on 11 July. Since those voters never returned to the discussion, it is reasonable to guess they didn't notice that addition. This is one thing you could note when trying to publish the article again; but if you can find additional independent sources first, that would be ideal. Two might be enough, but usually people want to see three or more. -Pete (talk) 20:18, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Other media besides images in Wikimedia

Hiya, just wondering if there is a way to add other media to Wikimedia? I'd be interested in both sound and video.--Tbirdcymru (talk) 11:22, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Yes, it is possible -- but it can be a little tricky, because the only video formats supported are WebM and OGG/Theora, which are free and open, but not widely used with common video software. The preferred sound format is OGG/Vorbis, also not terribly common. There's a general media help page on Wikimedia Commons: COM:Media help. This page may also be of interest: COM:VIDEO Hope it helps. Let me know if you have more questions! -Pete (talk) 18:34, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Adding images

Hi everyone, I just noticed that your classmate Tbirdcymrul successfully added three images to an article. You can see her edits to the article here. She had previously uploaded the images to Wikimedia Commons. Great work, Terese! Hopefully it's helpful to your fellow students to see how you did it. -Pete (talk) 16:42, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

Go Tbirdcymrul! - Sara FB (talk) 18:52, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Potential article for class project

In case any students are looking for an article to edit as their final project, take a look at Teaching method, an unassessed article with a tag requesting inline citations. The basic structure is already present: a short lead/summary followed by content divided into sections, including a reference list and external links. There's no explicit mention of teaching methods specific to Open Education, distance learning, etc., so the article seems "ripe" for tinkering. --Litjade (talk) 18:33, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia Lists

Just posting here that I'm considering making a list of OER initiatives which have been started by Universities. Maybe I should call it OER Repositories by Universities, to keep it distinct from MOOCs? Not sure. I'm thinking that my group mate Sarah G might like to join in? Anyone else?

I have started a list in my own sandbox:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tbirdcymru/sandbox

I copied the code from a list of greatest hits singles of the 1960s, so please don't laugh at the current state of the iist:-) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tbirdcymru (talk • contribs) 10:22, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Clever, Tbirdcymrul! Sounds very useful. Pete can advise on the role of such lists in or as WP articles... - Sara FB (talk) 18:54, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

I think OER repository by university is a reasonable name, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some discussion and various opinions about the proper name for it. That's fine, it can be "moved" easily after it's created if necessary. Your table looks fine -- good work finding an example to build on! If you want, though, you could just start with

• simple
• bullet
• lists

…and then refine and format it later. -Pete (talk) 14:12, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

In the class session, I pointed out a possible source to use in building the list -- Neil Butcher's Basic Guide to OER. You might find Appendix 5 and Appendix 6 helpful. -Peteforsyth demo (talk) 14:53, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Fyi, under Appendix 6#OCW_OER_Repositories, the Development Gateway link needs to be updated to Zunia. --Litjade (talk) 20:03, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Class banner for article?

In Round 2 of this course, there was a nifty article banner that we could place on articles we were editing for class. I tried to update and use it on the Talk page of Open Learning for Development, but it turns out funky:

How do I fix it? --Litjade (talk) 19:10, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Plague solved (I hope). I checked the syntax section in the article about using the template {{education assignment}} . This syntax seems to work: {{course assignment | year=2013 | course=Wikipedia:School_of_Open_course}} --Litjade (talk) 19:56, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Good job Jade! We haven't focused much on that banner in this class -- it's fine to use it, but (in my opinion, anyway) not necessary to use on every article. However -- by working on it, I think you picked up a little something about how templates work on Wikipedia! Glad to see you sorted it out!

Also, I'd love to see you comment on that article's talk page with some of the considerations you brought up in lab today. I'd like to share some thougthts there too, but you're the one who spotted the issue -- so I'll wait for you to bring it up first! -Pete (talk) 20:52, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, Pete. And thanks to your and Sara's prompting, I got momentarily bold and commented on the article's Talk page. --Litjade (talk) 22:28, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for sharing this, Litjade - very useful! SarahGWiki (talk) 12:41, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

Questions many users face - feel free to post them here!

A lot of you have basic questions about nitty gritty - don't be afraid to post them here, or answer each other's questions! Sharing links like this is great too... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial -Sara FB (talk) 15:39, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

SarahG and I are considering an article on African OER Initiatives, because, as Sarah described to me, most OER work in Africa is done by more than one university/institution working together. What do folks think, is this article notable?--Tbirdcymru (talk) 17:12, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Hi there. One approach (of many, I'm sure!) might be to consider creating a list article, especially if you don't have a lot of information (and sources) about the initiatives you find. Then under the International programs section of the OER article, insert a bullet point for Africa and add some info with a link to your list article. (Side note: Come to think of it, might a better name for the International programs section be "World regional programs"?) Anyways, I learned from one of my teammates in Round 2 of this class about the importance of internal links. For example, if there's mention in the lead section of your list article about the role of Ict4d in the initiatives, a link to the ICT for education section might be good. Hope this helps a little. --Litjade (talk) 17:30, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

P.S. The UNESCO/Commonwealth of Learning Survey on Governments' Open Educational Resources (OER) Policies might be useful for finding African and other world regional OER initiatives. --Litjade (talk) 18:56, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Article assessment

I'm interested in tackling Massive Open Online Course, but the latter actually looks pretty well fleshed (at least B- or C-class) out already even though it is unassessed. Who decides which articles get assessed, and how can I request an article to be assessed? Can I assess an article as a random user? →ozhu量 (talk·contribs) 01:36, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Ozhu, the important thing is that you (as the submitter) can make a good case that your article improved one step on the article assessment scale. When you apply for the badge, you will need to make reference to the definitions on the quality scale. I (or perhaps another badge holder) will review your submission, and if you have made a good case for it, that's enough. You might want to take a look at the badges that have already been awarded -- if you click on any of the article titles on that page, you'll see the full student submission, and all instructor feedback. That will hopefully give you a feel for it, but let me know if you need further clarification.

Also, please feel free to ask for more incremental and informal "assessments" or feedback here on the class talk page at any time! Yes, you or anyone are free to assess any article at any time; you should always take into account the quality definitions, but you'll find it's pretty rare that anybody argues with you about it. The exceptions are the highest ratings, mainly: WP:FA and WP:GA. Those ones have formal processes for evaluation. -Pete (talk) 19:11, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

p.s. Very glad to hear you are looking at improving MOOC -- there's a lot that can be done to improve that important article! I hope we will have a guest Tuesday who may have some reflections on that article, as well. -Pete (talk) 19:13, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

I think a lot of people in the OER community are not happy with that article in its current state, and in the next few weeks we may well see some more activity there... so the timing sounds great. :) - Sara FB (talk) 15:25, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

Critique of MOOCs

In case useful for the MOOC article section on Challenges and criticism, I happened on a Sept 3rd news article, "'Star' Coursera Prof stops teaching online course in objection to MOOCs". — Preceding unsigned comment added by Litjade (talk • contribs) 11:06, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Cool, thanks. I'll take a look. →ozhu量 (talk·contribs) 08:04, 8 September 2013 (UTC)