Education/Newsletter/October 2013/WikiProject Open launches on English Wikipedia
WikiProject Open, which aims to support Wikipedians in improving articles relating to openness, is launching, with planning taking place in a series of online webinars. Participants from Communicate OER, WikiProject Open Access, Creative Commons' "School of Open," and related efforts have combined forces to create a space that will welcome new and experienced Wikipedians, guiding and supporting them in improving Wikipedia articles. You are invited to join one of our upcoming planning meetings! (Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday of this week, depending on your time zone.) We are making every effort to build this WikiProject based on known, effective practices for online collaborative spaces; to that end, we are considering peer reviewed research around collaborative communities as much a possible.
WikiProject Open has its roots in open education, but hopes to engage Wikipedians interested in topics ranging from open source software to open government as well. If you have experience with (or an interest in) Wikipedia, online collaboration, open education, open access publishing, or openness in general, we look forward to working with you!
WikiProject Open will also be the continued home for the free six week course Writing Wikipedia Articles (also known as "WIKISOO"), which recently completed its third run. WIKISOO will also soon be made available in a format that allows students to take it at their own pace. The course uses open educational resources as the main topic for student contributions; our past students have made substantial improvements to articles including Open Educational Resources (in both English and Spanish), Open Educational Practices, and PhET Interactive Simulations. Many have earned the WIKISOO Burba and Signator badges through their efforts.