Education/News/September 2023/WikiConecta: connecting Brazilian university professors and Wikimedia
WikiConecta: connecting Brazilian university professors and Wikimedia
We are happy to inform you that after eight months of hard work, Wiki Movimento Brasil has finally launched WikiConecta, a course that was built entirely at Wikiversity. WikiConecta was officially launched by WMB's Education and Scientific Dissemination Manager, Amanda Chevtchouk Jurno, during University of Brasilia's 23rd University Week on September 26th, 2023.
WikiConecta
Wiki Movimento Brasil (WMB) developed a free course at Wikiversity to train educators interested in using Wikipedia, and other Wikimedia projects, as pedagogical tools in university projects and activities. WikiConecta offers information and basic editing tutorials in a simple and accessible way, so that professors, from all discipline and courses, can start using Wikimedia projects and develop their wiki-education programs.
The use of Wikimedia projects as pedagogical resources enriches students' learning experience and contributes to more dynamic and participatory teaching. Students contribute to the production of quality free knowledge, while developing important skills such as media, informational and computational literacy, writing based on verifiable sources, academic referencing and peer evaluation.
Although there are differences in the understanding of what constitutes an extension project between different institutions in Brazil, there is a common understanding that these activities are a way of creating dialogical interactions with society and generating social transformation. Furthermore, these are spaces to expand students' training, in an interdisciplinary and interprofessional way, enabling the exchange of experiences and knowledge between the university and the society that contains it. With WikiConecta, educators will be able to see how Wikimedia projects are a great space to develop their extension projects and create free knowledge to circulate widely and impact society in a positive way.
WikiConecta covers a variety of topics, such as the introduction to Wikimedia projects and practical application of these tools with students in daily activities. The course is divided into six modules and each of them brings a series of units and activities. The modules are independent and can be taken in any order, with the exception of Module 1, which provides introductory content. Participants will be able to request free certification after completing 20 hours of dedication and the five mandatory activities.
Developed over several months of research and work, the project included the participation of several people committed to free knowledge, as well as educators who already use Wikimedia projects as an educational tool – you can see them all here.
Built to be accessible on mobile devices, although WikiConecta is multimedia course, the main content is available in textual format. The audiovisual content, like the one on the side, are complementary. A large part of Brazilian population uses smartphones and low-speed internet, and on WikiConecta they will not miss the essential part of the content if they cannot watch the videos. For those who can watch, WikiConecta's audiovisual content features step-by-step tutorials, professors testimonials and engagement content throughout the course.
To participate is easy: access the WikiConecta page on Wikiversity, create an account, and sign up for the course at Outreach Dashboard.
Share the word, come with us: WikiConecta is out!
WikiConecta launch and University Extension in Brazil
Due to a partnership with University of Brasilia's (UnB) History Professor, Dr. Marina Bezzi, Wiki Movimento Brasil had the pleasure to launch WikiConecta at an event directly related to its core objectives.
The 23rd University Week is a seven-days event intended to present the extension activities carried out at the university to academics, students and the community. These are disciplines and projects that aim to expand the student's knowledge in specific areas. They are complementary short-term training courses that address knowledge that is not commonly seen or studied in depth by undergraduates. In Brasil, the University Extension functions as an instrument of social insertion, bringing the academy closer to adjacent communities and institutions.
It was a great pleasure to hold the national (and international, of course) launch of WikiConecta in an environment celebrating the activities for which the course aims to train teachers to include Wikimedia Projects. Due to a recent law, 2023 is the last day Universities have to adequate themselves to a new reality where extension activities became mandatory in the curriculum of undergraduate courses. The course was designed as a facilitator for these professors, since Wikimedia Projects are the perfect venues and tools for caring out extension activities.
Edit-a-thon Wikipedia and Oswaldo Cruz
On August 1st, Wiki Movimento Brasil (WMB) held the Edit-a-thon Wikipedia and Oswaldo Cruz, in partnership with Casa de Oswaldo Cruz – one of Fiocruzinstitutions.
The event marked the beginning of the partnership with the institution that will have two main axes: an axis focused on making Casa de Oswaldo Cruz collections available under a free license, via GLAM partnership, and an axis focused on carrying out activities and educational events involving the institution's post graduation programs
The editing marathon was held in person in the auditorium of the Health History Documentation Center, on the Fiocruz Manguinhos campus, throughout the day. On the occasion, students and collaborators from Casa Oswaldo Cruz learned about editing on Wikipedia and engaged in a journey of free and collaborative knowledge.
Democratization of knowledge on the agenda
The event strengthened scientific dissemination and valued cultural heritage, expanding access to knowledge and promoting the culture of open science.
During the edition, the director of Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Marcos José de Araújo Pinheiro, the director of Cultural Heritage and Scientific Dissemination of Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Diego Vaz Bevilaqua, and the former director and researcher of Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Nara Azevedo, spoke about the importance of disseminating knowledge and promoting open science as a fundamental commitment of the institution.
On the occasion, participants had the opportunity to learn the basics of editing on Wikipedia, in a workshop taught by the Education and Scientific Dissemination manager of Wiki Movimento Brasil, and apply them to entries related to the life and work of Oswaldo Cruz – significant figure in the History of Health and Brazilian Science. On the same day, the first batch of GLAM Casa de Oswaldo Cruz was uploaded, with 344 images from the Arch Base collection.
Participants were able to contribute significantly to the dissemination of their collections, bringing archival objects and images to a much wider audience through the inclusion of content in Wikimedia Projects. Furthermore, the institution further strengthened its scientific dissemination mission, fulfilling its role in transforming human knowledge into information accessible to a significant number of people.
In total, 24 editors participated in the event. They created 7 articles and edited 35 on Wikipedia, created 2 items on Wikidata and edited another 18. See all the event information at the Dashboard page.
Paper on using Wikimedia Projects to promote Digital Literacy and Health Communication
On September 19th, article "Collaborative Production in Digital Environments: Using Wiki to Promote Digital Literacy and Health Communication" was published in the scientific journal "RIAEE – Revista Ibero-Americana de Estudos em Educação" (DOI: 10.21723/riaee). It is authored by Brazilian professors and Wikimedians Lilian Cássia Bórnia Jacob and Maria Julia Ferreira Cardoso, both from Universidade de São Paulo, and João Alexandre Peschanski, from Wiki Movimento Brasil.
The work addresses the use of Wikimedia platforms for teaching digital literacy and health communication in Brazilian universities and is one of the results of a research project funded by FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil) in 2022, in which researchers from six Brazilian universities are collaborating with Wiki Movimento Brazil (see more here (in Portuguese)).
The paper is available in English, Espanish, and Portuguese and can be freely accessed.
Below, see its abstract in English.
ABSTRACT: Open collaboration platforms have changed how knowledge is created, shared, and consumed. To open and increase access to knowledge, Wikipedia is an open educational resource and pedagogical tool that allows direct and transparent observation of writing, research, social collaboration, and rhetoric practices and concepts in digital environments. This search is bibliographic in nature and analyzed theoretical references selected for their academic relevance and adherence to the context of collaborative production in digital environments to promote digital healthcare literacy and communication. This article discusses the theoretical aspects of using Wikipedia as an active methodology tool, focusing on its applicability in teaching, research, and extension activities and, as a result, on the skills acquired by students, support structures for pedagogical practice, science dissemination, and health care education.