Wikimedia UK/Events/Wikimedia in Education/Needful Things: Wikimedia in Teaching and Learning

By Ewan McAndrew

Needful Things: Wikimedia in Teaching and Learning

“Ladies and gentlemen, attention, please!

Come in close where everyone can see!

I got a tale to tell, it isn’t gonna cost a dime!

(And if you believe that,

we’re gonna get along just fine.)”

― Stephen King, Needful Things

A new Wikimedian in Residence sets up a ”Needful Things” stall opening teaching and learning up in the sleepy university town of Edinburgh, Scotland, sparking the curiosity of its citizens. The proprietor, is a charming gentleman who always seems to have an item in stock that is perfectly suited to any customer he encounters. The prices are surprisingly low, (er... free), considering the merchandise. Is this man the devil himself?

After four years at the University of Edinburgh, this presentation by Ewan McAndrew, Wikimedian in Residence, will outline: the residency outcomes to date, the lessons learnt, the demonically persuasive conversations undertaken and the growing number of course teams involved in reimagining Wikimedia in education as a “needful thing” in teaching and learning.