{"id":1320,"date":"2023-04-07T12:53:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T12:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/wir\/?p=1320"},"modified":"2023-05-10T18:31:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T18:31:55","slug":"digital-volunteering-with-wikipedia-the-edinburgh-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/wir\/digital-volunteering-with-wikipedia-the-edinburgh-award\/","title":{"rendered":"“Digital Volunteering with Wikipedia” – the Edinburgh Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

We know that many students are involved in activities alongside their studies such as volunteering, part-time work, and getting involved in the University community.<\/span><\/p>\n

To help these activities to stand out from the crowd, our University has a new Award for \u201cDigital Volunteering with Wikipedia<\/em>\u201d<\/a> to sit beside other available Edinburgh Awards\u2013 the Edinburgh Award<\/a> is a programme that allows students to get official recognition for their involvement in extracurricular activities and demonstrate their digital capabilities to employers<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Edinburgh<\/a>

Edinburgh Award participants sat around a boardroom table in the shadow of Edinburgh castle at final showcase event, CC-BY-SA by Ewan McAndrew, University of Edinburgh<\/p><\/div>\n

There are many different types of Edinburgh Award<\/strong> activity students can undertake but Digital Volunteering with Wikipedia<\/strong> <\/em>focuses on developing 3 Graduate Attributes (e.g. digital literacy, written communication, assertiveness & confidence etc.) over the course of 55-80 hours of work and providing evidence of demonstrable learning, reflection and impact. These hours are staggered over the October to end of March period punctuated by 3 main mandatory “input” sessions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first, <\/span>Aspiring<\/i><\/strong><\/span>, in October the students self -assess themselves against the Graduate Attributes and select three to develop as part of the award. They also select a topic area of Wikipedia they wish to improve and submit a 400 word action plan for how they plan to develop their chosen Graduate Attributes and how they\u2019ll deliver impact.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Once they have had training and researched their topic areas, the 2<\/span>nd<\/span> Input Session, <\/span>Developing<\/i><\/strong><\/span>, in late December, requires them to re-assess if their Graduate Attribute ranking has changed, and submit a completed Fortnightly Log of Activities<\/strong> designed to evidence their work to date and their reflections on how they are progressing towards their personal project goals. We hold fortnightly group research sessions in the library (because not everything is online) to help their research and allow them to edit in\u00a0 a social and supportive environment where they can ask questions and seek help; both from the Wikimedian in Residence<\/a>, and from each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Example student project on Francophone Literature, CC-BY-SA by Ewan McAndrew, University of Edinburgh<\/p><\/div>\n

The final Input Session, Owning<\/strong><\/em><\/span>, is about coming together to share their project outcomes and reflections as well as ensuring the students get the opportunity to tie all this in with their future goals and how they will communicate about their Edinburgh Award experience to their peers, academic advisors or employers. This session takes place at end of March and their final submissions are an 800 word report or 3-6 minute video presentation<\/strong> reflecting on both their impact achieved and the development achieved in their 3 chosen graduate attributes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Topics suggested by students to improve online<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

More interestingly, are the topics the students wanted to write about. Climate change, Covid-19, LGBT History, Black History, Women artists, Women in STEM. Marginalised groups, underrepresented topics, some of the biggest and most pressing challenges in the world today. This shows me that students recognise and are intrinsically motivated by the importance of addressing knowledge gaps and improving the world around them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s a short video of an example project on LGBTQ+ history and women of the MENA region:<\/strong><\/p>\n