Theories: Wikipedia and the production of knowledge – a guide for instructors interested in examining Wikipedia's model of knowledge production to probe deeper into the politics of access and representation, questions of authorship, and the study of ideology.
Academic studies – a list of academic studies examining the use of Wikipedia in education, including papers on the methods and outcomes of assignments.
Course pages
If this is your first time using the course page system, you should begin by going through the orientation for educators, which covers best practices for Wikipedia assignments.
If you would like to set up a new course page, visit dashboard.wikiedu.org. This will walk you through the next steps of creating your course.
Helping students get started
Printable guides
These printable PDF documents have instructions related to the basics of Wikipedia.
References – explains why references are important, what the expectations for sourcing on Wikipedia are, where to place references, and the basics of adding "ref" tags.
Citing your sources – explains in more detail how to create footnotes for citing sources, and how to cite the same source multiple times.
Using talk pages – explains how to use talk pages to communicate with other editors.
Choosing an article – explains the Dos and Don'ts of choosing an article to work on.
Avoiding plagiarism – explains what plagiarism is on Wikipedia—including "close paraphrasing"—in addition to why and how to avoid it.
Moving out of your sandbox – explains the proper way for students to move their work from sandboxes into an article they are working with.
Polishing your articles – explains how to apply final touches to a student's article, such as adding images and links.
A demonstration, recorded live, of how to create a Wikipedia article (7 min 50 sec)
A look at how to assess the shortcomings of an article and improve it (4m 22s)
Article assessments
Article evolution
An exploration of the standard article assessment system, with examples of each quality level (11m 30s)
A trip through the history of an article, from humble beginnings to Good Article status (6m 25s)
Places for general Wikipedia help
For most kinds of help on Wikipedia—technical questions; policies and guidelines; etiquette; conflicts with editors; feedback and reviews of your work—the first place your students should turn is the "Discussion" tab of your course page. On the course talk page, you can also see what questions and requests for feedback your class has posted, and you may be able to learn from the answers they got or answer their questions yourself. You and your students have a number of other options as well.
Other ways to get help
Discussions in the right places
Article talk pages – The talk pages of articles are typically where discussions about the content of articles take place. Other editors may leave messages about your work here. If someone reverts changes you make to an article, the talk page is where you should start a discussion. Put it on your watchlist!
Wikipedia Content Expert – If a member of the Wiki Education Foundation's staff has been assigned to your course, you can find them on your course page, and contact them through their talk page to discuss problems and ask questions about Wikipedia (US/Canada only).
Campus or Online Volunteers – A volunteer may be assisting your course, you can find their names on your course page, and contact them through their talk page to discuss problems and ask questions about Wikipedia.
Course talk page – This is the main place for discussing your assignments, posting problems or questions that come up, and giving and receiving feedback about your articles. Put it on your watchlist!
WikiProject talk pages – These are message boards for users interested in editing articles about particular topics.
Static help
Help:Contents – Is the main help page that will guide you in the right direction. The help page may be reached at any time by clicking help displayed under the ► Interaction tab on the left side of all pages.
Help:Menu – Is a main menu-style page that will direct you to the right place to find information.
Help:Contents/Directory – Is a descriptive listing of all Wikipedia's informative, instructional and consultation pages.
Interactive help
The Teahouse - A place for new editors to introduce themselves, asks questions, and find support from other editors
The Help desk - Where you can ask questions about how to use and edit Wikipedia
If you place {{Help me}} (including the curly brackets) "then your question" on your talk page, a volunteer will visit you there!
Other problems
If you have conflicts with another editor that you don't want to post about publicly, try talking with any experienced Wikipedians your class is working with.
Places for help with course-related issues
The main place to go for help with course-specific problems that is the Education noticeboard.
