University of Edinburgh Learning and Teaching Conference 2021
Session title:
- Wikipedia in the Classroom – Student-led activism promoting knowledge equity and SDG4 

Chair: Jon Turner
Presenters: Ewan McAndrew, Professor Diana Paton, Scarlett Kiaras-Attari, Lucy Parfitt, Grace King, Sian Davies

Session Description

“Historically, knowledge has been concentrated in the hands of the few. Marginalized groups’ histories and perspectives have been excluded by structures of power and privilege. Wikipedia revolutionizes this model, as the world’s largest, free, collaboratively-sourced encyclopedia.” (Wikimedia 2020)

Wikipedia is now twenty years old. In this time, Wikipedia has been shown to be a resource and a form of learning technology to engage with, rather than avoid. Wikipedia assignments allow students to make connections between their learning and empower them to use their digital labour to surface knowledge online to fuel discovery and build understanding globally. Students are intrinsically motivated to address problems of bias and under-representation and this presentation will discuss projects led by students at the History Society to improve coverage of Scotland, Slavery and Black History online.

In a time when many have felt disconnected and powerless, this presentation will showcase stories of student empowerment; providing exemplars of how students have engaged with, and been motivated by, researching and publishing their scholarship online in a real-world application of their teaching and learning.

Importantly, and fittingly these stories will be told by the staff and the students themselves.