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On this page, you will find a core set of instructional materials about Wikipedia. All materials presented here have been released under a free licence. We invite you to use and to share them free of charge and to make your own versions of them. See Bookshelf Project for more information about how to participate and a list of resources under active development.

For beginners

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Item Audience Description Download Other languages Video locations
Beginner Welcome to Wikipedia is a reference guide to help you get started to contributing to Wikipedia. Using the guide, you will be able to create a Wikipedia user account, start editing, and communicate with other Wikipedia contributors. You will also learn how articles evolve on Wikipedia and how you can assess quality of an existing Wikipedia article. Welcome to Wikipedia consists 17 pages including a quick reference to help you to remember frequently used wiki markup commands. PDF (12 MB)

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All User Name (Medium) - This video shows some of Wikipedia's contributors, explaining their user names. 49 s Subtitles listed on description page - add yours
All Nice People (Medium) - This video focuses on the motivations and passion of Wikipedians, and ends with a comment by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales about what makes the project special. 1 m 26 s Subtitles listed on description page - add yours
All Edit Button- This video is a direct invitation by Wikipedians to "click that [edit] button and see what happens". 1 m 6 s Subtitles listed on description page - add yours
All Great Feeling - In this video, Wikipedians talk about the joy of being part of a global community of editors. 1 m 23 s Subtitles listed on description page - add yours
Beginner This one-page Wiki markup quick reference helps you to remember the most frequently used wiki markup commands. PDF (1 MB)

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Beginners Der Leitfaden für Wikipedianer und alle, die es werden wollen. Eine Einführung in Wikipedia, Schritt für Schritt. PDF No translations yet
All Wikipedia ridotto - Wikimedia Italia presents Wikipedia for new contributors in Italian 6 m 53 s Subtitles in Italian, English, Spanish, French so far. Script in Italian. Please help translate.
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Welcome to Wikipedia brochure
Beginner "Welcome to Wikipedia" gives you a basic introduction into contributing to Wikipedia. You will learn how to create a Wikipedia user account, how to start editing, and how to communicate with other contributors. You will also learn how articles evolve on Wikipedia and how to rate the quality of an existing article. The "Welcome to Wikipedia" brochure contains 17 pages and an additional quick reference that helps you to remember the most frequently used wiki markup commands. PDF
Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia
Beginner "Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia" is an editorial published in PLoS Computational Biology that gives advice for scientists (also relevant to other scholars and experts) on how to effectively contribute to Wikipedia. PDF
Evaluating Wikipedia article quality brochure
Beginner Evaluating Wikipedia article quality is a reference guide with specific steps you can take to get the most out of Wikipedia, as well as a look at how its quality system works. PDF
Introduction to free licenses pamphlet
Beginner Introduction to free licenses helps you understand the basic concepts of free licenses. It explains the idea of free licenses, as well as terms like "CC-by-SA" and "public domain". PDF

Editing references, instructions and guides

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Item Preview Level Description Download
Editing reference sheet
Beginner This one-page quick reference helps you to remember the most frequently used wiki markup commands. PDF
How to get help handout
Beginner This one-page handout explains the recommended way to get help and feedback for classes supported by Wikipedia Ambassadors: by posting on their course talk page and notifying their mentor. It also includes a glossary of additional help resources students might use. PDF
Citing sources handout
Intermediate This handout explains why references are important, where to place them, and the basics of adding "ref" tags. PDF
Plagiarism handout
Intermediate This handout explains what plagiarism is on Wikipedia in addition to why and how to avoid it. PDF
Moving out of your sandbox instructions
Intermediate This handout walks through how to move an article draft from a userpage sandbox into Wikipedia PDF
File licensing tutorial
Beginner This short handout explains why and how uploaded files (images) should be licensed. SVG image
Referencing: WikiCode Handout
Beginner This handout explains the basics of "ref" tags and the "name" parameter as well as "citation templates." PDF
Image uploading handout
Intermediate This handout explains the basics of uploading an image on the English Wikipedia. PDF
Submitting an article to the Did You Know process instructions
Advanced This handout walks through how to submit a new or newly expanded article to the Did You Know process so that it will appear on the Main Page. PDF
Visual explanation of the user contribution page
Beginner Visual explanation of the user contribution page SVG

For intermediate learners

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Item Audience Description Runtime Watch Other languages
All The State of Wikipedia - In this video, Jimmy Wales tells the history of Wikipedia and talks about the project's 10th anniversary 3 m 43 s Transcript here
Beginner Introduction to free licenses helps you understand the basic concepts of free licenses. It explains the idea of free licenses, as well as terms like "CC-by-SA" and "public domain". PDF (1,3 MB) Arabicyou can help

For advanced learners

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Item Audience Description Runtime Watch Other languages
Web and social media experts at cultural institutions Video for Wikipedia and the Open Web: A Guide to Best Practices for Cultural and Educational Institutions is a detailed guideline that seeks to mobilize cultural and educational institutions to contribute to Wikimedia and other open web projects. It includes detailed how-to instructions for contributing video to Wikimedia projects. PDF (3.3 MB)
Advanced Wikimedians/Wikipedians seeking to create instructional videos for new contributors Screencasting - This video advocates for using screencasting as a tool for instructing new content contributors on our projects. Other videos, on this WikiProject page, go into more detail about how to produce a screencast with free or inexpensive software. 5 m 15 s Script

About quality

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Item Audience Description Download Other languages
Beginner Evaluating Wikipedia article quality is a reference guide with specific steps you can take to get the most out of Wikipedia, as well as a look at how its quality system works. PDF (547 KB) Arabicyou can help

For specific target groups

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Item Audience Description Download Other languages
University instructors This sample syllabus provides a week-by-week breakdown of how professors might be able to incorporate Wikipedia assignments into their classes. PDF (510 KB)
Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool Instructors Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool is an online guide that will introduce the possibilities of using Wikipedia assignments as part of a school or university course. With Wikipedia you can:
  • Teach students to write for a global audience
  • Teach students to write collaboratively
  • Interact with readers and writers in real-time
  • Show how knowledge is constructed in the digital age
  • Teach media literacy
  • Contribute to the largest reference work in the world
  1. Introduction: What is Wikipedia?
  2. Learning Objectives and Assignments Types
  3. Basics of Editing
  4. Grading Rubrics
  5. Interacting with the Community
  6. Resources for Teaching with Wikipedia

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Classroom training slides

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Item Preview Level Description Download
"Introduction to Wikipedia" Training Slide Deck
 
Ambassadors Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training Facilitator Guide -- Module 1: Introduction to Wikipedia [1]
"Introdução à Wikipédia" Training Slide Deck (pt)
(Slides em português)
 
Embaixador Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training Facilitator Guide -- Módulo 1: Introdução à Wikipédia [2]
"Introduction to Wikipedia" Slide Deck
 
Ambassadors Wikipedia Campus Ambassador slide deck -- Module 1: Introduction to Wikipedia [3]
"Introdução à Wikipédia" Slide Deck (pt)
(Slides em português)
 
Embaixador Wikipedia Campus Ambassador slide deck -- Módulo 1: Introdução à Wikipédia [4]
"Wikipedia Literacy" Training Slide Deck
 
Ambassadors Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training Facilitator Guide -- Module 2: Wikipedia Literacy [5]
"Wikipedia Literacy" Slide Deck
 
Ambassadors Wikipedia Campus Ambassador slide deck -- Module 2: Wikipedia Literacy [6]
"Competência em Wikipédia" Slide Deck (pt)
(Slides em português)
 
Embaixadores Wikipedia Campus Ambassador slide deck -- Módulo 2: Competência em Wikipédia [7]
"Wikipedia Essentials" Training Slide Deck
 
Ambassadors Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training Facilitator Guide -- Module 3: Wikipedia Essentials [8]
"Wikipedia Essentials" Slide Deck
 
Ambassadors Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training slide deck -- Module 3: Wikipedia Essentials [9]
"O essencial da Wikipédia" Slide Deck (pt)
(Slides em português)
 
Embaixadores Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training slide deck -- Módulo 3: O essencial da Wikipédia [10]
"Working on Wikipedia" Training Slide Deck
 
Ambassadors Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training Facilitator Guide -- Module 4: Working on Wikipedia [11]
"Working on Wikipedia" Slide Deck
 
Ambassadors Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training slide deck -- Module 4: Working on Wikipedia [12]
"Colaborando na Wikipédia" Slide Deck (pt)
(Slides em português)
 
Embaixadores Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Training slide deck -- Módulo 4: Colaborando na Wikipédia [13]

Course and assignment design / plano de disciplinas e tarefas (pt)

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Item Preview Description Download
Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool
  1. Introduction: What is Wikipedia?
  2. Learning Objectives and Assignments Types
  3. Basics of Editing
  4. Grading Rubrics
  5. Interacting with the Community
  6. Resources for Teaching with Wikipedia
Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool is an online guide that will introduce the possibilities of using Wikipedia assignments as part of a school or university course. With Wikipedia you can:
  • Teach students to write for a global audience
  • Teach students to write collaboratively
  • Interact with readers and writers in real-time
  • Show how knowledge is constructed in the digital age
  • Teach media literacy
  • Contribute to the largest reference work in the world
Wikipédia como Ferramenta de Aprendizagem
  1. Algumas Noções sobre a Wikipédia
  2. Objetivos de aprendizagem e tarefas práticas
  3. Dicas de edição
  4. Critérios de avaliação
  5. Interagindo com a comunidade
  6. Resources for Teaching with Wikipedia
Wikipédia como Ferramenta de Aprendizagem é um guia online que vai te mostrar as possibilidades de utilizar a Wikipédia como parte das disciplinas universitárias. Com a Wikipédia você pode:
  • Ensinar os alunos a escrever para uma audiência global
  • Ensinar os alunos a escrever colaborativamente
  • Interagir com leitores e autores em tempo real
  • Mostrar como o conhecimento é construído na era digital
  • Ensinar alfabetização digital (habilidades em mídias sociais)
  • Contribuir com a maior enciclopédia do mundo
Sample syllabus
 
This sample syllabus for a university course is an example of how a Wikipedia assignment for a class supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program can be structured. It incorporates many elements that have been shown to work well in previous assignments, and ties in to other resources such as handouts listed on this page. PDF
Exemplo de programa (pt)
 
Este exemplo de programa para um curso universitário é um exemplo de como a Wikipédia pode ser usada em sala de aula. Ele incorpora vários elementos que se mostraram eficazes e está ligado a outros materiais como brochuras e manuais listados nesta página. PDF
Teaching with Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation wikis This is a presentation by Wikipedian Piotr Konieczny, delivered at WikiSym 2010, with general advice for teaching with Wikipedia based on his experience designing and running Wikipedia assignments over multiple terms prior to the Wikipedia Ambassador Program. ODP

Assignments and exercises

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Item Preview Level Description Download
Creating a userpage handout
Create an account and a user page - alt version
 
Beginner This is an illustrated walk-through of how to create a userpage. PDF
Early Wikipedia assignment 1a

Early Wikipedia assignment 1b - an alt version
 

 
Beginner Those short assignments asks students to create user accounts and edit their userpages. PDF
PDF
Early Wikipedia assignment 2
 
Beginner This short assignment asks students to create userpages, improve the clarity of a sentence in an article, upload an image, add a reference to an article, and select a mentor. PDF
DYK Sourcing Assignment
 
Beginner This assignment asks students to assess the sources in a DYK article. It can be adapted to require participation on the talk page of the article. PDF
DYK Copyediting Assignment
 
Intermediate This assignment asks students to copyedit a DYK article. PDF
Encyclopedia comparison assignment
 
Beginner This assignment asks students to compare and contrast a Wikipedia article on an author with another encyclopedia's entry. It can easily be adapted for another discipline. It requires no knowledge of wikicode. PDF

Videos

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Interactive lessons

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These are interactive lessons that ambassadors (and others) can use when working with newcomers one on one to explore the basics of Wikipedia.

Classroom lessons and discussion plans

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  • Discussion 1 - Introducing students to Wikipedia, answering questions, and fostering excitement
  • Discussion 2 - Introducing students to Wikipedia in a computer lab (1 - 1.5 hours)

Online chat lessons

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  • Lesson 1 - Creating an account, creating a subpage, using talk pages
  • Lesson 2 - Basic markup, article structure, and citation formatting and norms

Learning tasks

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  • Article tagging - Explore the structure of Wikipedia in a topic area by identifying and tagging articles related to a WikiProject

On-wiki tutorials

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Templates

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Template:UserSand

For marking student articles

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  • Template:WAP assignment - Generic assignment template for courses working with the ambassador program.
  • Template:New user article - for marking new articles soon after they are created, to give students a chance to figure things out before other editors swoop in and bite them.

For welcoming students

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  • Template:Ambassador welcome - a streamlined, not USPP-specific ambassador welcome message. Be sure to substitute it: {{subst:Ambassador welcome}}.
  • Template:WAP student - This is for putting on students' userpages (or talk pages). It provides links to the course page, course talk page, mentor contact links, and an IRC link. See documentation for details on usage.

Tools

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See also

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Guidelines and best practices

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Needed

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  1. image upload video
  2. adding references video