Long before a few years ago in 2008, I opened my Wikipedia account and was writing and contributing in already existing articles on the website. For the last two years, I had not visited the Wikipedia website or edited any articles, however, I had to visit the website again after all this time, when our "Use of Technology" course required us to submit an individual Wikipedia project as instructed by our teacher Mr. Zohur Ahmed. Since, this was not my first experience on writing a Wikipedia article, I was a little familiar with the process. Before, we were given the task, Zohur Sir asked us to read and follow an article that illustrated the steps of creating a Wikipedia article. That article gave me new views on how to collect data and then start working on an individual Wikipedia project. So, after reading the article, I decided to do my Wikipedia article on the topic of "Exam Invigilator" seeing that no such article exists in Wikipedia (after the search) and as I am working as a part time Exam Invigilator myself at British Council, I though why not write about it?
My first task was to collect data from all over the internet about the responsibilities and roles of Exam Invigilators and after doing a rigorous research, I found useful information about my topic. However, it was only last week when all my hard work of the collected data got accidentally erased by viruses that affected my pendrive and as I did not have any back up of the file in my computer, I had to start all over again, which was a bit challenging. I recollected the data and arranged them in the draft and was searching on the web to read a few articles on how to create a proper Wikipedia article.
Writing individual article in Wikipedia is a bit tough and there are chances that your article might get deleted by the authority if not properly written or cited. However, at first, I arranged all my collected data, paraphrased them in a draft and then entered them into the edit page in creating my first Wikipedia article. On the other hand, I created the citations of my sources I collected from different websites and arranged them in MLA format to add them as References below the Wikipedia article. There was no major problem (except losing all my collected data from the pendrive) and I read and followed the steps in which headings, sub - headings and text should be added and worked accordingly. However, even though I managed to put up quite a decent article, I still could not find or use the options properly to insert in - text citations, external web links, wikipedia links or even add image inside the article, which are still left. Other than that, I have successfully completed writing my first Wikipedia article on "Exam Invigilator" which I have decided to forward to British Council office once I will be done creating it properly (adding hyperlinks, images, in - text citations that are still left) and I hope they will be delighted to see something that might come into their use.
What was surprising was that, Wikipedia accepted my project as I submitted it without stating any edit issues or any other problems, so it was a first time success for me. Here is my Wikipedia article, I have tried my best to include everything that is needed to know about the role of an Exam Invigilator, you can all have a look at it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exam_Invigilator
This experience of creating the Wikipedia project will certainly help me to use it in teaching English to future learners. We know that blogs help to increase the writing creativity of the learners, but when learners will be writing Wikipedia articles, it will be more of a disciplined writing technique that they will learn. They will learn not only to write, but also how to include in - text citations, prepare citations, hyperlinks and make use of existing information around the web to create their own individual Wikipedia project. Once, they learn about Wikipedia article, they will be able to contribute to existing Wikipedia articles by accessing and modifying them as Wikipedia articles are open sources. Wikipedia can be used to teach and give learners project type tasks and allow them to even make peer corrections on each others' articles and help create formal Wikipedia articles. Blogs are easier to write, but since writing Wikipedia articles requires knowing and following certain instructions and how to apply them in writing, learners will have a great deal to learn while making use of it as part of their education. It will not only enhance their writing skills, but also increase their knowledge on how to research, collect and arrange data, make use of data properly by paraphrasing them and properly inserting in - text references, wikilinks or external web links that will give them clear idea about writing a formal research article on the web.
My first task was to collect data from all over the internet about the responsibilities and roles of Exam Invigilators and after doing a rigorous research, I found useful information about my topic. However, it was only last week when all my hard work of the collected data got accidentally erased by viruses that affected my pendrive and as I did not have any back up of the file in my computer, I had to start all over again, which was a bit challenging. I recollected the data and arranged them in the draft and was searching on the web to read a few articles on how to create a proper Wikipedia article.
Writing individual article in Wikipedia is a bit tough and there are chances that your article might get deleted by the authority if not properly written or cited. However, at first, I arranged all my collected data, paraphrased them in a draft and then entered them into the edit page in creating my first Wikipedia article. On the other hand, I created the citations of my sources I collected from different websites and arranged them in MLA format to add them as References below the Wikipedia article. There was no major problem (except losing all my collected data from the pendrive) and I read and followed the steps in which headings, sub - headings and text should be added and worked accordingly. However, even though I managed to put up quite a decent article, I still could not find or use the options properly to insert in - text citations, external web links, wikipedia links or even add image inside the article, which are still left. Other than that, I have successfully completed writing my first Wikipedia article on "Exam Invigilator" which I have decided to forward to British Council office once I will be done creating it properly (adding hyperlinks, images, in - text citations that are still left) and I hope they will be delighted to see something that might come into their use.
What was surprising was that, Wikipedia accepted my project as I submitted it without stating any edit issues or any other problems, so it was a first time success for me. Here is my Wikipedia article, I have tried my best to include everything that is needed to know about the role of an Exam Invigilator, you can all have a look at it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exam_Invigilator
This experience of creating the Wikipedia project will certainly help me to use it in teaching English to future learners. We know that blogs help to increase the writing creativity of the learners, but when learners will be writing Wikipedia articles, it will be more of a disciplined writing technique that they will learn. They will learn not only to write, but also how to include in - text citations, prepare citations, hyperlinks and make use of existing information around the web to create their own individual Wikipedia project. Once, they learn about Wikipedia article, they will be able to contribute to existing Wikipedia articles by accessing and modifying them as Wikipedia articles are open sources. Wikipedia can be used to teach and give learners project type tasks and allow them to even make peer corrections on each others' articles and help create formal Wikipedia articles. Blogs are easier to write, but since writing Wikipedia articles requires knowing and following certain instructions and how to apply them in writing, learners will have a great deal to learn while making use of it as part of their education. It will not only enhance their writing skills, but also increase their knowledge on how to research, collect and arrange data, make use of data properly by paraphrasing them and properly inserting in - text references, wikilinks or external web links that will give them clear idea about writing a formal research article on the web.
No comments:
Post a Comment