Learning design to embed digital citizenship skills in the undergraduate classroom: A collaboration among instructor, academic librarian, and Wikipedian

Abstract

A collaboration among an instructor, librarian, and Wikipedia was initiated to help second-year undergraduate students at University College Dublin, Ireland, increase their digital citizenship skills through publishing in Wikipedia. The collaboration brought together diverse relevant expertise to design and deliver an effective learning experience. Integrating Wikipedia into the classroom experience gave students firsthand involvement with the research and scholarly communication process. The chapter is divided among three perspectives, reflecting academic, library, and Wikipedia perspectives on the implementation of the collaborative authorship project: Deeper learning through learning design in the classroom using Wikipedia—an academic’s perspective. Using Wikipedia to teach critical thinking and academic integrity—a librarian’s perspective. Enabling university students to write and publish collaboratively with Wikipedia—a Wikipedian’s perspective. Students engaged enthusiastically with Wikipedia. Challenges included supporting students in implementing new learning, such as academic integrity skills. The partnership among academic staff, the library, and Wikipedia suggests a potential framework for learning design (Boling, 2010), which may help others apply a similar experiential approach to learning.