RTÉ Brainstorm Article about Editing Wikipedia as a Form of Info-Environmentalism

Postdoctoral researcher, Donna Maria Alexander has published a article in RTÉ Brainstorm titled “Wikipedians are the Beach Cleaners of the Internet.” Donna discusses how she embeds Wikipedia editing in curriculum and assessment design as well as in public outreach events like the recent Art+Feminism event. Donna also links this with a pedagogical idea by Mike Caulfield called Info-environmentalism, arguing that

Wikipedia is not problematic because it open to everyone. It is full of possibility because it can be edited by everyone. Yes, this means that the integrity of the operation falls on the shoulders of anyone who chooses to edit. It is a living, constantly evolving knowledge source, and I would argue that its importance on the Web is akin to that of the oceans on our planet.

The piece gives a snapshot of the pedagogical research, teaching and outreach activities connected with the current DARIAH Ireland project, “Embedding Digital Literacies in HEIs.” The next major event to come out of this project is a conference in UCC this June. This will feature a range of papers, panels on workshops on the topic of digital literacies in Higher Ed, including a workshop on using Wikipedia in Higher Education hosted by Wikimedia Community Ireland, as well as a keynote lecture by Helen Beetham.