User:Kaisersanders/ELP127

ELP 127: Business Communication for International MBAs

The WikiEnglish Project

As part of ELP 127 you will learn to edit, research, and write pages for the Wikipedia. The purpose of this project is:

to become more familiar with short, succinct writing in English
to learn about new Internet resources
to practice writing on specific topics for a general audience
to become familiar with copyright law, plagiarism, and the GNU Free Documentation License
to collaborate with classmates and people all over the world to develop, edit, and maintain the Wikipedia

Required Reading

Before beginning the WikiEnglish Project, please read and become familiar with the following important pages on the Wikipedia site:

WikiEnglish Project Assignments

Before beginning the assignments for the WikiEnglish Project, you must create your own account in Wikipedia. To do this, go to the Log in page.

Assignment 1. Introduce yourself

Go to the class sandbox and add an introduction to the page. This introduction should tell use who you are, where you are from, and what you hope to learn from this class. Please also feel free to share any other information you would like to with the class.

Be certain to return to this page frequently to read what other students add to the page.

Assignment 2. Finish the tutorial for Wikipedia

Go to the Wikipedia Tutorial page and complete all 10 steps.

Assignment 3. Make an edit to a page on Wikipedia

Be certain that you are logged in to complete this assignment. Surf around the Wikipedia on pages that cover information with which you are familiar (i.e., pages in your field of study, pages relating to hobbies of yours, etc.) In reading the pages, pay attention to both the content and the formatting of the pages.

If you find an error or an omission, click the Edit tab for that page or Edit link for that section and make the needed correction or addition. After making the change, fill in the "Edit summary" box to explain the kind of edit you made. If the edit you have made is minor (i.e., punctuation, spelling, missing word, etc.), mark the box "This is a minor edit."

If you run into problems, click the "Editing help" link which will open up in a new window. You can also preview your changes before saving the page. Once you complete the edit, be certain to click "Save page" so that your changes are incorporated into Wikipedia.

Assignment 4. Make a significant contribution to an existing page

Read articles in the Wikipedia and find an article that requires additional information. This addition should be at a minimum a single paragraph. The best contribution you can make for this assignment is to add a new section to the existing page.

Before doing this, be certain to read other Wikipedia pages on similar topics to become familiar with how those pages are organized. Also read the "Discussion" section and the "History" for the page you would like to add to to become familiar with the edit history and any important discussions on edits. You should also run a search on the new sub-topic you plan to add (because there may already be entire page dedicated to your proposed sub-topic.)

Assignment 5. Work as a class to develop a new Wikipedia entry

As a class, you will be responsible for creating a new page for the Wikipedia on the Saint Louis Art Museum. Each of you will be expected to contribute to the development of this page. You may research the museum from the Internet, other sources, and information you collect when we visit the Saint Louis Art Museum on July 16.