Submissions:2025/Students without sandboxes: Report on a pilot
This submission has been noted and is pending review for WikiConference North America 2025.
Title:
- Students without sandboxes: Report on a pilot
Type of session:
- Lecture (15-30 min)
Session theme(s):
- Missing pieces, Future of Wikipedia
Abstract:
Since the establishment of the Wikipedia Education Program in 2010, and continuing with Wiki Education’s programs, student editors have drafted their contributions in sandboxes before adding them to mainspace articles. While there are benefits to this model, it also makes their writing process more removed from Wikipedia's open, collaborative model.
In Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 we experimented with having a group of student editors work directly in mainspace. We compared these classes against a matched subset of classes doing the traditional work drafting in sandboxes. The distinctions between the two groups were not striking enough to discard one model in favor of the other, but we identified enough benefits to open the no-sandbox option to all classes for Fall 2025, and to refine our support in ways that can benefit the quality of student work.
Author name(s):
Wikimedia username(s):
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
Affiliated organization(s):
- Wiki Education
Estimated length of session
- 30
Will you be presenting remotely?
- I will present in-person
Okay to livestream?
- Livestreaming is okay
Previously presented?
- No
Special requests: