Wikipedia Education Program/News/17 July 2012

80 attend Wikipedia in Education Meet-Up edit

A crowd of more than 80 people interested in Wikipedia's use in education around the world attended a meet-up held during Wikimania last week. Co-hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation and the Saylor Foundation, the event allowed people from around the world to share their experiences using Wikipedia in classrooms and what they hope to do in the future. A follow-up meeting delved more into details of how to get programs started and sharing learnings, with promises to provide more cross-country communication about programs on-wiki. Photos from the event are available on Wikimedia Commons.

Cairo Pilot wraps up successfully with conference edit

Professors, Ambassadors, students, and supporters of the Cairo Pilot of the Wikipedia Education Program gathered in Egypt July 4-5 to share their experiences and celebrate the incredible accomplishments of the students. Seven classes participated in the pilot last term, with 54 students editing. Those students added the equivalent of 372 printed pages of content to 246 unique Arabic Wikipedia articles, and the Cairo Pilot succeeded in confirming that the proof of concept of students editing Wikipedia works in Egypt. Read more about the conference.

Class assignment inspires growth of Kazakh Wikipedia edit

Rauan Kenzhekhanuly first started editing Wikipedia as a student in Professor Nicco Mele's course at Harvard University on the first term of the U.S. pilot of the Wikipedia Education Program, the Public Policy Initiative. Rauan was so inspired by the assignment that he returned to his native Kazakhstan and started invigorating the community around growing the Kazakh Wikipedia. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales recognized his efforts by naming him the Wikipedian of the Year last year during Wikimania, an honor that included a travel stipend for Rauan to attend Wikimania this year. Read more about Rauan's work.

Friday deadline for U.S. courses next term edit

U.S. professors interested in using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in their courses with support from Wikipedia Ambassadors next term must submit a 5-minute application by Friday, July 20. The new application process this year will allow us to pair Ambassadors with professors based on more efficient criteria, so professors doing longer Wikipedia assignments will receive more support than professors who are only doing short assignments. Professors will not receive Ambassador support if they have not filled out the short application by July 20, so if you are interested in participating for fall 2012, make sure you fill out the form today!