Meet this month's featured Wikimedia & Education community member: Natasa Nedanoska
Author: Natasa Nedanoska and Sailesh Patnaik
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Summary: Starting November 2019, we are highlighting a Wikimedian who is impacting or who has been impacted by Wikimedia & Education work. For July, In this article meet Natasa Nedanoska, from North Macedonia and learn from their experience in running Wikiclubs with youths.
This month's nomination comes from Zana , a member of GLAM Macedonia User group, who introduces us to Natasa Nedanoska. As Natasha shares:
Natasa Nedanoska is an active editor on Macedonian Wikipedia. From January 2018 she became an Educational Coordinator at GLAM Macedonia User group, and coordinator of the Wiki Club in Ohrid. In the club, by volunteering, the participants increase the quality and quantity of the encyclopedia creating and editing articles on their native language. With the participants in the club they have a meeting every Friday at the school where she work, where they agree on how to continue, learn new levels of editing, train the new members to edit Wikipedia, etc.
Also, the club has its own Facebook group in which they share all questions or dilemmas, but most often in the group they share edited articles.
As a Educational Coordinator at GLAM Macedonia, she was one of the organizers of three Wiki conferences for teachers during the last two academic years (2017-2018).
- In December 2017, with five students from the Wiki Club from Ohrid, they participated in the winter Wiki Camp in Berovo. Students from schools throughout Macedonia participated in the camp. Many articles on Macedonian language were edited in the camp, and students from Ohrid took part in it. The most successful editors were awarded, and among them there was a student from Ohrid.
- In the period from January 1 to February 28, 2018, 132 new articles were created on Wikipedia in Macedonian, and 10 existing articles were improved and expanded with text by members of the Wiki Clubs in Macedonia. A total of 31 members took part in this competition at the state level. One of the best articles was from a student from the Wiki Club Ohrid. In the same period, the second prize for the highest number of contributions was taken by two students, the second prize was taken by a student to edit a new article, and a third prize was taken by one student to edit a new article.
- April, 2018 our club was visited by the president of the association, so on that occasion she organized two working meetings. The first meeting took place in our school, where members of the club were editing new articles. The second meeting, the next day, she organized in the village Ramne, Ohrid, where the participants received instructions for more advanced edits. During the two days, 17 new articles were created, and 6 existing articles were complemented by text.
- In the period from March 1 to April 30, 2018, 337 new articles were created on Wikipedia in Macedonian, and 27 existing articles were complemented and expanded with text by members of the Wiki Clubs in Macedonia. A total of 48 members took part in this competition at the state level. In the award-winning students in all four categories for best articles there were participants from the Wiki Club Ohrid.
- In the period from 7.9.2018 until 9.9.2018, another successful Wiki Camp was organized in Dojran. The students made a huge contribution to their arrangement, and this is reflected in the fact that over 250 new articles in Macedonian language were arranged at the camp itself. For those who made the most and the highest quality articles, the organizer made sure to reward them with suitable prizes. Each participant received a certificate of participation at this camp and passed training for a Wikipedia-free encyclopedia editor. And at this camp they were among the participants and the award-winners.
- On 16.11.2018, in Ohrid, organized by GLAM Macedonia, a Teacher Conference was held where 65 teachers from different schools and cities were introduced to the basics of Wikipedia, its history, way of creating and editing articles. GLAM Macedonia is happy with this set of organizing skills that benefit on the organization itself and the team members in person. In addition, this benefits the Wikipedia content on Macedonian language. There were four members of the Ohrid Wiki Club at this event who helped teachers learn to edit Wikipedia.
- Part of my activities are to contact with media and spread the word about Wikipedia and free knowledge, special about GLAM Macedonia activities.
- Members of the Wiki Club Ohrid, from September 11, 2019, also hold meetings in the premises of OO Red Cross - Ohrid, every Wednesday from 13:30 to 14:30, under my direction. The Wiki Club was first a school club that operated only in the premises of the Koco Racin primary school in Ohrid. From this year this wiki club has become a city club with students from other elementary and high schools.
- On 4.12.2019 they had a meeting with Gordana Loleska, a civic activist in the Movement for Rare Diseases in Macedonia and a member of the Life with Challenges association in Macedonia. At the meeting, the members of the Wiki Club Ohrid were introduced to what it means to be a rare disease, what challenges they face and how much they are represented in Macedonia. After a brief research they came to the conclusion that Wikipedia in Macedonian these diseases are present in a small number, so they decided as a club to supplement Wikipedia in Macedonian with articles on these diseases.
- On 15.12.2019, with the support of the Red Cross of Ohrid, in the village of Ramne, near Ohrid, in the premises of the Church of St. Ilija, with part of the members of the Wiki Club Ohrid they organized an editorial marathon dedicated to rare diseases. they researched, edited articles, wrote completely new ones, and uploaded them to Wikipedia in Macedonian. This project about rare diseases took three months, and a roundup happened on the occasion of the World Day of Rare Diseases in February. The goal for the Wiki Club was to join with our own contribution, to read the data on each of the rare diseases in Macedonian language so that everyone has access and opportunity to be informed.
- The impact for students
Students learn how to edit Wikipedia, learn how to use properly their mother language, Macedonian language, learn how to translate from one language to another, learn how to work and collaborate together, they learn new things about the world by editing articles, learn what is the meaning of volunteering.