Wikipedia Education Program/News/19 November 2013

Welcome to the Wikipedia Education Program Update -- a newsletter from the Wikimedia Foundation about efforts to bring Wikipedia into higher education classrooms. The newsletter is released on the first and third Tuesday of each month. To be notified of the latest issue, add this page to your watchlist or email LiAnna Davis (ldaviswikimedia.org), the Wikipedia Education Program Communications Manager, to be added to the distribution list.

Saudi Arabia program kicks off

The Wikipedia Education Program officially kicked off in Saudi Arabia last week, when program manager Tighe Flanagan and Jordan program leader Dr. Nidal Yousef visited Riyadh for the introductory workshop. The program is starting at King Saud University's Wikipedia Training Center for Translation, which has had Wikipedia assignments in place since 2011. More than 100 students and faculty members from King Saud University and Princess Nora University received training on Wikipedia basics. The program is also looking to expand in Qatar and Oman in 2014. Learn more about current expansion within the Arab World by reading Tighe's blog post about the trip.

EduWiki Conference discusses Wikipedia in education

Program leaders, educators, students, staff, and Wikimedians gathered for two days in Cardiff, Wales, in early November for the second annual EduWiki conference. The conference, focusing on U.K. efforts to integrate Wikipedia into education at all levels, featured a keynote by Wikipedia Education Program Director Rod Dunican about the program, as well as several other presentations about the state of education and Wikipedia. Read a wrap-up of the even on the Wikimedia UK blog.

Saudi visit featured in local media

Arab World Education Program Manager Tighe Flanagan's visit to Riyadh was covered in local media within Saudi Arabia. The Al-Jazirah article focused on the kick-off of the Wikipedia Education Program at King Saud University's Wikipedia translation efforts, part of the coursework. Read the article (in Arabic).

Education Program featured at Diversity Conference

While the Wikipedia Education Program didn't have a specific conference speaking slot, the program was referenced many times throughout the Wikimedia Diversity Conference in Berlin, Germany, last week. The conference focused on how to create more diversity both with the content of Wikipedia articles and the make-up of the contributor base. With an Arab World ratio of 87% female students and a U.S./Canada ratio of 65% female students, the program has been one of the most successful programs at getting women to contribute to Wikimedia projects. And targeted outreach to disciplines under-covered on specific language Wikipedia has been a good way to improve the diversity of content as well. See more in the documentation page of the conference.