Wikipedia Education Program/News/5 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.

U.S. and Canada program moves to Wiki Ed Foundation

Later this month, the Wikipedia Education Program in the United States and Canada will officially move from being directed by the Wikimedia Foundation to being directed by a new nonprofit, the Wiki Education Foundation. The Wiki Education Foundation is run by volunteer academics and Wikipedians. Jami Mathewson will continue as program manager for the United States and Canada, but as an employee of the Wiki Education Foundation now. For more on the transition, see a blog post from Wiki Education Foundation board member Mike Christie.

Plagiarism tutorial

New video offers advice on avoiding plagiarism

In light of the plagiarism research reported last month, we've updated the guidance we offer students during the online training with a new video. Many students struggle to understand how close is too close when it comes to paraphrasing, or fail to understand how important it is to properly attribute quotations to appropriate sources. This video clearly explains what plagiarism is, why it's bad for Wikipedia, and what happens when editors get caught plagiarizing. Watch the video.

Program aligned with themes at WISE conference

The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) took place in Doha from October 29-31. More than 1,000 attendees from all around the world — including Wikimedia Foundation Arab World Education Program Manager Tighe Flanagan — took part in the three-day event, which featured keynotes, panels, and discussions with leaders and innovators in the education sector. Digital/web literacy and open education were constant themes during the summit. Tighe also explored the possibility of expanding the Wikipedia Education Program Arab World into universities in Qatar. Take advantage of the WISE 2013 video archives and see what people were saying.

Feedback sought on new Welcome to Wikipedia draft

As part of the revamp of the Welcome to Wikipedia brochure, feedback is being sought on a new draft. The complete overhaul of the brochure focuses the new text on what brand new contributors really need to know before adding content to Wikipedia. See the draft and offer your feedback.