Ambassadors,
Most of you have seen the plans for the new Working Group[1] that we sent
out two weeks ago. The deadline is getting closer, so I wanted to send a
reminder to all of you to take a look and submit a proposal if you're
interested in being considered to join this group, which will be integral
in planning the future of the Education Programs in the United States and
Canada.
A lot of people have indicated interest (and there are already a good
number of proposals[2]), but please note that we have added a tab[3] about
the current and future role of the Wikimedia Foundation [3]. This short
list should give many of you an idea of the role the new Education Program
Structure should serve as of May 2013.
Since we have just recently added this information for your own perspective
when submitting a proposal, we're *extending the deadline* to apply for the
Working Group until this *Monday, May 7th*. The Selection Committee will
begin reviewing proposals the following Tuesday and will still announce the
Working Group members on May 14th.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_Working_Group
[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Education_Program_Structure_proposals
[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_Working_Group/Wikimedia_Fo…
Please reach out to any of us if you have questions, concerns, or comments!
Thank you,
Frank Schulenburg, Wikipedia Education Program Director
Annie Lin, Wikipedia Education Program Manager
Jami Mathewson, U.S./Canada Program Associate
--
Jami Mathewson
U.S./Canada Education Program Associate
Wikimedia Foundation
jmathewson(a)wikimedia.org
http://education.wikimedia.org
Welcome to the Wikipedia Education Update — a newsletter from the Wikimedia Foundation that is distributed the first and third Tuesday of each month. Someone from our staff has talked with you about our Wikipedia Education Program to bring Wikipedia into higher education classrooms around the world, and we wanted to keep you in the loop on all of our exciting activities. If you would prefer not to receive these messages, simply reply to the email and ask for your address to be removed. Learn more about subscribing or read the archives.
Students benefit, survey results show
Students at universities in the United States and Canada found that contributing to Wikipedia as a class assignment through the Wikipedia Education Program improved their media literacy and technology skills, according to survey results from the fall 2011 term. About two-thirds of the respondents agreed that doing a Wikipedia assignment was a beneficial experience, with almost 20 percent of them strongly in favor of a Wikipedia assignment in place of a traditional term paper. See more of the survey results.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
Canadian class adds two Good Articles
University of Alberta - Augustana Psychology Professor Paula Marentette asked her students to expand two articles on course-related topics this year for her Language Acquisition class. The result? The seven students in her class worked together to get two articles, vocabulary development and joint attention, to Good Article status on the English Wikipedia. In a blog post published on the Wikimedia Foundation blog, the students describe their reaction to the assignment, and Dr. Marentette describes the learning outcomes for her students. Read the post.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
Cairo Pilot student writes French election article
A student in Professor Hoda Abaza's French class at Ain Shams University, one of the courses participating in the Cairo Pilot of the Wikipedia Education Program, has created an article on the French presidential elections in 2012 from scratch. The student's work is part of an extracurricular assignment, and the article has attracted attention and praise from editors in the Arabic Wikipedia community. The page received more than 2,000 hits, most of them on the day of the election last week. See the article.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
Brazil students start editing in sandboxes
Five courses at two universities in Brazil are participating in a pilot this year, and students have already started editing in their sandboxes for some classes, including an electromagnetism class taught by Professor Edivaldo Santos. Professor Santos chose 14 articles for students to improve on the Portuguese Wikipedia, and already, students have started making edits to the articles in sandboxes, such as the Helmholtz Theorem (https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…). See a full report on the current status of the Brazil pilot for more information.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
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This email is sent from:
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
Hello, ambassadors!
Rob Schnautz has just moved the Canada and US Updates page from Outreach to
ENWP, so we can keep a better eye on what's going on with the program.
Please remember to add any milestones or successes (or problems that you
aren't taking to the Education Noticeboard) on these pages so everyone can
see the current status of the Education Program!
US:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:United_States_Education_Program/Upda…
Canada:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Canada_Education_Program/Updates
Thank you, and hope you're all having some great end-of-semester article
monitoring!
--
Jami Mathewson
U.S./Canada Education Program Associate
Wikimedia Foundation
jmathewson(a)wikimedia.org
http://education.wikimedia.org
Welcome to the Wikipedia Education Update — a newsletter from the Wikimedia Foundation that is distributed the first and third Tuesday of each month. Someone from our staff has talked with you about our Wikipedia Education Program to bring Wikipedia into higher education classrooms around the world, and we wanted to keep you in the loop on all of our exciting activities. If you would prefer not to receive these messages, simply reply to the email and ask for your address to be removed. Learn more about subscribing or read the archives.
Determine future of U.S., Canada programs
The United States and Canada Education Programs are at a turning point.
When we started the U.S. program as the Public Policy Initiative pilot in 2010, we had no idea if it would work. But it succeeded, so much that we've had to turn away interested professors because we didn't have enough Ambassador resources to support the demand. Given the enormous interest in the program, we need to start thinking about its future. While the Wikimedia Foundation is fully committed to the long-term success of the program, we believe that the Education Program should be led by our volunteers who have made this program successful: the Wikipedians and the academics. Learn more about and apply to join the new Working Group to determine the future of the U.S. and Canada Wikipedia Education Programs.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
Brazil pilot kicks off at two universities
Students at two universities in Brazil are editing the Portuguese Wikipedia this term as part of their coursework. Professors in history, sociology, physics, and public policy will be assigning their students to improve Wikipedia's coverage of course topics in a small pilot of the Wikipedia Education Program in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Ambassadors are supporting the Brazilian students in class and online, with virtual support coming from Portuguese-speaking Wikipedians worldwide. Learn more about the pilot program by reading this blog post.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
Cairo outreach event draws 200+ participants
More than 200 students and faculty members at Ain Shams University in Cairo showed up to an in-person outreach event organized by Wikipedia Ambassadors from the Cairo Pilot and a local student group. Attendees learned how the Arabic Wikipedia works and how they could contribute to it. Check out the group's photo album to see photos from this successful event.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
News media covers program in four languages
Journalists from around the world are taking note of the Wikipedia Education Program. Articles in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Arabic have come out in April highlighting the work being done to promote Wikipedia's use in higher education classrooms worldwide, including a long article in tech magazine Fast Company's online site about the international program. As always, you can read all about the Wikipedia Education Program news coverage on and add other articles you see to this page.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
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This email is sent from:
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
Ambassadors,
The United States and Canada Education Programs are at a turning point.
When we started the U.S. program as the Public Policy Initiative pilot in
2010, we had no idea if it would work. But it succeeded, so much that we've
had to turn away interested professors because we didn't have enough
Ambassador resources to support the demand. It's a testament to the work
you've done over the last two years that the program has grown this much.
Given the enormous interest in the program, we need to start thinking about
its future. While the Wikimedia Foundation is fully committed to the
long-term success of the program, we believe that the Education Program
should be led by our volunteers who have made this program successful: the
Wikipedians and the academics.
We would like to form a new Working Group body, made up of 7 Wikipedians, 7
academics, and 2 Wikimedia Foundation staff, who will guide the formation
of a new "Education Program Structure" to take over the program beginning
in May 2013. The details surrounding this structure will be up to the
Working Group to decide at a Kick-Off Meeting in July 2012.
That's where you come in; we need volunteer Wikipedians and academics to be
part of the Working Group. If you want to help shape the future of
Wikipedia's use in higher education in the United States and Canada, please
join us.
More information about how to apply:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_Working_Group
We encourage you to start thinking about what the future could hold for the
United States and Canada Education Programs, and join the Working Group to
make this happen.
Frank Schulenburg, Wikipedia Education Program Director
Annie Lin, Wikipedia Education Program Manager
Jami Mathewson, U.S./Canada Program Associate
Hi, ambassadors!
Just a quick reminder that the IRC "check-in" will be taking place in
wikipedia-en-ambassadors in 20 minutes (1 PM Pacific)!
Hope to "see" many of you there.
--
Jami Mathewson
U.S./Canada Education Program Associate
Wikimedia Foundation
jmathewson(a)wikimedia.org
http://education.wikimedia.org
Welcome to the Wikipedia Education Update — a newsletter from the Wikimedia Foundation that is distributed the first and third Tuesday of each month. Someone from our staff has talked with you about our Wikipedia Education Program to bring Wikipedia into higher education classrooms around the world, and we wanted to keep you in the loop on all of our exciting activities. If you would prefer not to receive these messages, simply reply to the email and ask for your address to be removed. Learn more about subscribing or read the archives.
Campus Ambassadors conduct workshops in Cairo
The Cairo Pilot is off to a good start, with Campus Ambassadors at Ain Shams University and Cairo University conducting several hands-on workshops with students to give them a flavor for editing. The Ambassadors walk students through the five pillars, how to add references to articles, and how to upload images to Wikimedia Commons. Students also registered user accounts and are gearing up to make their first edits. See the updates page on the Arabic Wikipedia for more details.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
UBC class contributes content about environment
University of British Columbia students are enhancing the English Wikipedia's coverage of North American environmental history this term for Professor Tina Loo's class. The students are working in groups to improve the content of articles such as the Bow River, Columbia River Treaty, National parks of Canada, American Bison, and Alpine Club of Canada — and many more. See the course page for the full list of articles students are improving.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
U.S. professor blogs about Wikipedia experiences
University of Massachusetts at Amherst professor Edward Erikson contributed a post to the Wikimedia Foundation blog explaining why he is glad he is asking students to contribute to Wikipedia. He argues that Wikipedia is part of the classroom whether the professor likes it or not, and by making Wikipedia the destination rather than the route, students have a better learning experience. Read the post.
https://contacts.wikimedia.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6…
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, click this link:
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This email is sent from:
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
Hi, Ambassadors.
As promised, I've selected a time for an Online Ambassador check-in this
week. Just a few people have filled out the Doodle [1] so far, but I'd like
to get feedback from anyone who can attend.
Please join us on IRC in wikipedia-en-ambassadors on this *Wednesday, April
3rd, *from *1-2PM PST. *Please remember this is an opportunity to have an
open discussion about the needs for OA orientation as well as how we can
continue supporting students this semester.
Thank you, and looking forward to your attendance.
PS...If more people want to meet on another day that works better, you can
still fill out the Doodle below, and we can do another time, too.
[1] http://doodle.com/tpqbxiwzw9fcsp6s
--
Jami Mathewson
U.S./Canada Education Program Associate
Wikimedia Foundation
jmathewson(a)wikimedia.org
http://education.wikimedia.org
Hello, Online Ambassadors!
As many students are starting to make significant edits on-wiki, I'd like
to facilitate an IRC conversation about the semester (what's going well,
what we can do to improve experiences for the rest of the semester, and
what our major gaps are to identify in the upcoming Online Ambassador
Orientation).
I've created a Doodle poll [1] to establish the best hours next week to
meet on IRC (Wikipedia-en-ambassadors). Please fill out your
availabilities, and I'll try to select 2 popular time slots that will give
as many people as possible a chance to contribute to this conversation.
Campus Ambassadors, you're of course welcome to join, too!
I'll give you guys until the end of the weekend and will send out the time
slots on Monday morning. Please note the times are in Pacific.
[1] http://doodle.com/tpqbxiwzw9fcsp6s
Thanks,
--
Jami Mathewson
U.S./Canada Education Program Associate
Wikimedia Foundation
jmathewson(a)wikimedia.org
http://education.wikimedia.org