Education/News/April 2018/Togh's WikiClub: Wikipedia is the 8th wonder of the world!
Togh's WikiClub: Wikipedia is the 8th wonder of the world![edit]
Author: Anahit Avagyan, Lilit Tarkhanyan (Wikimedia Armenia)
Summary: We are representing the story of Togh's WikiClub which has colored the lives of dozens of students.
On January 2017 Wikimedia Armenia established a WikiClub in Togh village, Artsakh Republic. The students of the village aged 8-17 got an opportunity to learn editing in different Wikimedia projects, thus participating in the dissemination of free knowledge which allows them to broaden their horizons.
The WikiClub has 60 participants and this number is constantly increasing. This is how one of the clubbers, Veronika Avetisyan described the WikiClub:
There are moments when you want to change something in your life and begin to search the piece which is missing. I am one of those happy people who has find that missing piece. Wikipedia for me is a world of free and independent knowledge where people find the answers to all their questions, have a chance to deepen their skills. Some people think that editing in Wikipedia is something boring and time consuming but at the same time these people use Wikipedia every day. When I became a member of our WikiClub and learned editing I understood that it gives me rich store of knowledge. People always learn something new here. Wikipedia is the 8th wonder of the world for me.
For Ariana Stepanyan Wikipedia is a way of learning foreign languages. She always translates her favourite articles from English or Russian Wikipedias. Emilia Grigoryan states that Wikipedia has become one of the their tutors which teaches using a different and interesting method.
Students edit various themes, from the cartoons to the articles related to South Korea. They are always free to choose the topic they would like to write about. There are two options: they either choose the theme they do not know but would like to learn about or a familiar topic.
Each year the most active editors of the WikiClub get an opportunity to participate in the WikiCamps organized by Wikimedia Armenia. Students are always looking forward to this event because they meet a lot of students from different cities and villages of Armenia and not only: "It is a place where we can learn and share as well as make lifelong friends".
Tags:WikiClub, Armenian Wikipedia, WikiCamp