54 students help enrich the digital Arabic content

Author: Mossab Banat and Samir Elsharbaty

Summary: 54 students form the Arabic digital content club at the Hashemite University help enrich the digital Arabic content by writing and editing the Arabic Wikipedia. The university used Wikipedia as part of its syllabus and assigned students to edit.

Professor Bani Hani, the university president has delivered certificates to award the participating professors, staff and students. Dr. Darwish Badran, dean of the faculty of medicine and Dr. Khaled Elwan, the vice dean for student affairs both attended the celebration. Dr. Saga Hamed, the dean of faculty of pharmaceutical sciences and Shorouk Abo Khamees from the same school together with Mr. Zaid AlKhawalda from the faculty of allied health sciences, all received awards during the celebration.

“We are gathering today to discuss the digital content on the internet,” said Bani Hani. “We realize the role it plays in shaping our visions toward the world , how we look at the world and how far our knowledge can go. We are being negligent in the Arab World, but there is still a chance. The digital Arabic content represents our identity and shows our contribution in the human civilisation.” He continues: “We have always been realizing the deterioration of cultural understanding for the Arab youth, and that’s why the qualitative addition for the Arabic content is a goal for us. That goal synchronizes with our support for the quality of education at our schools and universities and that’s where cultures are built. The Hashemite University does its best when it comes to hard missions. I can’t forget the effort of our student Mossab Banat and his fellow students at medical, pharmacy, and allied health schools, recognizing their understanding and their outreach activities among their fellow students. The Hashemite University must play a big role in such initiatives working for the best of our nations. Thank you for what you have done, and congratulations for the cultural and civilization outcomes you are yielding.

"The club members cared the most about the Arabic language and how it suffers from deteriorating on the internet either on the quantitative and the qualitative levels,” says Mossab Banat, the Arabic content club chair. “They didn’t give up to that fact, but sought making an informative content that could help the Arabic reader that seeks learning. The current Arabic content is mostly advertising and non-encyclopedic in its nature. The club introduced a substitute for the literal copying which helped professors with their assignment making in a digital way that guarantees that a student has read and correctly represented what they have learned.”

Aisha Badarin, a third year student in the department of pharmaceutical sciences shared her experience in the club, as she has translated a collection of medical and pharmaceutical articles. Badarin encouraged other students to join the club activities to support the digital Arabic content.

Dr. Saga Hamed’s group has improved a number of scientific articles about the World Health Organization list of Essential Medicines for 125 medication through over the counter drugs' course (medications that don't need prescriptions).

The club recruited Wikipedia Ambassadors, volunteer students who help their fellow students understand how to edit on Wikipedia. Student club members Mossab Banat and Lama Mansour wrote a scientific article about skin whitening which was nominated for a Good Article. The article was the first to be nominated according to the new Peer review system (skin whitening peer review page). It is worth mentioning that the club is starting a new course at the faculty of nursing with professors Hanan Modallal (Dean of the faculty), Sami Alrawashda, and student Eman Dawood as a Wikipedia ambassador.

Mossab is a member of the Wikimedians of the Levant User Group and one of the top contributors to the Arabic Wikipedia. You can read more about him in a blog post.

Tags: Jordan, Wikimedians of the Levant, Hashemite University, Higher Education, Medical Students