"Wikipedia – Here and Now": 40 students in the Summer School "I Can – Here and Now" in Bulgaria heard more about Wikipedia

Author: Vassia Atanassova, Justine Toms

Summary: On 28 August 2017, in the frames of this year's SuperSummer Academy "I Can – Here and Now" in Bulgaria, about 40 school students learnt about Wikipedia from the long-term Bulgarian Wikimedians Justine Toms and Vassia Atanassova. In the small touristic and spa resort of Devin, in the heart of the Rhodope Mountains, students from all corners of Bulgaria learnt about the principles of Wikipedia, about the technology and philosophy of wiki software, encyclopedic style of writing, healthy ways of searching and using information in the digital age.

In 2017, for 6th consecutive year, in Devin, the summer IT academy "I Can – Here and Now" was organized and for the first time the topic of the Free Encyclopedia Wikipedia appeared in the programme. The academy traditionally attracts trainers, established specialists and public speakers in various areas of the sector of information and communication technologies, mass media, marketing and advertising, photography, design, visual and performance arts in Bulgaria. One of the longterm lecturers at the Academy has been Justine Toms – web media and marketing professional, university lecturer, promoter of children reading and library development, and Wikimedian. During the organization of this year, she proposed Wikipedia as one of the core topics in the programme of the 2017 edition of the SuperSummer Academy.

On 28 August, about 40 students in 8th to 12th grade, heard about Wikipedia not only as a source for copy-pasting their homeworks, but also about Wikipedia as an internet, media and social phenomenon and a community of volunteers whose efforts have raised the website to Top 5 in terms of global ranking and search engine popularity. In a presentation that was both informative and funny ("Respect your parents! They managed to graduate without the help of Google and Wikipedia."), the principles of Wikipedia as an encyclopedia and a community were presented, as well as the technology and philosophy of wiki software, encyclopedic style of writing, healthy ways of searching and using information in Wikipedia, and in the digital age in general. The presentation developed into a useful discussion and questions-and-answers session with both the students and other lecturers from the Academy.

Tags: Bulgaria, Wiki Education, Wikipedia