Education/Newsletter/November 2013/Articles of Interest in other publications

Professor Gabriel Thullen

Web Work - Swiss 7th graders edit the world’s largest encyclopedia

Every day, users of French Wikipedia might be reading and referencing entries created by the 7th grade students in Gabriel Thullen’s computer science class at the College des Colombieres in Versoix, Switzerland.

Thullen’s students have created 78 Wikipedia articles—mostly in French—and contributed to hundreds of others. The student-written contributions cover a wide range of subjects—from entries on the clothing brand Aeropostale, to the Israeli singer Asaf Avidan, to the ice cream snack Dippin’ Dots, to the rap album Planete Trappes Vol. 2, to Amazonian parrots. Read rest of article here [1]

Tel Aviv University medical students take course on Wikipedia writing

A new course offered at Tel Aviv University seeks to teach medical students a skill that may be of use outside the clinic: writing and editing entries for Wikipedia.

The one-credit elective, called “Wiki-medicine: The Wonderful World of Wiki and Free Medical Information in Hebrew Wikipedia,” is the first of its kind in Israel. Participants will meet with writers who regularly contribute to Wikipedia in both Hebrew and English to learn how to produce reliable entries and about intellectual property rights. Read rest of article here [2]

Professor Robert Cummings

University of Mississippi to incorporate School of Open’s Wikipedia course

The University of Mississippi’s Spring 2014 course “Open Educational Resources and Practices” will include the module “Writing Wikipedia Articles” (aka WIKISOO), which I developed and taught through the School of Open; as well as “Open Content Licensing for Educators,” developed and taught by Wayne Mackintosh as part of the OER university consortium. The new graduate level course (Edhe 670), taught by Dr. Robert Cummings, will invite learners from around the world to take these two course modules alongside graduate students, free of charge. This is the first time a university has adopted a School of Open course as part of a formal university course. Read rest of article here [3]

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.