Wikipedia Education Program/MENA/Tutorials

Participants of the Cairo Pilot provided the feedback that different classes received different qualities of Wikipedia support, and different Wikipedia Ambassadors taught students different skills. To standardize the quality and content of support, we will provide "tutorials" (in the form of printed handouts and/or videos) that will guide students throughout the core Wikipedia-editing skills they need to learn. These tutorials will supplement (not replace) the workshops that Campus Ambassadors will lead with students. Students will be expected to complete the various tutorials within the first third of the academic term period, and will publicly indicate their progress with completing the tutorials on their course page on the Arabic Wikipedia, which will also allow the wider Arabic Wikipedia community to see what skills each student has gained.

Tutorial topics (no more than 10)

Dear Ambassadors: Please edit, or add tutorial topics that you think are absolutely crucial for students to learn in order to contribute good content to Arabic Wikipedia articles. Feel free to edit things already on this list. Let's keep the number of tutorials to 10 or fewer.

Explain the nature and spirit of Wikipedia and Wikimedia: anyone can edit, free knowledge, community-driven and non-profit. Then, how to create an user account.
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: successfully create an user account on Arabic Wikipedia
How to create an user page, and how to leave a message on talk pages (including how to sign your name)
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: successfully create an user page with at least three paragraphs about who they are and their hobbies; and, successfully leave a message on someone else's talk page, with their signature
Early introductory tour of the Wikipedia interface, and the structure of good Wikipedia articles (lead section, article body, references section, weblinks section, categories). Include examples of good vs. bad Wikipedia articles.
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: ask a question about what is the structure of good the article
Guidelines about writing on Wikipedia. Besides problems with grammar, Arabic writers on Wikipedia tend to write in non-encyclopedic voices. A review of what is/not acceptable on Wikipedia would be very useful as it reduces the likelihood of erasure.
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: show two examples of an encyclopedic and non-encyclopedic articles and let the students compare between them
Basic wiki-markup: formatting (bolding, italicizing, sections, sub-sections, internal links)
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: successfully add all of the following to their user page — (1) one bolded word, (2) one italicized word, (3) one section, with two sub-section under it, and (4) two internal links
How to add references (including reliability of sources)
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: successfully add three references to their user page
How to create a new article
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: By creating a new article free of any maintenance tags i.e. not uncategorized, unwikified, orphan, dead end or a stub.
Sandboxes (how to use it, who can/cannot see it, searchable, what to do and not to do with sandbox, how to create it, how to move a sandbox to live article namespace)
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: successfully create a sandbox and add two paragraphs to it; and, successfully link their user page to the sandbox
How to upload files to Wikimedia Commons and know Licenses -like creative commons- and copyright, then How to add these files onto Wikipedia
- How students will prove they've learned this topic: successfully upload a photo they've taken themselves onto Wikimedia Commons; then, successfully add the photo onto their user page (with a caption)

Also useful for students

Make a glossary of the 5–10 most commonly used shortcuts and tips on the Arabic Wikipedia.
Make a list of the ambassadors emails and even their phone number or at least their Facebook accounts