Hello everyone,
The African Knowledge Initiative
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Africa_Knowledge_Initiat…>
(AKI), seeks to leverage the Wikimedia tools and platforms to breed
innovative solutions to bridging the content gap on global digital
knowledge networks.
This year Open Foundation West Africa’s <http://ofwafrica.org> annual
writing contest the Africa Wiki Challenge was used as an avenue to help
achieve AKI’s goal.
The campaign was named the Africa Day Campaign
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Day_Campaign_2023> and themed "Africa
Free Continent Trade" to align with the Africa Union Day 2023 theme.
From the Campaign's Program Dashboard
<https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/campaigns/africa_day_campaign_2023/ov…>,
we tracked a total of 20 Programs, with 473 editors, from 13 countries
contributing to 4000 articles
After months of intense and rigorous reviews by the Africa Day Contest
Jury, we are elated to announce the winners of the Africa Day Campaign 2023.
Congratulations to the winners of the campaign.
Winners
Winner- User:Muhammed Idriss Criteria from Nigeria- 502 new articles in
Hausa Wikipedia
2nd Winner - User:Gwanki from Nigeria- 183 new articles in Hausa Wikipedia
3rd Winner- User:Charbel1719 Benin - 75 new articles in French Wikipedia
Top Female Contributor- User:Mercyjamb123 - 66 new articles in Igbo
Wikipedia
We are super grateful to our international jury team who worked
effortlessly to ensure that the winners were identified.
International Jury
User: Azogbonon - Benin
User: Yaw Tuba - Ghana
User: Anani A. George- Ghana
User: Bile_rene - Cameroon
User: Justine Msechu -Tanzania
User: Memoriesghana -Ghana
User: Kwaku Berko- Ghana
To all our partners, local organizers, and editors, we appreciate your
efforts in making this campaign a success.
[image: Africa Day Campaign 2023 (2).png]
[image: AFRICA DAY CAMPAIGN STATS.png]
Kind Regards,
Eugene Masiku
--
Eugene Makafui Masiku,
Communications Officer
Open Foundation West Africa
Greeting Wikimedians,
The CfA WiR community is sending a warm shout-out to budding Wikimedians
and is thrilled to announce a specially curated session to enhance their
wiki skills.
📌 *What’s on the Agenda?*
- Customising your Wiki Userpage
- Customising Wiki page
- Categorisation on Wiki
- Mastering Infoboxes & Enhancing Articles with Short Description
📆 *Date: starting 08 September 2023*
🎙 *Meet the Maestros*
- Popoola James: The Beacon of Open Future Africa
- Iwuala Lucy: Steering the helm at Igbo Wiki Fan Club, Alvan
- Rhoda James: The creative force behind Wikimedia Nigeria User Group
- Daniel Obiokeke: The brainpower founding Space Bar Africa
📝 *Registration is Just a Click Away!*
Secure your spot here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScPOQ3Rg18Rd3v8VQkyavjHT2EJe216PYZ…>
[
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScPOQ3Rg18Rd3v8VQkyavjHT2EJe216PYZ…
]
Come, let’s make Wikipedia more vibrant, one edit at a time. We can’t wait
to see you there!
Warm regards,
Bukola James
Community Coordinator
Code for Africa WiR initiatives
*---P.S. Share with friends and colleagues who might benefit. Let’s grow
our Wiki community together!*
OpenAI (@OpenAI) tweeted at 1:07 PM on Thu, Aug 31, 2023:
We’re releasing a guide for teachers using ChatGPT in their classroom —
including suggested prompts, an explanation of how ChatGPT works and its
limitations, the efficacy of AI detectors, and bias. https://t.co/rVFdEUH6ph
(https://twitter.com/OpenAI/status/1697295029763715166?s=03)
Interesting.
There were several presentations that mentioned chatgpt at the Singapore
Wikimania Conference. While at the conference I ordered a couple of books
about Chatgpt and have watched YouTube videos. [still learning]
The biggest limitation of chatgpt is a lack of references.
Wikipedia is the go- to platform for education. Plus any data search on
chatgpt will not go past 2021.
Plus Chatgpt has a fee component, and Wikipedia is free.
Still learning what the challenges of chatgpt will be for Wikipedia
editors.
Take care,
Linda Fletcher-Dabo
Dear Wikimedians,
We're thrilled to announce the plan to host the EduWiki Conference 2024 – a
significant step in our journey, expanding our reach and inclusivity. This
move represents our commitment to ensuring global representation and
overcoming barriers, building on our learnings from past conferences.
We're seeking your voice to ensure a diverse and enriching experience for
all attendees! [image: 🌟]
We introduce the Community Engagement Survey for EduWiki Conference 2024
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3rykNznns2a56trSBbiMLivSAQOhYRD6…>.
Your insights are invaluable in shaping the agenda, sessions, and the
overall conference vibe. Be it your personal experiences, educational
discussions, or innovative session ideas – we're eager to know.
[image: 🔗] Please fill out the survey here: [Community Engagement
Survey-EduWiki Conference 2024
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3rykNznns2a56trSBbiMLivSAQOhYRD6…>
]
Why contribute?
-
Influence the Program: Help us design an event that resonates with the
community's needs and celebrates our shared successes.
-
Strengthen the Community: Your feedback ensures we embrace the diverse
perspectives and aspirations of our global community.
-
Global Collaboration: This conference offers a chance to bring together
voices from all corners of the world, fostering unity and mutual
understanding.
Your privacy is of utmost importance. Know that your responses will be
shared exclusively with the Wikipedia & Education User Group board members.
Though some aggregate statistics may be shared, your personal information
will remain confidential.
Your insights are our guiding light. Let's come together to craft an
unforgettable EduWiki 2024!
Warm regards,
*Bukola James* <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Bukky658>
*Wikipedia + Education User Group*
Hello everyone,
Just a friendly reminder that the upcoming #SheSaid campaign
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Loves_Women/SheSaid> is scheduled to
run from October 1st to December 31st this year. For those of you who are
planning to organize a #SheSaid local event during this time, please take
note that the *deadline to apply for a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation*
is *September 1st, 2023*.
To ensure a streamlined and comprehensive process for your grant
application, we have prepared a grant request template
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nutGLLDBWr33wVvQ7oPE3qeTGBxndzb1qF-E6Za…>
for you to use. We kindly request that you refrain from replying to the
document with your application. Instead, if you're ready to submit your
grant application, kindly complete the Fluxx form
<https://wmf.fluxx.io/user_sessions/new> linked for that purpose.
If you happen to have any specific questions or require assistance, we
encourage you to join our *Office Hour session today* at *3:00pm* *UTC* via
this link
<https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81126530358?pwd=K3oxQ01DNFUzRi8zM2FFTDNuWXVOZz09>.
Your inquiries will be addressed there.
Best,
Afek
Dear Wilimedians,
We're excited to invite you to join us in a Kiwix session *tomorrow,
Wednesday.*
*Time: 15:45 pm (Singapore time) or 7:00 am UTC,Venue: In Singapore Room
325. *
Join to discover more about the Kiwix4schools initiative and ways you can
engage. This is a chance to gain insights from our experiences and explore
potential collaboration opportunities.
(NB:There will be some goodies for attendees.)
Also, don't miss our participation in a panel discussion on offline
communities.
Scheduled for *Friday in Room 325. *
*Time: 14:35 to 15:15 (Singapore time), which is 6:35 am to 7:15 am UTC.*
To take part virtually, please register at
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2023:Registration for further details.
Once registered, you can access the program schedule and sync it with your
mobile calendar through https://eventyay.com/e/8f889410/schedule.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact
wikimania(a)wikimedia.org.
Ruby
--
Ruby D-Brown
Snr. Program Officer
Open Foundation West Africa
ofwafrica.org
*Tl;dr: *Are you from Africa and looking for other opportunities to
contribute your knowledge and skills to Wikimedia or learn how to make
valuable contributions to Wikipedia? Join the Africa Growth Project Pilot
on WikiLearn to grasp the basics of contributing to Wikipedia and explore
the various contribution options within the movement! Applications are
accepted from August 4 - 16, 2023
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_RMweV7xPQmkuFgRc2bRq8Z1i35bC8wC…>
.
Dear Wikimedians,
About a month ago, the Wikimedia Foundation announced the idea of an Africa
Growth Project and initiated a curriculum consultation
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Africa_Growth_Pilot/Live…>
which concluded on 21 July 2023. The pilot project, as highlighted in the
original email, seeks to enhance community efforts by creating a more
effective online learning experience to improve the retention of new
volunteers.
Why the Africa Growth Project?
Investing in community capacity has been emphasized in various discussions
within the Movement. These needs have been explicitly outlined in the
Movement Strategy and, more importantly, the recent request for help with
editor growth and retention from the communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Africa Growth Project is a pilot that aims to experiment with a course
to provide a strong foundation in Wikipedia policies and collaboration
norms, closely guided by our hypothesis of providing high-quality
structured training to new and existing Wikimedians covering the basics of
contribution to Wikimedia (including introducing the many ways to
contribute beyond article writing) can double the retention rates of active
editors in the region.
What can I expect?
The program will consist of a 4-week online learning experience in
September. It will prepare participants to understand the fundamentals of
contributing to Wikimedia and the range of contribution options available
within the movement. For the initial iteration of this project, the course
will only be offered in English. We intend to expand to other languages in
the future if the piloted approach proves successful.
Participants will leave the course with:
-
Basic familiarity with the Wikimedia landscape
-
Awareness of the many different contribution options available to
volunteers, over and beyond writing encyclopedia articles
-
The ability to write in an encyclopedic tone and grasp the concept of a
neutral point of view
-
Understanding of reliable sources, referencing them, and the concept of
"verifiability, not truth".
Who is eligible?
We invite all Africans, both experienced and new, who have an interest in
developing or refreshing a clear understanding of the basics of
contributing to Wikimedia and exploring the opportunities that exist for
them in the Wikimedia volunteer journey.
Only *150 slots are available*, selection will be based on the level of
interest shown in the response, and users with accounts that are 6 months
old or older will have an advantage.
Applications are open from 4 - 16 August 2023
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_RMweV7xPQmkuFgRc2bRq8Z1i35bC8wC…>,
and you can apply by completing the attached form
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_RMweV7xPQmkuFgRc2bRq8Z1i35bC8wC…>
before the deadline. If you wish to learn more, join us (in person or
online) at our session at Wikimania on August 17 at 2:20 UTC
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2023:Program#Room_324_3>.
Alternatively, you can contact us through our meta page talk page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Growth_Pilot/Live_Tutorials_on_Core_…>
or reach me at fnartey(a)wikimedia.org.
Best,
--
Felix Nartey
Senior Program Officer, Campaigns
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Hello Wikimedians,
Happy start to a new Wikimania week! 🌟
We're excited to round up the CfA WiR webinar 1.0 with a unique training
opportunity where we'll dive into "*Creating a list of Wikipedia articles
needing citations using the Citation Hunt tool*." Our esteemed
Trainer, Precious
Obiorah <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Prithee_P>, will guide us
through this fascinating session.
📅 *Date: Friday, 18th August 2023. *
*🕑 Time: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm WAT *
*🔗 Zoom Link: Join Here
<https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89754650595?pwd=S2lBdUh6UlI0YlRXQTZDV3Fad0Vudz09>Registration
form: Link <https://bit.ly/UsingcitationHunttoolonWikipedia>*
For those unfamiliar, Citation Hunt is an invaluable tool that points out
articles in need of missing citations on Wikipedia. This is a fantastic way
to ensure the accuracy and credibility of Wikipedia articles, furthering
our shared mission of information dissemination.
Your consistent contribution to our community is both seen and appreciated.
Keep shining and making a difference! 💫
Best regards,
Bukola James <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Bukky658>
Community Coordinator,
Code for Africa <http://codeforafrica.org/> (Knowledge Team/ WiRs
Initiatives)