Welcome to the Wikipedia Education Update — a newsletter from the Wikimedia Foundation that is distributed the first and third Tuesday of each month. Someone from our staff has talked with you about our Wikipedia Education Program to bring Wikipedia into higher education classrooms around the world, and we wanted to keep you in the loop on all of our exciting activities. If you would prefer not to receive these messages, simply reply to the email and ask for your address to be removed. Learn more about subscribing or read the archives.

Wikimania pre-conference draws crowd
Nearly 30 Wikimedians gathered for a pre-conference at Wikimania focused on developing educational programs. Representing more than 20 countries, the participants discussed challenges, solutions, and plans for educational efforts in their countries. Representatives from Namibia, the U.K., Germany, and the Wikimedia Foundation led sessions on fears, best practices, challenges, working with institutions, reaching out to different target groups, and program evaluation, among other topics. Learn more about the pre-conference, including notes and photos from the event.

US, Canada programs prep for new term
The new term is upon us in the United States and Canada, and many professors and Ambassadors have already begun creating Course Pages on the MediaWiki education extension on the English Wikipedia. If you are a professor who plans to use Wikipedia in the classroom this term, please make sure you have created the page for your class. You may need to get in touch with a Wikipedia Education Program representative to receive the appropriate user rights, which you can request on the Education Noticeboard. You can also email jmathewson@wikimedia.org if you still need support in finalizing your assignment, finding an Ambassador, or creating your Course Page. Create your Course Page.

EduWiki Conference issues call for proposals
Wikimedia U.K. is hosting the second annual EduWiki Conference in Cardiff, Wales, on 1-2 November 2013. A call for proposals has been issued, and potential participants are encouraged to submit papers, presentations, provocations, and posters about Wikipedia's use in education, both as a teaching tool and as a source. The deadline for proposals is 26 August. Read the call for proposals.