Welcome to the Global 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 Global 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. 

Convening kicks off planning of Arabic Ed Program
Wikimedia Foundation staff, including Global Education Program Director Frank Schulenburg, traveled to the Middle East at the end of October to begin planning the expansion of the Wikipedia Education Program to the Arab world. Assisted by regional advisor Adel Iskandar, a professor from the U.S. Education Program pilot, the team met with professors and Wikipedians in Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan. These meetings will inform the planning of the Arabic Education Program, which will be launched in 2012. Read more about the Arabic Wikipedia Convening held in Doha, Qatar.

U of Toronto News covers Canada Education Program
The University of Toronto News published an article last week that explains the pilot Wikipedia Education Program in Canada. Five courses at the University of Toronto are participating in the pilot program this term. Kelly Rankin, the article's author, interviews professors and students who are participating in the program this term, as well as Education Program Advisor for Canada Jonathan Obar. Read the article.

Wikipedia featured at ISSOTL conference
Wikipedia Global Education Program staff were on-hand at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last week to talk with interested professors about Wikipedia's use as a teaching tool in higher education. Wikipedia had both a booth in the exhibit hall and a presentation slot where staff Annie Lin and LiAnna Davis discussed results from the U.S. pilot program. Learn more about the conference.

Illinois State hosts workshop on Education Program
Dr. Shamira Gelbman, a professor who is participating in the U.S. Education Program this term, and Mayuko Nakamura, her Campus Ambassador, are jointly leading a session on the United States program for other faculty members at Illinois State University. Hosted by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology on campus, the event will explain how other faculty members can use Wikipedia in their classrooms. Read more about the event.