One counter-argument that you can make is that a dictionary used in school would have some dirty words that are not appropriate for school children, yet you don't see those definitions being blacked out by permanent marker or having the entire page ripped out because it contained those words.

Andrew

"Fill the world with children who care and things start looking up."


Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 10:21:49 +0200
From: gabriel@thullen.com
To: education@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia Education] Integration Wikipedia into primary and secondary schools in Serbia

Like I said before, great job for both Israel and Serbia !

There is one very important issue that we (as WM Chapters) need to address, now that Wikipedia editing will be part of the official school curriculum. How do we answer teachers or parents raising concerns about the so-called "adult" material found on Wikipedia ? Some of it is downright porn, and we (as Chapters) have to be able to answer these concerns.

[[:fr:Catégorie:Position sexuelle]] = [[:en:Category:Sex positions]] = other interwikis
or
Commons: Category:Wiki-Sexuality Images

The Geneva education department has an Internet filter that blocks some of the articles on the English wiki, for example en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingering_(sexual_act) is blocked, but does not filter the French wiki fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doigtage. Obviously, the web filter companies are US (aka English speaking), so they may or may not filter other language Wikipedia pages. What we absolutely should avoid is this type of web filtering, and certainly not such filtering done by separate countries.

Please note that I have always been opposed to censorship in general and opposed to censoring Wikimedia in particular. The issue has been raised a few times over the past few years, and I have always been able to provide adequate answers to the parents or school officials. But now that Wikipedia editing is a part of the official curriculum, these questions need a more "official" answer as well. Information should be freely available to all, even so-called "adult" information. As a school teacher using the web in class, I have to keep a watch on the web sites the students browse and discuss with them how to deal with inappropriate web sites that slip through the filters. I do the same when my students start surfing on sex-ed related Wikipedia articles...

I can just imagine the uproar in Israel when one or the other of the more conservative religious groups finds out the kind of articles young students are subjected to in class... I say that for Israel, but the same uproar will be possible in some of the Swiss Cantons when Wikipedia editing becomes an official part of their curriculum (each Canton has its own curriculum, some Cantons include religious education, some do not, and so on). We need, at the very least, a set of arguments we can use to defend Wikipedia. For the moment, nobody has said anything, probably because adults are usually not very curious. Our kids, on the other hand, tend to explore a lot more...

Anyway, that was some food for thought. I am looking forward to learning about how you will cope with that kind of issue, I know that the same problem might arise some day here in Switzerland.

Gabe


On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 2:48 PM, Vojtìch Dostál <vojtech.dostal@wikimedia.cz> wrote:
Below is my Wednesday e-mail which was denied from the conversation because I sent it from an incorrect adress:

---

Congratulations to Israel and Serbia!

Now comes the tough job for you, though! You have to prove to the public & to the teachers that Wikipedia is actually worth having in the school curriculum. The worst scenario is teachers and parents going crazy about the latest government's invention. You should really make Wikipedia as beneficial to the students as possible, and you also need to prepare the community for an enormous workload!

Not an easy job, but worth working for!

Good luck both of you, and I will be looking forward to the first results.

Vojtìch Dostál
vice-chair
Wikimedia Czech Republic


2014-06-11 8:52 GMT+02:00 Oona Castro <oonacastro@gmail.com>:

excellent news! congratulations!

Did you guys see Israel is also to get Wikipedia included in the curriculum of public schools?  Sorry for crossposting in case it has been shared here: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=18059

I'm really excited to hear and learn more about these initiatives, though I'm really concerned about our limitations in the Brazilian education system.

Oona


On 11 June 2014 03:42, Nurunnaby Chowdhury <nh@nhasive.com> wrote:
Wow..excellent news Mile!
Congratulations..

--
Nurunnaby Chowdhury | @nhasive
Sysop, Bengali Wikipedia | User: Nhasive
Member, IEG, WMF
Ambassador, OK Bangladesh
Sent from my iPhone device


On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 4:55 AM, Shani <shani.even@gmail.com> wrote:

Great news, Mile!
Looking forward to seeing you in London and hear some more, :-)
Shani.

On 11 Jun 2014 01:31, "Jens Best" <jens.best@wikimedia.de> wrote:
That's really great news. Congratulations to all people involved in preparing and realizing this important success.

best regards

Jens Best

--
Präsidium - Board of Trustees
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
web: http://www.wikimedia.de
mail: jens.best@wikimedia.de

Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V. 
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts
Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig
anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin,
Steuernummer 27/681/51985.


2014-06-10 23:13 GMT+02:00 Mile Ki¹ <milens@vikimedija.org>:
Hello everyone! 
I am honored to inform you that several months of integrating Wikipedia into primary and secondary schools in Serbia has finally paid off!

After the Ministry has prescribed that from September 2014 all students of the second year of secondary school curriculum must study wiki tools, Institute for the Improvement of knowledge and education has included a course on Wikipedia in its catalog of programs of continuous professional development of teachers, professors and other school personnel. We got accreditation for two years. Not a lot applicants got accreditation.

This course will start in December.



first challenge we successfully crossed :) next will come. 

I started writing blog post about this and hope it will be ready on 20 June. 

If you have some questions I will be happy to answer you :)



Mile Ki¹

Vikimedija Srbije  - rs.wikimedia.org - 

"Zamislite svet u kome svaka osoba ima slobodan pristup celokupnom ljudskom znanju. To je ono na èemu mi radimo."


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