The Times Educational Supplement contacted WMUK today about the ofqual guidance, with an urgent deadline to meet (2.30pm). I explained to them that the information they provide is good, and that Wikipedia is a great starting point, and a stepping stone to learning more (emphasising the references at the bottom of the articles, etc.). I also commented (hopefully not in a way that will get quoted...) that I don't know where the Telegraph and Mail got their headlines from.
I also talked a little about the Schools Project, saying that we want to help teach students how to use WIkipedia properly, and provide guidance for teachers too. Hopefully that will get some sort of mention in the article. I also pointed them towards the website, although looking again at it we don't seem to have much useful information on there at the moment about the schools project, so that's probably a missed opportunity. :-(
I believe the TES is published weekly, on a Friday, so I don't know whether this would have been for today's issue (unlikely) or next week's (more likely).
Mike
On 7 Jan 2010, at 17:16, Thomas Dalton wrote:
2010/1/7 Steve Virgin steve@mediafocusuk.com:
As a Board member I personally believe we should be attempting to promote our Schools Project here and that should sit at the heart of any release.
I don't disagree that this is an opportunity to mention our project, but I don't think it should be the heart of the release. Our PR work should be more than just about promoting our own stuff. It should also be a way of directly promoting and educating people about the Wikimedia projects and the concept of free content. We should be issuing press releases about subjects relevant to Wikimedia even if they have nothing to do with anything Wikimedia UK is doing.
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