SAN FRANCISCO, CA, July 1, 2016 — The Wiki Education Foundation board has elected a new board member, Ted Yang. He brings more than 20 years of experience in capital markets and technology. Yang is an active angel investor, advisor to VC and PE firms, Chairman of the Board of Connex International, and sits on … Continued
We hear many stories of scientists visiting Wikipedia, only to find that knowledge related to their field is missing. A chemist may find certain compounds don’t have an article; a zoologist is likely to find a species of bird isn’t well described. That’s one of the things that inspired us to focus so much energy … Continued
Sometimes, students can be a bit intimidated by Wikipedia. Writing for Wikipedia is as challenging and rigorous as typical academic work, and there’s no reason that unfamiliarity with the Wikipedia writing process should stand in anyone’s way. That’s why we’re building so many tools to help students write for Wikipedia. Last term, we debuted our online … Continued
The miracle of Wikipedia is that it has been assembling the world’s knowledge for 15 years, all of it contributed from volunteers. It is not only a collection of the world’s knowledge, then, but a reflection of the world’s passions. This can, however, tie Wikipedia’s content to leisure. For many, contributing to Wikipedia is a … Continued
Wikipedia is the perfect medium for communicating a joy for science. Every spark of curiosity leads to a new question, and Wikipedia offers paths for a mind to wander. When we saw that there was a class about dinosaurs, we got pretty excited. There’s something compelling about giant, “terrible lizards” roaming the planet. We all … Continued
Highlights May essentially marks the completion of the spring 2016 term, and with it, our first term in the Year of Science. The Classroom Program had its best term yet, with 215 courses contributing 3.5 million words. Of those, 116 were Year of Science participants. Those courses contributed 2 million words to Wikipedia. An analysis … Continued
On June 19, 1865, Texas announced the abolition of slavery. That decision essentially emancipated African-American slaves throughout the Confederate states. Though a day of celebration, Juneteenth is also a day to reflect on the history of slavery. The public’s understanding of slavery’s impact has been greatly improved by students who are assigned to create or … Continued
Every empty Wikipedia article tells a story. When the public turns to Wikipedia for knowledge and nothing comes back, it tells us something about knowledge, culture, and science. Who tells those stories? Who gets a starring role? At Emerson College, 50 students in Dr. Magda Romanska’s World Drama class tackled both stories. Looking at the … Continued
Eleanor Gibson was a psychologist who contributed to the understanding of childhood perception. Most notably, she designed the “visual cliff” experiment, which gave psychology textbooks the ubiquitous and horrifying image of a baby crawling off the edge of a tabletop. Her experiment showed that newborns of many species have an instinctual understanding of depth. (It’s … Continued
