Education/News/February 2025/Wikimedia MKD' Education: Lots of new trained users, lots of new articles
Wikimedia MKD' Education: Lots of new trained users, lots of new articles
On February 4, 2025, Wikimedia MKD held a conference for teachers at the Gymnasium "Josip Broz Tito" in Skopje. This conference was attended by 24 teachers who demonstrated the possibilities of using Wikipedia, both as a tool for teaching purposes and as a place where new free content is created. First, Snezana Štrkovska, executive director of Wikimedia MKD, spoke about how Wikipedia works, which are the benefits by the use of Wikipedia as a teaching tool and the correct use of Wikipedia as an information source for accurate and verified information. After her, Irena Trajkovska Sterjovska spoke about her experience and the achievement of the Wiki Club that she leads. At the very end, Bosa Filipović, the educational program manager of Wikimedia MKD, had a speech and explained in detail the most common mistakes made when editing and improved the basic principles of Wikipedia.
Also, on February 6, 2025, a training for students was held at the Wikimedia MKD office in the MKC. The training was attended by 5 students from Gymnasium "Josip Broz Tito" who are now new members of Wiki club in Skopje under the coordinator Irena Trajkovska Sterjovska. The first part of the event was held by Bosa Filipović, Wikimedia MKD's educational program manager, who introduced students the basics of Wikipedia, how to properly use Wikipedia as an information source for accurate and verified information, the most common mistakes made when editing, and also spoke about the basic principles of Wikipedia. After the presentation started the editing on the topic "Get to know Slovenia", which is the topic of the current editing marathon for members of Wiki Clubs in Macedonia, which is held from February 1, 2025 to February 28, 2025, and is organized by Wikimedia MKD in cooperation with the Slovenian Center of Macedonia and Slovenian embassy in Skopje.
At the celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the existence of the primary school "St. Kliment Ohridski" in the Drachevo neighborhood in Skopje, Wikimedia MKD had the honor of receiving a certificate of appreciation for its long-standing dedication, openness to collaboration, and continuous support of the school. This recognition is a testament to the successful partnership between educational institutions and the community working towards free access to knowledge.
One of the most significant initiatives for involving young people in the Wikimedia movement are Wiki Clubs. Therefore, on 12 February 2025, a Wiki Club was opened for the first time at the Primary School "Krste Petkov Misirkov" in Radoviš, which will aim to educate young people in editing and creating content on Wikipedia. This is Wikimedia MKD's newest wiki club. The event began with an educational lecture by Bosa Filipoviḱ, Education Program Manager at Wikimedia MKD, who introduced the students to the basic principles of Wikipedia, the importance of free knowledge, and the rules for editing the encyclopedia. She explained how the platform works, how to check sources of information, and how to write encyclopedia articles. After the introductory part, the students were given the opportunity to edit on Wikipedia.
This kind of activities are a significant step towards enriching free knowledge in the Macedonian language and encouraging students to actively participate in building digital literacy. Also with such activities, Wikimedia MKD continues to strengthen its network of educators and volunteers, creating a strong community that works to expand the availability of knowledge for current and future generations.