Education Programme for educators, Sharjah

The Wiki Education Programme – Sharjah 2025 aims to empower educators from various schools in the United Arab Emirates to integrate Wikimedia projects into their teaching practices.The programme started on 1st November 2025 at Sharjah. The programme introduced participants to the open knowledge movement and offer hands-on training in contributing to Wikimedia projects, especially Wikimedia Commons and related educational initiatives.

This workshop is part of the ongoing efforts by the Wikimedians of UAE User Group to promote digital literacy, open educational resources, and collaborative knowledge creation among educators and students.

Objectives

To introduce educators to the Wikimedia movement, its vision, and global impact.
To demonstrate practical ways to integrate Wikimedia projects into classroom learning.
To train participants in uploading and managing media on Wikimedia Commons.
To build a community of educator-contributors in the UAE who promote open knowledge and cultural documentation.

Expected Outcomes

Educators gain foundational knowledge of Wikimedia projects.
Participants created user name password.
They completed their first Wikidata contributions.
Creation of a network of UAE educators interested in Wiki-based classroom activities.

Programme

Date: Saturday, 1 November 2025
Time:7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Venue: The First World Institute, Al Qasimiya, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Organized by: Wikimedians of UAE User Group
Organizer: User:Akbarali

Participants

10 educators from schools across the UAE. Their user names are given below.

Programme Schedule

Time	Session	Details
7:00 PM – 7:05 PM	Welcome & Introduction	Registration, greetings, and overview of the evening session by Zubair.
7:05 PM – 7:15 PM	Welcome Speech	Opening remarks and outline of objectives by Dua
7:25 PM – 8:25 PM	Session 1: Introduction to Wikimedia	Overview of Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, and other sister projects; examples from Education Programmes worldwide - Akbarali (talk)
8:25 PM – 8:30 PM	Closing & Feedback	Summary of key learnings, participant reflections, and group photo

Account Creation

Participants were guided step-by-step to create Wikimedia accounts. A live demonstration was conducted, and all participants successfully created their accounts.

Wikidata Training

Participants were introduced to Wikidata and learned how to:

Create new items
Add statements
Add references
Understand structured data

A dataset related to UAE mosques was provided, and participants began contributing to Wikidata.

Follow-up Activity

Participants were assigned follow-up tasks to continue adding Wikidata items and statements before the next session.

Conclusion

The session concluded successfully with active participation from all educators, followed by refreshments.