Yes, Andrew, that is the type of argument I usually use when talking to parents or the school authorities. What I am saying is that we have to make sure that all teachers/educators who work with Wikipedia have easy access to this type of argument.
And as I said, this may be less of a problem with the English wiki, as it appears that some web filtering services block certain wiki articles in English, but not in other languages. I am not too happy to find out that the English Wikipedia is partially blocked by private cencorship companies, I wonder what WMF has to say about that kind of filtering. When foreign governments try to do it, there is a large outcry. But when it supposedly is done for "our children's good", nobody protests... Gabe Gabe On Thu, Jun 19, 2014 at 8:08 AM, Mina Theofilatou <[email protected]> wrote: > And an encyclopedia we should add. That's probably the best argument > I've ever heard on this issue. > > Mina > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Andrew Leung <[email protected]> > *To:* Wikimedia Education <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, June 19, 2014 7:31 AM > *Subject:* Re: [Wikimedia Education] Integration Wikipedia into primary > and secondary schools in Serbia > > 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: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > 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) > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingering_%28sexual_act%29> 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, Vojtěch Dostál < > [email protected]> 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. > > Vojtěch Dostál > vice-chair > Wikimedia Czech Republic > > > 2014-06-11 8:52 GMT+02:00 Oona Castro <[email protected]>: > > 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> wrote: > > Great news, Mile! > Looking forward to seeing you in London and hear some more, :-) > Shani. > On 11 Jun 2014 01:31, "Jens Best" <[email protected]> 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 <http://goog_17221883>@wikimedia.de <http://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 Kiš <[email protected]>: > > 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 Kiš > > Vikimedija Srbije - rs.wikimedia.org - > 00381 (0)60 7 454 772 > > "Zamislite svet u kome svaka osoba ima slobodan pristup celokupnom > ljudskom znanju. To je ono na čemu mi radimo." > > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > > > _______________________________________________ Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > > > ------------------------------ > <http://www.avast.com/> > > Αυτό το email είναι απαλλαγμένο από ιούς και κακόβουλο λογισμικό, επειδή η > προστασία avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com/> είναι ενεργή. > > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > >
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