Ambassadors

Wikimedia UK education projects

Annual Conference — Campus Ambassadors – Student Societies — Schools — Committee — VLE

Wikimedia UK is currently seeking to train and support individuals who will serve as local representatives of the Wikimedia community within educational institutions or community groups.

Campus Ambassadors

Wikipedia Campus Ambassadors are volunteers who provide face-to-face support to university students on how to edit Wikipedia, work with academics to incorporate Wikipedia assignments into classrooms, help recruit new Wikipedia contributors on campus, and participate in real life activities in support of free knowledge. Campus Ambassadors are part of the UK Wikipedia Ambassador Program being coordinated by Wikimedia UK and are required to attend a training in order to make them more familiar with doing Wikipedia outreach on campus. The estimated time commitment is approximately 3-5 hours a week, with some variations throughout the semester. Ambassadors not attached to Wikipedia teaching assignments should expect to coordinate or participate in recruiting events and outreach. Wikipedia Campus Ambassadors can be undergraduate students, graduate students, university staff members, faculty members, or anyone geographically close to the university -- the main qualification is that you must enjoy teaching people and spreading your passion for free knowledge.

The Campus Ambassador programme is well-established in the United States, and we are currently seeking individuals whom we can train and support to work similarly in UK. For more, see the invitation on Wikipedia.

Training opportunities

A Campus Ambassador training workshop is being planned for Wednesday 6 August 2014 as part of the Wikimania pre-conference events. Details tbc shortly and registration opens by the second week of July.

Further training opportunities for Campus Ambassadors are planned for September (London), October (Edinburgh), and November (tba) 2014.

Community Ambassadors

This is a similar programme for those working outside formal education. The idea is to help marginalised groups (such as speakers of a foreign language) to contribute to, and benefit from, the Wikimedia projects. We are seeking enthusiastic individuals who understand Wikimedia's mission and have the ability to teach, mentor and lead others. We aim to involve such people in training events that will help them involve their community.

Contact

The working group for the UK Ambassador programme includes:

• Hannah Jones
• Stefan Lutschinger
• Martin Poulter (User:MartinPoulter)
• Toni Sant - WMUK Education Organiser
• Raya Sharbain
• Fabian Tompsett

Getting in touch

• Toni Sant (toni.santwikimedia.org.uk) is the UK's regional contact for the Campus Ambassador programme and also welcomes queries from potential Community Ambassadors.