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Wiki Education Foundation

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Wiki Education Foundation
Location(s)
  • Chico, California,
    United States
Key people
Executive Director:
Frank Schulenburg
Chair, Board of Directors:
PJ Tabit
Employees14[1] (2024)
Websitewikiedu.org

The Wiki Education Foundation (sometimes called Wiki Education or Wiki Edu) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Chico, California, United States.[2] It promotes the integration of Wikipedia into coursework by educators in the United States and Canada.[3]

History

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A pilot project was started by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2010, then called the Public Policy Initiative, to engage students and faculty from universities around the world in improving academic articles.[4][5] The project spun-off into its own nonprofit after three years.[6]

In 2016, Wiki Education chose a theme for the year, which was around improving science articles.[7][6][8]

Directors

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In 2014, Frank Schulenburg, former senior director of programs at the Wikimedia Foundation, became the organization's first executive director.[9][10] Diana Strassmann was named Chair of the board of directors in 2013.[10] As of 2014, Robert Cummings, director of the Center for Writing and Rhetoric and associate professor of English at the University of Mississippi served on the board.[11][12][13] Adrianne Wadewitz served on the board until her death in 2014.[14]

Initiatives and impact

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The foundation recruits and provides technical assistance to professors to create or improve Wikipedia entries instead of writing an essay.[3][8] As of 2016, Wiki Education's survey found most faculty who entered the program saw an increase in their students' media literacy.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Wiki Education Foundation, 2024 Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
  2. ^ Ivry, Sara (November 12, 2024). "Look It Up: Humanities Students are Filling Wikipedia's Content Gaps". Mellon Foundation. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  3. ^ a b c Kamenetz, Anya (2017-02-22). "What Students Can Learn By Writing For Wikipedia". NPR. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  4. ^ Rankin, Kelly (26 October 2011). "Wikipedia goes to university | University of Toronto". www.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  5. ^ Johnson, Jenna (2011-05-29). "Wikipedia goes to class". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  6. ^ a b Dewey, Caitlin (2016-06-20). "The surprising reason some college professors are telling students to use Wikipedia for class". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  7. ^ Timmer, John (2016-01-22). "Wiki Education says 2016 is the Wikipedia Year of Science". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  8. ^ a b Xia, Rosanna (2016-09-20). "College students take to Wikipedia to rewrite the wrongs of Internet science". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  9. ^ "Press releases/Frank Schulenburg named executive director of new WEF". San Francisco, California: Wikimedia Foundation. February 12, 2014. Archived from the original on February 26, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "People, papers and presentations". Rice News. Houston, Texas: Rice University. November 8, 2013. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  11. ^ Garrison, Lynsea (April 7, 2014). "How can Wikipedia woo women editors?". BBC. Archived from the original on May 23, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  12. ^ Dunican, Rod (April 10, 2014). "Remembering Adrianne Wadewitz". Wikimedia Foundation. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  13. ^ "Visiting Research Fellows: Associate Professor Robert Cummings". University of Sydney School of Letters Arts and Media. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  14. ^ Cohen, Noam (2014-04-19). "Adrianne Wadewitz, 37, Wikipedia Editor, Dies in Rock Climbing Fall". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
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