Atatürk Teacher Training Academy Wiki Club, was established in October 2024 as the fifth Wikipedia student club in Turkey and second one in North Cyprus.
While all student clubs at the Academy set up promotional stands and registered new members at the beginning of the academic year, the AÖA Wiki Club was unable to set up a stand because it was established later, following a new decision. It was founded with 5 board members and 30 student members. Having had a vibrant and active year, the club became the most active one both within the Academy and among Wikipedia clubs in Turkey. During the 2024–2025 academic year, it organized 9 events. In this Diff post, I will briefly describe all of them.
1. Introductory Meeting
On October 24, 2024, we held our first meeting to get to know the AÖA Wiki Club board and members, and to explain what Wikipedia is and what the Wiki Club aims to achieve. Around 25 people attended this initial event. We answered most of our questions about what Wikipedia is and how it works.
2. Editing Wikipedia from Scratch
Our second event was a workshop where we taught club members how Wikipedia articles should be styled and structured, how to edit them, and how edited articles are published. We then demonstrated how to create and publish an article from scratch. The event took place in the AÖA Computer Lab. By the end of the session, participants had their own Wikipedia accounts and knew how to make edits. Some of them even tried making small changes to articles when they got home.
3. Wikisource Talk
During our introductory meeting, the AÖA Wiki Club members showed great interest in Wikisource, one of Wikipedia’s sister projects. They wanted to learn more about it. However, I didn’t have much experience with Wikisource and could only provide surface-level information. So I reached out to User:Satirdan Kahraman, a Wikisource administrator, to ask if they could give us a talk about the project. They kindly agreed, and on November 7, 2024, we organized an event where Satirdan Kahraman joined us online while club members attended in person in the lecture hall. The event sparked even more interest in Wikisource among our members. We concluded the session with a shared intent to engage more deeply with Wikisource in the future.
4. Wikimedia Commons Talk
On November 8, 2024, the president of our sister club, the METU NCC Wikipedia Society, User:ToprakM, visited the Academy and gave us both a theoretical and hands-on introduction to Wikimedia Commons. Club members who attended the event got a closer look at how Wikimedia Commons works and also had the chance to meet ToprakM in person. At the end of the session, ToprakM answered questions from the club members.
5. Wikipedia Talk, User Groups, Gadgets, and Tips | 6. Wiki Knowledge Quiz
User:Gökhan Can, came to Northern Cyprus, visited the Academy to meet the AÖA Wiki Club members and give a presentation about important details they should know about Wikipedia. We held the talk event on November 21, 2024. On November 22, we organized a Wikipedia quiz competition and gave small prizes to the winners.
7. Education Articles Workshop
On March 5, 2025, we organized a thematic workshop where AÖA Wiki Club members started education-related articles on Turkish Wikipedia. The AÖA Wiki Club board participated in the event. We created 9 new articles on education topics and improved many others.
8. Turkish Cypriot Novel Writers Conference
The AÖA Wiki Club and AÖA Library Club jointly participated in the Conference on Turkish Cypriot Novel Writers, organized by the Digital Culture Association at our school. We held the conference in collaboration with the AÖA Wiki Club, AÖA Library Club, Digital Culture Association, and KibrisTarih.com. An expert academic gave a presentation on the topic. More than 60 students and academics attended the event.
9. Conference:Wikipedia
As the two Wikipedia clubs in Northern Cyprus, we decided to organize a joint conference to wrap up the academic year. For the conference, which was held on the same day at the Middle East Technical University and Atatürk Teacher Academy campuses, we invited three guest speakers and two local speakers. On May 12, the conference continued throughout the day at both universities in three sessions. Biologg, ToprakM, Gökhan Can, DerinGök, and Kurmanbek had the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with students from both clubs.
In less than a year, we organized 9 events and contributed numerous articles and images to Wikipedia. We welcomed dozens of new Wikipedians and aspiring editors. We also explained the importance of Wikipedia to prospective teachers.
We have completed our board elections for the upcoming year, with only one board member changing.
Now, we’re heading into a break to prepare for even more achievements next year. See you in October 2025!
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