Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-08-07/Wikiversity

In a keynote speech at Wikimania 2006 on Friday, Jimbo Wales announced that Wikiversity had been officially approved by the board, and would go into a three-language beta test "within a month".

Wikiversity was approved by 69.8% of voters in November 2005, reaching the two-thirds majority required to submit the proposal to the Wikimedia board. However, the measure stalled at the board level, as the board requested changes to the proposal in order for approval. The changes included the removal of credentials and online courses, and to clarify the concept of e-learning. Though work on the proposal continued, the proposal's approval had not been publicly announced until Wikimania.

The beta test would last six months, after which it would be reviewed. The test would start in three languages, with more possibly added as the project grows. Wales did not specify which three languages would be chosen, but as much of the Wikiversity proposal was based within the English and German communities, it seems likely that English and German would be two of the three beta languages.

Wikiversity would contain materials useful for learning that do not fit into Wikibooks' specific area (textbooks). Very little information is yet known about how Wikiversity will be launched, and exactly when the launch would occur, but many of the details are being worked on the meta-wiki.