<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3429" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think you've misinterpreted what I'm
proposing. I agree with you in regards to "offline content", it takes away
entirely one of the chief advantages of an online encyclopaedia - that is, being
up to date. If this project happens, I fully support the main mode of
delivery being a website that students can access, and which can be periodically
updated (although a download is probably still a good idea for the handful of
places where an online interactive site can't be supported, such as extremely
remote schools with limited or no internet connectivity).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In response to your specific
questions:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1) I've talked to two teachers in the past few
days, and asked them specifically for their thoughts on Wikipedia. One
said "there's porn on that site, so we don't allow students to use it at
school", and the other cited the usual concerns about data being incorrect,
incomplete, etc. I realise that the opinions of two teachers don't cover
the opinions of all teachers, but I'd wager that their views are not
unusual. As we all know, neither of these concerns are particularly true,
but nevertheless, the perception continues to persist.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2) I think that highlighting Wikipedia's best
content and delivering it is a laudable endeavour. There's lots of great
content, but there's also lots of not-so-great content. While we work on
getting the not-so-great stuff up to scratch, why not provide a sample of the
good stuff to get people interested? Especially if we can tie in the good
content with topics teachers want to teach. It can also be a useful tool
to find out what content we need to concentrate on improving (that is, what the
general public, our "customers", are interested in).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>3) Obviously, we'd have to talk to education
departments to see what they want. But even without talking to them, it's
obvious that there are some gaps, which it won't take that much effort to fill
in.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>4) See my comments above. This is an entirely
separate issue, in my view.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm well aware that with all things, there will be
disagreement on whether this is a suitable use of our
time. However, my view is that this will cost WMau nothing,
not take up that much work (relatively speaking), and can possibly lead to some
good press, help spread the knowledge around, and perhaps help recruit the next
generation of Wiki-contributors.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Craig</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>-------------------<BR>Craig Franklin<BR>PO Box 1093<BR>Toombul, Q,
4012<BR>Australia<BR><A href="http://www.halo-17.net">http://www.halo-17.net</A>
- Australia's Favourite Source of Indie Music, Art, and Culture.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=qubero@gmail.com href="mailto:qubero@gmail.com">Peter Halasz</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org
href="mailto:wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org">Wikimedia-au</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 11, 2008 9:22
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [personal] Re: [Wikimediaau-l]
Wikipedia and schools</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Basically there are three issues being discussed: censorship,
cut down wikipedia for schools, and an offline wikipedia.<BR><BR>The schools
issue is also confused. What is its purpose? Are we talking censoring images?
Protecting children from dangerous information? Legal concerns? or are we
trying to create textbooks? Use more appropriate (simpler) language? Create an
offline Wikipedia? Filter content for children who are not old enough to tell
nonsense from fact? Pick the best revision of an article for children? I don't
see (which is) the purpose.<BR><BR>But here's my two cents on these issues all
the same:<BR><BR>1) We should be working with schools and concerned parents on
these issues. We're not exactly being preemptive with schools anyway: Schools
have been using Wikipedia for years, often having specific policies relating
to its use in assignments. So before we do anything, we should be talking with
schools. Do schools even have an issue with explicit images on Wikipedia? This
thread was started by ISPs in England censoring Wikipedia -- not schools.
Would hiding images be enough, or do they want entire articles censored? Are
they happy enough censoring it themselves, or do they want more precise
filters (e.g. removing/hiding images). <BR><BR>2) a schools wikipedia should
not simply be a "whitelist" of "good pages" -- there are 2.5 million articles
and we're not going to classify each one. For one it's far easier to
blacklist, and then you're just censoring. <BR><BR>3) But if you want to
pretend that a cutdown wikipedia is different to a censored Wikipedia .. A
cutdown pedia needs a specific curriculum. I believe schools-wikipedia is
based on some UK curriculum. If we make one for Australian schools (which I do
not personally think is a great idea) it needs to be based on topics from
Australian cirricula (and every state has its own). Probably should be based
on an age group (because I really don't think year 12's need a special cutdown
'pedia) It also needs to be based on demand from schools, parents and students
(see #1), which I'm not aware of. Also, it seems to be a massive waste of
effort, as it's just going to be a poorer version of the full Wikipedia. What
is the specific need we're addressing? (see questions at top) If there's
content school kids shouldn't be allowed to see, then we need to work with
schools. If there's a need for offline viewing, then there's probably a better
way than putting HTML on a DVD.<BR><BR>4) a CD/DVD/USB stick offline version
of Wikipedia fails in a number of fundamental ways. Apart from being
inherently incomplete, uneditable and immediately out of date, the only real
purpose is to make Wikipedia available where there isn't internet access. This
is an odd way of making the internet available where there isn't internet. In
my opinion, lobbying governments to give schools internet access would be more
effective than trying to tackle the impossible task of turning a massive,
dynamic, interactive website (Wikipedia) into a DVD. (What came of the German
DVD anyway? Honest question, not retorical)<BR><BR>I'm writing another message
on how I think an offline WIkipedia could possibly work, in a general way, if
there are keen developers and/or resources to get it done.<BR><BR>Basically,
what is the driving force for a Schools Wikipedia Australia, and who needs
it?<BR><BR>Peter Halasz<BR>User:Pengo<BR>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>Wikimediaau-l
mailing
list<BR>Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org<BR>https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>