I am starting a research project specifically related to Wikipedia.
The project is "Wikipedia Primary School: Providing on Wikipedia the information
necessary to complete the cycle of primary education in the languages used by the
different education systems" (please refer below for a short description).
I wanted to inform you about the project and i'd like to invite you to join in if you
are interested (please do not hesitate to contact me).
more specifically - and more urgently - i'm looking for research partners in Germany
and Belgium. I'm preparing with Tobias Schönwetter (UCT University of Cape Town, IP
Law Department and co-coordinator of Creative Commons Africa) the application. The
proposal is meant for the ERAfrica programme (new ideas)
http://www.erafrica.eu (deadline
April 15th).
Unfortunately for this application not all countries are eligible, and we need to
specifically address universities (they will receive and manage the eventual grants).
but we can also establish partnerships with stakeholders (wikimedia chapters, NGOs).
At the moment
South Africa: UCT University of Cape Town, IP Law Department (Tobias Schönwetter)
Switzerland: SUPSI University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland
(Iolanda Pensa)
Kenya: Strathmore University, Centre for IP and IT Law (Isaac Rutenberg) - pending
Germany: (it would be particular relevant to involve researchers who can work on data
analysis).
Belgium: (maybe the University of Leuven with the Anthropological Research on Africa
(IARA) - to involve the African studies networks. but we didn't approach them jet)
please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to get involved - io(a)pensa.it and
to forward this message.
we are very motivated in developing this project, and we will be focusing on it also with
other applications.
The documentation is not confidential and if you are interested in promoting it or
implementing it, we are more than happy. we would like the project to actually happen.
thanks and best regards
iolanda/iopensa
--
Iolanda Pensa - via Rabolini, 10 - 20125 Milano - Italia. Tel. +39 335 655 36 33,
io(a)pensa.it -
http://www.iopensa.it - Skype: iopensa.
Researcher at SUPSI University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland
--------------------------------------
Wikipedia Primary School
Providing on Wikipedia the information necessary to complete the cycle of primary
education in the languages used by the different education systems.
A project allowing students, families and teachers to find on Wikipedia the documentation
necessary to obtain the primary school qualification in their country, in their language.
Wikipedia is meant to be an educational tool and it is currently available online, via
mobile phones and offline. Experiences have shown that, once accessible, Wikipedia does
not provide information that responds directly to curriculum-based questions. The project
relies on Wikipedia as an existing and growing resource, it solves the need for an
encyclopaedia capable of responding to curriculum-based questions, and it fosters
Wikipedia content, quality and outreach.
More specifically the project aims at:
Bridging Wikipedia and primary education. This objective implies to move the Wikipedia
community towards a focus on primary education, and at the same time to strengthen the
capacity of the education ecosystem to contribute to Wikipedia, and in general to open
collaborative knowledge.
Enriching Wikipedia with new content relevant to primary education. This objective implies
an assessment of the articles produced.
Fostering the development of translations and new content in different Wikipedia
linguistic editions. This objective implies the release of existing educational resources
(OER in cc by or cc by-sa), the production of datasets and the involvement of the
Wikimedia movement.
Verifying and evaluating the use of Wikipedia as a source of information for primary
education. This objective implies the involvement of stakeholders and data analysis.
Wikipedia Primary School contributes to universal primary education and to the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG2: Achieve Universal Primary Education). Even if it is scalable and
international, the project is conceived primarily to address African countries and
languages.
Wikipedia is a very peculiar encyclopaedia. It is a living organism made of a wide
community with specific policies, clusters and dynamics. Contributing to Wikipedia means
to play a fair game, and to respect the way Wikipedia works, its rules and community. To
strengthen the capacity of Wikipedia to respond directly to curriculum-based questions,
the project does not simply transfer content from national schoolbooks into Wikipedia. The
methodology is centred around research and fieldwork activities.
Research activities focus on monitoring Wikipedia in different linguistic editions;
understanding the different national education systems and identifying which are the
content capable of responding to curriculum-based questions; involving a scientific
committee in contributing to the project; establishing and managing a Wikipedia Scientific
Journal, a peer-reviewed scientific publication in Creative Commons attributions
share-alike license, designed to involve scholars and to assess Wikipedia articles, in
collaboration with other scientific journals and by fostering synergies between scientific
knowledge and Wikipedia and open access; producing datasets to generate stub articles on
Wikipedia in all linguistic editions; uploading content, in particular OER Open
Educational Resources already available and images and texts provided with an open license
compatible with Wikipedia; supporting territorial development with tutors and with upload
capacities (in particular for countries with low connectivity); monitoring and evaluating
the project.
Fieldwork activities focus on testing and enhancing the use of Wikipedia in primary school
and it is developed in collaboration with the stakeholders already working in education.
They provide training, in particular training for Wikipedians in residence; they organise
Wikipedia events, in particular Wiki Loves Monuments; they allow networking with
institutions and governments to facilitate the release of content with open licenses; they
tutor institutions and people; they develop pilot projects in schools and in collaboration
with NGOs working in education; they establish hotspots where needed; and they facilitate
the distribution of Wikipedia offline in countries where relevant.
What we do not do
Wikipedia Primary School is a scalable and international project with a specific goal: it
responds to a real need, it relies on existing networks and resources, and it is
structured to allow people and institutions to contribute to it. The very nature of the
project is meant to produce a broad impact. If the project Wikipedia Primary School is
successful, it can be developed in the future by producing content for other cycle of
education.
We do not break Wikipedia rules. The project respects Wikipedia pillars and the opinions
of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia communities.
We do not believe the project substitutes in any way the essential role of people and
institutions working in education. We want to contribute in a specific way to the work
many people and institutions are already implementing and we believe only a collaborative
approach can really allow the project to be effective and relevant.
We do not produce a selection of Wikipedia articles. We want people to access and benefit
from the whole Wikipedia.
We do not address students, teachers and families only. Contributing to Wikipedia is meant
to provide better knowledge for everyone everywhere.
We do not work for governments and ministries of education. The project is meant to be
independent. It selects articles to be based on national educational systems, but it does
not implement on Wikipedia governments’ strategies or requests.
We do not provide offline access to Wikipedia over online access. We consider online
access to Wikipedia a priority and the best way to access Wikipedia, because it allows to
contribute to it.
We do not consider Wikipedia a schoolbook. Wikipedia is not a schoolbook and it can not
substitute teachers and educators and other appropriate educational resources.
We do not simplify Wikipedia articles. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia and it requires a
certain level of literacy in order to access it. We do not want to adapt Wikipedia to
primary school level; we want to include topics and content relevant for primary
education.
We do not make content available for Wikipedia only. Using Creative Commons as part of the
project methodology allows contents to be available beyond Wikipedia.
We do not promote Wikipedia as a stable and passive resource. We consider essential that
people who use Wikipedia understand what Wikipedia is. To understand it, the only
appropriate way is to contribute to it and being part of it.
We do not provide Wikipedia as it is. The project aims at fostering a joint effort to
improve Wikipedia and to assess its quality.
We do not centralise all the activities. The project can only reach its goal and produce
high quality content and impact, if people and institutions can adapt them to their
context, vision and work.
The project Wikipedia Primary School and all its documentation is under Creative Commons
attribution share alike license. Iolanda Pensa drafted the project in 2012.
At the moment WikiAfrica Cameroon promoted by doual'art with the support of Orange
Foundation is implementing a pilot project around Wikipedia and primary school
(2012-2013).The WikiAfrica Primary School Feasibility Study has been developed in 2012
with the support of volunteers and lettera27 Foundation to evaluate the possible synergies
between Wikipedia and primary school with a focus on the linguistic editions of Wikipedia
and their use in primary education in Africa, current Wikimedia projects, OER-Open
Educational Resources and case studies on the primary schools systems and current relevant
projects in the field of education in Italy, Cameroon and South Africa. The Africa Centre
based in Cape Town is currently developing trainings in Africa for Wikipedians in
residence. SUPSI University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland and
University of Cape Town, in collaboration with Wikimedia Switzerland and the Africa Centre
based in Cape Town have applied in March 2013 for a Swiss South African research project
related to Wikipedia Primary School within the SSAJRP programme.