ANNOUNCING A NEW WIKIPROJECT
(WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools) Dear friends,
This is to announce the beginning of a new project for WikiProject India - WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (OWIS). For quite some time now, there has been a need for an offline wikipedia compilation suitable to Indian schools. There are, and have always been, a whole lot of Indian schools and students out there who do not have access to an English encyclopedia. The web has killed off a whole range of printed encyclopedias and factbooks besides paid encyclopedia packages such as Encarta. If the school does not provide wide-spread, regular and dependable access to the web. then the students have zilch. So, keeping in mind that English Wikipedia has been around for more than a decade and has more than enough material for an encyclopedia, we began this project so that all interested people could pitch in and collectively prepare such offline compilations which are the need of the hour.
About the Wikiproject
To do this, we began a new WikiProject in English Wikipedia, daughter to WikiProject India. Titled WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools(OWIS), it is intended to be the umbrella WikiProject for all Indian versions of offline English language wikipedias for students and communities. The WikiProject will concentrate on content issues and leave the production to a team of technically oriented guys from the community (to be decided later).
You can read about the WikiProject page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
Under this WikiProject, it is proposed to provide a variety of compilations suitable for various needs, such as a full offline encyclopedia, single disc collations on topics related to India etc.
The first project
To begin with, we felt it is best to create a single DVD compilation with all subjects covered in sufficient detail. We have named it as Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (Full version) or OWIS-FULL (in short).
It is based on and will be similar to the SOS Children’s Village Offline Wikipedia for School which you can checkout for yourself at this link:
The project page for this first project is here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Indian_Schools/Offline_Full
The SOS village compilation is CD based with approximately 6500 articles based on the British educational syllabus. Naturally, it contains a large number of topics relevant only to the UK and has a distinct Western flavour in its overall choice too, which is only natural.
To make this compilation suitable for our environment, we will have to not only add a whole host of new articles on Indian topics to the compilation but also remove topics/articles irrelevant to Indian students. In addition, the SOS Children’s Encyclopaedia, being in existence for the last few years, is designed to fit on a CD with the consequence that the number of articles on a subject cover a subject satisfactorily but skimpily. Since we plan our compilation to be on a DVD, there is scope to improve coverage on all subjects as well. Hence it is planned to have in the region of around 9000 articles.
So where are we now? As a first step we have established the framework in the form of the WikiProject and pages where one can work. The list of topics from the SOS compilation has been prepared subjectwise. These lists need to be vetted/improved/extended and then finalised.
As of now, six subjects have been opened up for topic selection - Art, IT, Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. We need motivated editors to join the teams and pitch in. The selection of topics needs to be completed in ten days time so that we can move on to other subjects, other tasks.
So, if this venture interests you, if you want to do something really important with us, if you agree with our proposition that this is critical for delivering the potential of Wikipedia to digitally-challenged communities, sign up here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
All the best to all of us to successfully complete this vital project.
This email is being reflected on Wikimedia India list for information. But If you would like to respond to this, please respond to on the English Wikipedia for India mailing list -
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Everyone is welcome to subscribe to it.
Ashwin Baindur
ANNOUNCING A NEW WIKIPROJECT
(WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools)
Dear friends,
This is to announce the beginning of a new project for WikiProject India - WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (OWIS). For quite some time now, there has been a need for an offline wikipedia compilation suitable to Indian schools. There are, and have always been, a whole lot of Indian schools and students out there who do not have access to an English encyclopedia. The web has killed off a whole range of printed encyclopedias and factbooks besides paid encyclopedia packages such as Encarta. If the school does not provide wide-spread, regular and dependable access to the web. then the students have zilch. So, keeping in mind that English Wikipedia has been around for more than a decade and has more than enough material for an encyclopedia, we began this project so that all interested people could pitch in and collectively prepare such offline compilations which are the need of the hour.
About the Wikiproject
To do this, we began a new WikiProject in English Wikipedia, daughter to WikiProject India. Titled WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools(OWIS), it is intended to be the umbrella WikiProject for all Indian versions of offline English language wikipedias for students and communities. The WikiProject will concentrate on content issues and leave the production to a team of technically oriented guys from the community (to be decided later).
You can read about the WikiProject page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
Under this WikiProject, it is proposed to provide a variety of compilations suitable for various needs, such as a full offline encyclopedia, single disc collations on topics related to India etc.
The first project
To begin with, we felt it is best to create a single DVD compilation with all subjects covered in sufficient detail. We have named it as Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (Full version) or OWIS-FULL (in short).
It is based on and will be similar to the SOS Children’s Village Offline Wikipedia for School which you can checkout for yourself at this link:
The project page for this first project is here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Indian_Schools/Offline_Full
The SOS village compilation is CD based with approximately 6500 articles based on the British educational syllabus. Naturally, it contains a large number of topics relevant only to the UK and has a distinct Western flavour in its overall choice too, which is only natural.
To make this compilation suitable for our environment, we will have to not only add a whole host of new articles on Indian topics to the compilation but also remove topics/articles irrelevant to Indian students. In addition, the SOS Children’s Encyclopaedia, being in existence for the last few years, is designed to fit on a CD with the consequence that the number of articles on a subject cover a subject satisfactorily but skimpily. Since we plan our compilation to be on a DVD, there is scope to improve coverage on all subjects as well. Hence it is planned to have in the region of around 9000 articles.
So where are we now? As a first step we have established the framework in the form of the WikiProject and pages where one can work. The list of topics from the SOS compilation has been prepared subjectwise. These lists need to be vetted/improved/extended and then finalised.
As of now, six subjects have been opened up for topic selection - Art, IT, Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. We need motivated editors to join the teams and pitch in. The selection of topics needs to be completed in ten days time so that we can move on to other subjects, other tasks.
So, if this venture interests you, if you want to do something really important with us, if you agree with our proposition that this is critical for delivering the potential of Wikipedia to digitally-challenged communities, sign up here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
All the best to all of us to successfully complete this vital project.
This email is being reflected on Wikimedia India list for information. But If you would like to respond to this, please respond to on the English Wikipedia for India mailing list -
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Everyone is welcome to subscribe to it.
Ashwin Baindur
Congrats Ashwin, and thank you for taking this project up.
Just to clarify, what does "School" include? Is it the Indian definition of school, that is classes 1-10, or the American definition, that is classes 1-12?
Also, what is the intended target audience, is it from 1-10, or is it just High school?
Best, Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
2011/12/9 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
ANNOUNCING A NEW WIKIPROJECT
(WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools) Dear friends,
This is to announce the beginning of a new project for WikiProject India - WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (OWIS). For quite some time now, there has been a need for an offline wikipedia compilation suitable to Indian schools. There are, and have always been, a whole lot of Indian schools and students out there who do not have access to an English encyclopedia. The web has killed off a whole range of printed encyclopedias and factbooks besides paid encyclopedia packages such as Encarta. If the school does not provide wide-spread, regular and dependable access to the web. then the students have zilch. So, keeping in mind that English Wikipedia has been around for more than a decade and has more than enough material for an encyclopedia, we began this project so that all interested people could pitch in and collectively prepare such offline compilations which are the need of the hour.
About the Wikiproject
To do this, we began a new WikiProject in English Wikipedia, daughter to WikiProject India. Titled WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools(OWIS), it is intended to be the umbrella WikiProject for all Indian versions of offline English language wikipedias for students and communities. The WikiProject will concentrate on content issues and leave the production to a team of technically oriented guys from the community (to be decided later).
You can read about the WikiProject page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
Under this WikiProject, it is proposed to provide a variety of compilations suitable for various needs, such as a full offline encyclopedia, single disc collations on topics related to India etc.
The first project
To begin with, we felt it is best to create a single DVD compilation with all subjects covered in sufficient detail. We have named it as Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (Full version) or OWIS-FULL (in short).
It is based on and will be similar to the SOS Children’s Village Offline Wikipedia for School which you can checkout for yourself at this link:
The project page for this first project is here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Indian_Schools/Offline_Full
The SOS village compilation is CD based with approximately 6500 articles based on the British educational syllabus. Naturally, it contains a large number of topics relevant only to the UK and has a distinct Western flavour in its overall choice too, which is only natural.
To make this compilation suitable for our environment, we will have to not only add a whole host of new articles on Indian topics to the compilation but also remove topics/articles irrelevant to Indian students. In addition, the SOS Children’s Encyclopaedia, being in existence for the last few years, is designed to fit on a CD with the consequence that the number of articles on a subject cover a subject satisfactorily but skimpily. Since we plan our compilation to be on a DVD, there is scope to improve coverage on all subjects as well. Hence it is planned to have in the region of around 9000 articles.
So where are we now? As a first step we have established the framework in the form of the WikiProject and pages where one can work. The list of topics from the SOS compilation has been prepared subjectwise. These lists need to be vetted/improved/extended and then finalised.
As of now, six subjects have been opened up for topic selection - Art, IT, Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. We need motivated editors to join the teams and pitch in. The selection of topics needs to be completed in ten days time so that we can move on to other subjects, other tasks.
So, if this venture interests you, if you want to do something really important with us, if you agree with our proposition that this is critical for delivering the potential of Wikipedia to digitally-challenged communities, sign up here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
All the best to all of us to successfully complete this vital project.
This email is being reflected on Wikimedia India list for information. But If you would like to respond to this, please respond to on the English Wikipedia for India mailing list -
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Everyone is welcome to subscribe to it.
Ashwin Baindur
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Hi Swaroop,
That is a good question. In my humble opinion, we need to think of school as upto Twelfth standards since so many of these are still in schools. Often at that point of time, more information is needed especially for those who are curious. Practically though Wikipedia would probably be used for Classes 5 and above, with the greater the class the greater likelihood of the encyclopedia being used. So syllabus from class 5 and above should be considered.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur ------------------------------------------------------
2011/12/9 Swaroop Rao raul.swaroop@gmail.com
Congrats Ashwin, and thank you for taking this project up.
Just to clarify, what does "School" include? Is it the Indian definition of school, that is classes 1-10, or the American definition, that is classes 1-12?
Also, what is the intended target audience, is it from 1-10, or is it just High school?
Best, Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
2011/12/9 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
ANNOUNCING A NEW WIKIPROJECT
(WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools) Dear friends,
This is to announce the beginning of a new project for WikiProject India
- WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (OWIS). For quite
some time now, there has been a need for an offline wikipedia compilation suitable to Indian schools. There are, and have always been, a whole lot of Indian schools and students out there who do not have access to an English encyclopedia. The web has killed off a whole range of printed encyclopedias and factbooks besides paid encyclopedia packages such as Encarta. If the school does not provide wide-spread, regular and dependable access to the web. then the students have zilch. So, keeping in mind that English Wikipedia has been around for more than a decade and has more than enough material for an encyclopedia, we began this project so that all interested people could pitch in and collectively prepare such offline compilations which are the need of the hour.
About the Wikiproject
To do this, we began a new WikiProject in English Wikipedia, daughter to WikiProject India. Titled WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (OWIS), it is intended to be the umbrella WikiProject for all Indian versions of offline English language wikipedias for students and communities. The WikiProject will concentrate on content issues and leave the production to a team of technically oriented guys from the community (to be decided later).
You can read about the WikiProject page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
Under this WikiProject, it is proposed to provide a variety of compilations suitable for various needs, such as a full offline encyclopedia, single disc collations on topics related to India etc.
The first project
To begin with, we felt it is best to create a single DVD compilation with all subjects covered in sufficient detail. We have named it as Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (Full version) or OWIS-FULL (in short).
It is based on and will be similar to the SOS Children’s Village Offline Wikipedia for School which you can checkout for yourself at this link:
The project page for this first project is here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Indian_Schools/Offline_Full
The SOS village compilation is CD based with approximately 6500 articles based on the British educational syllabus. Naturally, it contains a large number of topics relevant only to the UK and has a distinct Western flavour in its overall choice too, which is only natural.
To make this compilation suitable for our environment, we will have to not only add a whole host of new articles on Indian topics to the compilation but also remove topics/articles irrelevant to Indian students. In addition, the SOS Children’s Encyclopaedia, being in existence for the last few years, is designed to fit on a CD with the consequence that the number of articles on a subject cover a subject satisfactorily but skimpily. Since we plan our compilation to be on a DVD, there is scope to improve coverage on all subjects as well. Hence it is planned to have in the region of around 9000 articles.
So where are we now? As a first step we have established the framework in the form of the WikiProject and pages where one can work. The list of topics from the SOS compilation has been prepared subjectwise. These lists need to be vetted/improved/extended and then finalised.
As of now, six subjects have been opened up for topic selection - Art, IT, Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. We need motivated editors to join the teams and pitch in. The selection of topics needs to be completed in ten days time so that we can move on to other subjects, other tasks.
So, if this venture interests you, if you want to do something really important with us, if you agree with our proposition that this is critical for delivering the potential of Wikipedia to digitally-challenged communities, sign up here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
All the best to all of us to successfully complete this vital project.
This email is being reflected on Wikimedia India list for information. But If you would like to respond to this, please respond to on the English Wikipedia for India mailing list -
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Everyone is welcome to subscribe to it.
Ashwin Baindur
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Thanks for the reply. Another question: Does the content necessarily have to follow the school syllabus? If not, then how closely should it follow the syllabus in order to be effective, and at the same time, interesting (i.e. not boring)?
Thanks, Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
2011/12/9 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
Hi Swaroop,
That is a good question. In my humble opinion, we need to think of school as upto Twelfth standards since so many of these are still in schools. Often at that point of time, more information is needed especially for those who are curious. Practically though Wikipedia would probably be used for Classes 5 and above, with the greater the class the greater likelihood of the encyclopedia being used. So syllabus from class 5 and above should be considered.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
2011/12/9 Swaroop Rao raul.swaroop@gmail.com
Congrats Ashwin, and thank you for taking this project up.
Just to clarify, what does "School" include? Is it the Indian definition of school, that is classes 1-10, or the American definition, that is classes 1-12?
Also, what is the intended target audience, is it from 1-10, or is it just High school?
Best, Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
2011/12/9 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
ANNOUNCING A NEW WIKIPROJECT
(WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools) Dear friends,
This is to announce the beginning of a new project for WikiProject India
- WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (OWIS). For quite
some time now, there has been a need for an offline wikipedia compilation suitable to Indian schools. There are, and have always been, a whole lot of Indian schools and students out there who do not have access to an English encyclopedia. The web has killed off a whole range of printed encyclopedias and factbooks besides paid encyclopedia packages such as Encarta. If the school does not provide wide-spread, regular and dependable access to the web. then the students have zilch. So, keeping in mind that English Wikipedia has been around for more than a decade and has more than enough material for an encyclopedia, we began this project so that all interested people could pitch in and collectively prepare such offline compilations which are the need of the hour.
About the Wikiproject
To do this, we began a new WikiProject in English Wikipedia, daughter to WikiProject India. Titled WikiProject Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (OWIS), it is intended to be the umbrella WikiProject for all Indian versions of offline English language wikipedias for students and communities. The WikiProject will concentrate on content issues and leave the production to a team of technically oriented guys from the community (to be decided later).
You can read about the WikiProject page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
Under this WikiProject, it is proposed to provide a variety of compilations suitable for various needs, such as a full offline encyclopedia, single disc collations on topics related to India etc.
The first project
To begin with, we felt it is best to create a single DVD compilation with all subjects covered in sufficient detail. We have named it as Offline Wikipedia for Indian Schools (Full version) or OWIS-FULL (in short).
It is based on and will be similar to the SOS Children’s Village Offline Wikipedia for School which you can checkout for yourself at this link:
The project page for this first project is here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Indian_Schools/Offline_Full
The SOS village compilation is CD based with approximately 6500 articles based on the British educational syllabus. Naturally, it contains a large number of topics relevant only to the UK and has a distinct Western flavour in its overall choice too, which is only natural.
To make this compilation suitable for our environment, we will have to not only add a whole host of new articles on Indian topics to the compilation but also remove topics/articles irrelevant to Indian students. In addition, the SOS Children’s Encyclopaedia, being in existence for the last few years, is designed to fit on a CD with the consequence that the number of articles on a subject cover a subject satisfactorily but skimpily. Since we plan our compilation to be on a DVD, there is scope to improve coverage on all subjects as well. Hence it is planned to have in the region of around 9000 articles.
So where are we now? As a first step we have established the framework in the form of the WikiProject and pages where one can work. The list of topics from the SOS compilation has been prepared subjectwise. These lists need to be vetted/improved/extended and then finalised.
As of now, six subjects have been opened up for topic selection - Art, IT, Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. We need motivated editors to join the teams and pitch in. The selection of topics needs to be completed in ten days time so that we can move on to other subjects, other tasks.
So, if this venture interests you, if you want to do something really important with us, if you agree with our proposition that this is critical for delivering the potential of Wikipedia to digitally-challenged communities, sign up here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
All the best to all of us to successfully complete this vital project.
This email is being reflected on Wikimedia India list for information. But If you would like to respond to this, please respond to on the English Wikipedia for India mailing list -
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Everyone is welcome to subscribe to it.
Ashwin Baindur
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Hi Swaroop,
With a large quota of say 9000 articles and a comprehensive basis of the SOS compilation to work on, de facto the article range will exceed the school syllabus and range into the area of the college student's interests. However, the aim is to provide :
* a comprehensive coverage of a subject, which would be found generally adequate in all respects in an intenational scenario. * ensure the Indian aspects of a subject are covered to the same depth as the international aspects of a subject and perhaps even more. * Some of the more esoteric subjects pertaining only to British interest may be deleted such as [[Bede]] and [[Boudica]] in History.
The encyclopedia must always be more than what is necessary in order to quench a student's natural curiosity.
Our choice must be a broad base which logically falls into the core of a topic. The school syllabus is to be carefully scanned to identify the main topics in Wikipedia which cover the scope of each lesson and to ensure that they are present in the compilation. Thus the school syllabus is to be used as a broad check that the main topics are covered by the choice of topics rather than as the starting point.
That said, it is impossible to check against the syllabus of every school system. For the very first iteration, I propose that we get hold of the syllabus of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th syllabus of CBSE available online at their site here.
http://cbse.nic.in/senior_sch_curr_vol1_2011-2009.pdf
Subsequently, we may extend the syllabus check to lower classes than 9th standard and also to other school systems than the CBSE.
Hope this answers your queries satisfactorily.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur ------------------------------------------------------
2011/12/9 Swaroop Rao raul.swaroop@gmail.com
Thanks for the reply. Another question: Does the content necessarily have to follow the school syllabus? If not, then how closely should it follow the syllabus in order to be effective, and at the same time, interesting (i.e. not boring)?
Thanks,
Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
2011/12/9 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
Hi Swaroop,
That is a good question. In my humble opinion, we need to think of school as upto Twelfth standards since so many of these are still in schools. Often at that point of time, more information is needed especially for those who are curious. Practically though Wikipedia would probably be used for Classes 5 and above, with the greater the class the greater likelihood of the encyclopedia being used. So syllabus from class 5 and above should be considered.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
2011/12/9 Swaroop Rao raul.swaroop@gmail.com
Congrats Ashwin, and thank you for taking this project up.
Just to clarify, what does "School" include? Is it the Indian definition of school, that is classes 1-10, or the American definition, that is classes 1-12?
Also, what is the intended target audience, is it from 1-10, or is it just High school?
Best, Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
Thanks, that was very explanatory!
Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
2011/12/10 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
Hi Swaroop,
With a large quota of say 9000 articles and a comprehensive basis of the SOS compilation to work on, de facto the article range will exceed the school syllabus and range into the area of the college student's interests. However, the aim is to provide :
- a comprehensive coverage of a subject, which would be found generally
adequate in all respects in an intenational scenario.
- ensure the Indian aspects of a subject are covered to the same depth as
the international aspects of a subject and perhaps even more.
- Some of the more esoteric subjects pertaining only to British interest
may be deleted such as [[Bede]] and [[Boudica]] in History.
The encyclopedia must always be more than what is necessary in order to quench a student's natural curiosity.
Our choice must be a broad base which logically falls into the core of a topic. The school syllabus is to be carefully scanned to identify the main topics in Wikipedia which cover the scope of each lesson and to ensure that they are present in the compilation. Thus the school syllabus is to be used as a broad check that the main topics are covered by the choice of topics rather than as the starting point.
That said, it is impossible to check against the syllabus of every school system. For the very first iteration, I propose that we get hold of the syllabus of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th syllabus of CBSE available online at their site here.
http://cbse.nic.in/senior_sch_curr_vol1_2011-2009.pdf
Subsequently, we may extend the syllabus check to lower classes than 9th standard and also to other school systems than the CBSE.
Hope this answers your queries satisfactorily.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
2011/12/9 Swaroop Rao raul.swaroop@gmail.com
Thanks for the reply. Another question: Does the content necessarily have to follow the school syllabus? If not, then how closely should it follow the syllabus in order to be effective, and at the same time, interesting (i.e. not boring)?
Thanks,
Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
2011/12/9 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
Hi Swaroop,
That is a good question. In my humble opinion, we need to think of school as upto Twelfth standards since so many of these are still in schools. Often at that point of time, more information is needed especially for those who are curious. Practically though Wikipedia would probably be used for Classes 5 and above, with the greater the class the greater likelihood of the encyclopedia being used. So syllabus from class 5 and above should be considered.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
2011/12/9 Swaroop Rao raul.swaroop@gmail.com
Congrats Ashwin, and thank you for taking this project up.
Just to clarify, what does "School" include? Is it the Indian definition of school, that is classes 1-10, or the American definition, that is classes 1-12?
Also, what is the intended target audience, is it from 1-10, or is it just High school?
Best, Swaroop Rao (MikeLynch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MikeLynch)
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Thanks Yuvi, We request you to be a member of the tech team, keeping your Google Summer of Code project in mind. Since it will take us some months to get the articles all ready, I suggest the the team help develop kiwix/gain experience in it or in whatever technology the tech team wishes to use in the time available.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur ------------------------------------------------------
On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 1:45 AM, Yuvi Panda yuvipanda@gmail.com wrote:
Awesome!
Do let me know if any technical help is needed.
-- Yuvi Panda T http://yuvi.in/blog
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
Thanks Ashwin. I'd like to be involved in content selection also, from the beginning. My GSoC project was basically helping make selections like these easy, and I think being involved in one is the best way to learn how to make it easy.
Where do I start?
By enlisting here and getting started: [?]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur ------------------------------------------------------
On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:25 AM, Yuvi Panda yuvipanda@gmail.com wrote:
Thanks Ashwin. I'd like to be involved in content selection also, from the beginning. My GSoC project was basically helping make selections like these easy, and I think being involved in one is the best way to learn how to make it easy.
Where do I start?
-- Yuvi Panda T http://yuvi.in/blog
Amazing initiatives Ashwin, I'd insist you to spam all Indic mailing list this again and again to bring more attention :)
CCing Jessie Wild who is involved into WMF's Offline initiatives and she might help with more inputs from the existing Offline project, And this project will be really beneficial for students to understand Wikipedia and take part by themselves.
Best Subha
2011/12/11 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
By enlisting here and getting started: [?]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:25 AM, Yuvi Panda yuvipanda@gmail.com wrote:
Thanks Ashwin. I'd like to be involved in content selection also, from the beginning. My GSoC project was basically helping make selections like these easy, and I think being involved in one is the best way to learn how to make it easy.
Where do I start?
-- Yuvi Panda T http://yuvi.in/blog
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
CCing Jessie.
On 11 December 2011 07:40, Subhashish Panigrahi psubhashish@gmail.comwrote:
Amazing initiatives Ashwin, I'd insist you to spam all Indic mailing list this again and again to bring more attention :)
CCing Jessie Wild who is involved into WMF's Offline initiatives and she might help with more inputs from the existing Offline project, And this project will be really beneficial for students to understand Wikipedia and take part by themselves.
Best Subha
2011/12/11 Ashwin Baindur ashwin.baindur@gmail.com
By enlisting here and getting started: [?]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Offline_Wikipedia_for_Ind...
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:25 AM, Yuvi Panda yuvipanda@gmail.com wrote:
Thanks Ashwin. I'd like to be involved in content selection also, from the beginning. My GSoC project was basically helping make selections like these easy, and I think being involved in one is the best way to learn how to make it easy.
Where do I start?
-- Yuvi Panda T http://yuvi.in/blog
Wikimedia-in-en mailing list Wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-en
--
ସୁ ଭ
S u b h a *
*ଓଡ଼ିଆଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ*
*O d i a W i k i M a i l i n g l i s t*https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-or http://facebook.com/subhashishp http://twitter.com/subhashishphttp://or.wikipedia.org
2011/12/10 Subhashish Panigrahi psubhashish@gmail.com
CCing Jessie Wild who is involved into WMF's Offline initiatives and she might help with more inputs from the existing Offline project, And this project will be really beneficial for students to understand Wikipedia and take part by themselves.
Thanks for bringing this up, and yes I am very aware of the project and am
excited to be one of the many volunteers with it! Thanks to AshLin for coordinating and congratulations already for the activity you have generated!
On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:25 AM, Yuvi Panda yuvipanda@gmail.com wrote:
Thanks Ashwin. I'd like to be involved in content selection also, from the beginning. My GSoC project was basically helping make selections like these easy, and I think being involved in one is the best way to learn how to make it easy.
Where do I start?
Also for Yuvi: the selection tools you are helping create are going to be
imperative in the actual creation of the offline collection once the proposed articles are selected. So, we'll want to put your tools to the test to create a ZIM collection if you are given a list of ~7k article titles.... possible?
Thanks again to all involved! Jessie
wikimedia-in-en@lists.wikimedia.org