Hello everyone and a Happy New Year from Greece as well:-)
 
Very interesting message! I am surprised to learn that Indic Wikipedias are lacking in content...
 
I have copied this message to the Computer Science Teachers Association Board of Directors, of which I am a member (Aman and Sheena, hope you find this interesting!) The Board is well aware of my passion for using Wikimedia in education, in fact I wrote a blog post about it on the CTSA's blog:
 
http://blog.csta.acm.org/2014/11/20/the-wonderful-world-of-wikimedia/
 
May I add that Wiktionary is an excellent way to introduce students to Wikimedia projects, as it is less demanding than a proper Wikipedia article. Also, admins and users welcome the contribution of words in local dialects: this was the subject of a project we've nearly completed at school. We added around 30 words of the local dialect of our island to Greek Wiktionary, and it was a rewarding experience, as the students worked excellently with senior citizens to register words that risk becoming obsolete as the younger generation no longer uses them. Extra bonus: It gave the senior citizens a sense of pride and accomplishment... Perhaps that could work with Indic Wiktionaries as well!
 
Mina (Saintfevrier)
----- Original Message -----
From: Abhishek Suryawanshi
To: Wikimedia India Community list ; wikimedia-boston@lists.wikimedia.org ; glam-us@lists.wikimedia.org ; wikimedia-california@lists.wikimedia.org ; Wikimedia New York City Discussion list ; education@lists.wikimedia.org ; mediawiki-india@lists.wikimedia.org
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2015 9:40 PM
Subject: [Wikimedia Education] Indic Language Wikipedia Outreach in UnitedStates

​Hello,

Happy New Year everyone! :)

We are planning Indic Language Wikipedia workshops in U.S.
Please go through Project Link :
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Indic_Language_Wikipedia_Outreach_in_United_States

Project idea

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

Indic languages represent a large portion of languages used worldwide. The number of contributors for Indic languages has been lagging other language families for a variety of reasons. Internet connectivity in India being limited/expensive is a major reason among them. Indic wikiprojects have beens working to encourage more contributors for Indic Languages.

There are a number of areas on Indic wikipedias where content is either lacking or is of poor quality. Health-related content is a prime example of this.

Potential for solution

There is a strong and diverse Indian diaspora in the United States. Eastern Seaboard has a large number of Indian expats that have either settled there or live there for work/business. This was evidenced by the 20,000+ people attending a speech in Hindi by the Prime Minister of India at Madison Square Garden, New York.

In general, the Indian origin community in the United States has very high literacy rates. They are also well-versed in English as well as at least one of Indic languages. Access to Internet is not an issue for this demographic. Enthusiasm for advancement of Indic languages is also evident by the many initiatives being pursued by this group.

What is your solution?


  1. Dedicated workshops for Indian Languages in United States of America.
  2. Informal User Group to conduct periodic meetings/offline events.
  3. Collaboration with local chapters and editors to improve Offline Wikipedia in Indian Languages.
  4. Special content (health related articles/essential medicines info etc) on Indic Wikipedia can be improved by specialized dedicated group of Indian medical students in U.S.
  5. Collaboration with (U.S based) like minded individuals and organizations dedicated to improve Open Knowledge movement in India.

Pilot Project

Outreach events in

  • New York,
  • Washington D.C,
  • Boston
  • Colorado Springs
  • A session here will serve as an aide to developing and/or fine-tuning presentations and sequence of activities.
  • San Diego.

Goals

  • Reach out to more Indians to increase their understanding of how Indic Language Wikimedia projects work, and enable them to pass this knowledge on to others.
  • Improving and building upon contributions to Wikimedia projects in English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Commons etc.
  • Increasing visibility, reach and access to Wikimedia projects amongst Indian Americans, especially in students.
  • Sign up students interested in our various activities & any other training workshops planned.
  • Conduct outreach sessions in universities, student fests, fairs etc.

Other benefits

  • A strong, diverse and engaged students community.
  • Growth in editorship and readership from U.S.


​We look forward to hear from you. Kindly share your views here -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Indic_Language_Wikipedia_Outreach_in_United_States

Keep Supporting, Keep Inspiring :-)

​
--


​Warm Regards,

Abhishek Suryawanshi
User:AbhiSuryawanshi
​

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