Hi Pete,
We would very much like to meet with her and discuss what we can do.
You're quite right about the situation in South African schools. Many
of them still have some combination of:
* very bad infrastructure
* dangerous conditions
* unreliable delivery of teaching materials
* little or no access to computers.
We are a relatively young chapter, but have done some outreach
programs, and we're eager to build our network. We are in contact
with Iolanda Pensa who is very keen to help develop offline Wikipedia
as a teaching tool in Africa, and have some allied organisations who
can also help. We're also extremely keen to find teachers and schools
who might be interested in using translation of Wikipedia articles
into various South African languages as a teaching tool.
So, bottom line, please do put her in contact with us: let's see how
far we can help to get each other connected.
Kind regards,
David
On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 10:39 PM, Pete Forsyth <pete(a)wikistrategies.net> wrote:
Hi David,
Richard Knipel (User:Pharos) recommended that I reach out to you.
I met a woman at the Connexions conference. She is from a school district in
South Africa (I don't know exactly where) that is really struggling. It
sounded very severe -- many different kinds of problems, including whether
or how computers are incorporated into the curriculum, and ultimately none
(or very few) of the students are able to pass standard exams.
She is meeting next week with somebody from the Ministry of Education. She
is developing her pitch/request and wondering, among many other things, if
she should be engaging with Wikimedia. As a Wikipedian, I of course
mentioned Wikimedia South Africa to her, and she was very interested. (She
attended my Introduction to Wikipedia session.)
I would like to know, candidly -- is this a situation where Wikimedia South
Africa has something substantial to offer, or is her attention better
directed elsewhere? After having talked with her more thoroughly, it seems
to me like Wikimedia might generally not be a great resource for a district
struggling with such basic needs. (For instance, perhaps OER Africa is
better positioned to help address the kind of needs she has.) But it is very
hard for me to give good advice, when I know so little about local
conditions!
Can you offer any insights that might help?
-Pete
--
Pete Forsyth
Principal, Wiki Strategies
pete(a)wikistrategies.net
+1 503-383-9454
www.wikistrategies.net
--
David Richfield - General Secretary: Wikimedia South Africa
[[:en:User:Slashme]]
+27718539985