Submissions/Taking Offline Wikipedia to Schools

This is an accepted submission for Wikimania 2012.

Submission no.

120

Title of the submission

Taking Offline Wikipedia to Schools

Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, panel, presentation)

Workshop

Author of the submission

Limoke Oscar

E-mail address

oslimoke@gmail.com

Username

Limoke oscar

Country of origin

KENYA

Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)

Wikimedia Kenya

Personal homepage or blog

oslimoke.wordpress.com

Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal)

The Offline Wikipedia is a free, hand-picked, non-commercial selection from Wikipedia, targeted around the UK National Curriculum and useful for much of the English speaking world. It has about 5500 articles compressed in a ZIM file format. Using a ZIM reader such as KIWIX, it is possible to bring a wealth of information to school going Students in the developing world who would otherwise be denied access due to unavailable or poor and expensive internet connection. In developing Countries like Kenya however, offering the Offline Wikipedia is not enough, a little training and follow is needed to ensure the students realize the full potential of the Wikipedia. Poor Computer hardware, luck of basic ICT skills and literacy among the Students and teachers alike are some of the hindering factors to the success of such a project.

Through developing a simple User Manual like this

is key to ensuring the success of the project. It is Important to have a proxy teacher (preferably a Computer Studies Teacher) who will help monitor and take charge of the program in the school and as such, a thorough training and background is provided to such a teacher and any other interested teachers.

One of the key challenges to the success of the project lies in the fact that School computer labs are restricted to ONLY Computer Studies students which is an elective course. A huge wealth of information is denied to the other students and efforts to have the Computer labs open to all the students have proved tricky due to the school schedule. However one way to go about it is to have teacher print the relevant notes for their classes.

A few bugs in the ZIM reader (Kiwix) too may pose a few challenges. One of which being in the use of the in the User Manual is key to the success.

Track (Wikis and the Public Sector; GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums); WikiCulture and Community; Research, Analysis, and Education; Technology and Infrastructure)

Research, Analysis, and Education

Length of presentation/talk (if other than 25 minutes, specify how long): 25 Minutes

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?

YES

Slides or further information (optional)

Special request as to time of presentations (for example - can not present on Saturday)

Interested attendees

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