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 - i...@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, i...@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.
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