Wikipedia for Schools

Transcription

1 Wikipedia for Schools Jamie Goodland SOS Children schools-wikipedia.org

2 What is Wikipedia for Schools? A selection of articles from Wikipedia Targeted at schoolchildren 6,000 articles, 26 million words, 50,000 images The new 2013 edition is the fourth version First version was released under the name A World of Learning in and had 2006 articles. Hand-checked to ensure content is suitable for children. Available online at schools-wikipedia.org and offline by download and on USB.

3 Here s how it looks...

4 How does it work? Loosely based around subjects of the UK National Curriculum. Covers fundamental subjects such as English, Maths, the sciences, Music etc. Also includes themes such as Countries and People, as well as portal pages on important multi-page topics such as Ancient Egypt, Law and Weather. Everyday Life - covers popular culture.

5 What s the point? Why can t teachers and schoolchildren just use wikipedia.org? 1. Wikipedia for Schools was originally created as an offline resource for schools in the developing world. Also 2. Available offline, eliminating hazards children face online. 3. Limited selection makes it a more manageable tool for structured learning.

6 Bringing Wikipedia to children in the developing world Internet access very limited in parts of the world. UN report - only 40% of the world s population will have internet access by the end of Majority of LCCs are in sub-saharan Africa and South Asia. In Somalia, internet penetration is at just over 1%. Digital natives (15-24 years-olds with five or more years of online experience): Developed world: 86% (145m) Developing world: less than half (503m people)

7 The need To most schools in Africa, internet remains an inaccessible dream. Schools are often equipped with second-hand computers by government or donors. Although these computers are still functional, they are useless for educational purposes without internet. Petra Kritzinger EduStation, South Africa Wikipedia for Schools user since 2007

8 Why is SOS Children doing it? Helping children and families since Work in 125 countries today. Children s Villages provide a home for children who cannot live with their families. We do extensive community work to help strengthen vulnerable families. Working in Africa for over 40 years Celebrating 50 years helping in India Education is a big part of our work: provide nursery education to 22,400 young children offer primary and secondary education to 108,000 children Run our own schools where they are needed, help children attend community schools. Focus on quality of education

9 Dam View school, Chipata, Eastern Zambia A community-run primary school just outside our Children s Village in Chipata Chipata Village opened 2012 How we improved the school: extended the building to add six new classrooms installed a toilet block introduced electricity How we improved quality: smaller class sizes more equipment Around 790 children now attend Children from vulnerable families in the community can qualify for scholarships

10 Outside Dam View Primary School

11 In class at Dam View

12 In the playground

13 SOS Nursery in Chipata Village

14 Painting!

15 More painting...

16 As you can see, we re pretty passionate about education!

17 Back to the topic... We began work on the first edition of Wikipedia for Schools in 2005, for release the following April. At this time, there was no offline version of Wikipedia.

18 Back to Petra from EduStation, South Africa One component that was still missing in EduStation's early days was a resource that children could use for school projects. A free offline encyclopaedia that could be installed together with the other educational freeware. I was so happy to stumble upon SOS Children s Schools Wikipedia project. This rich, easy-to-navigate encyclopaedia was added to the existing setup, completing the educational package. The children love the information and pictures available on it. For the first time they have access to quality information for school projects and general knowledge.

19 Wikipedia for Schools on EduStation

20 And I only sent her an asking for some nice feedback!

21 EduStation is a typical of usage Wikipedia for Schools is often integrated into other learning packages USAID run it in their Learning Resource Centres in Liberia.

22 What about us? Why is Wikipedia for Schools beneficial to users in the UK? This brings me back round to objectives 2 and 3: Provides a safe learning environment for children, because: it is hand-checked for suitability it can be downloaded and used offline While content is high in volume and wide-ranging, it is also easy to navigate because content is structured around the curriculum.

23 It s already being used in the UK, the US and Australia... Kelty Resource Centre, St Patrick s College, Ballarat, Victoria state, Australia Casa Grande Middle School, United States

24 How can I get it? Easy! Browse online at schools-wikipedia.org Download at sos-schools.org/wikipedia-for-schools There s a link to the download on the Wikipedia for Schools site

25 The end!

26 Thank you! schools-wikipedia.org soschildren.org