[Olpc-open] A Wikipedia for Children.

Wed Mar 16 21:42:57 EDT 2016

Hi Barry,
I guess you're aware of the advances in "bots" inside the wikipedia that
automate things.  Of course, this requires being able to contribute with
coding.  That may offer a road to a solution.  Maybe you could offer it as
an idea to ICT students looking for inspiring projects.

Regarding the encyclopedia per age group.  Wouldn't a collaborative
wikibook in the style of
"My first Encyclopedia - for 5-6-7 years olds",
"My first Encyclopedia - for 8-9 years olds",
"My first Encyclopedia - for 10-11-12 years olds",
be the way to go?

You just drag and drop from the wikipedia, start deleting/re-writing and
... if kids want more and more info... eventually the are linked to maybe
the "My first Encyclopedia - for the next age group", until eventually they
land up to the "Simple English" Wikipedia?

Have a nice continuation of yr day :)

On Wed, Mar 16, 2016 at 10:09 AM, Barry Desborough <
barry.desborough at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for all your comments guys.
>
> Yes, a separate searchable space within Wikipedia would be great.
> Unfortunately, Simple English Wikipedia is not specifically oriented to
> young children in the way I have tried to show with my prototype. There is
> always a temptation to try and put far too much content on a single page
> rather than spread it over a series of pages like a slide show
> presentation. And the language is still not simple enough. It should only
> be as advanced as is required to convey the simplest of basics, any further
> material being accessible via links. One key requirement should be a search
> facility that only turns up child-oriented material. There is a schools
> section within the Simple English Wikipedia, but the search facility on
> these pages takes one back to the general content. I’ve tried to talk with
> the Wikipedians about this, but it is hard to get hold of anyone with the
> authority to discuss these issues - which is why I came to the OLPC with
> the concept.
>
> Barry
>
>
> On 13 Mar 2016, at 11:37, Sven AERTS <svenaerts228 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> OMG that Simple English portal page of the wikipedia has a dedicated page
> for schools/teachers/kids.  Barry, I think this is what you've been looking
> for:
> https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Schools
>
> !
>
> On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 11:26 AM, Sven AERTS <svenaerts228 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Barry, hi Samuel,
>>
>> Quiz: On the wikipedia, in the navigation pane on the left, under the
>> section "Languages" , there is a "language" / category mentioned that is
>> not a language and intended for a specific public. What is the name of that
>> "language"?
>>
>> "Languages"
>>
>>    - Simple English <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/>
>>
>>
>> The *Simple English Wikipedia* is a Wikipedia
>> <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia> encyclopedia
>> <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia>, written in basic
>> English <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_English>.[1]
>> <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_English_Wikipedia#cite_note-1>
>> Articles in the Simple English Wikipedia use shorter sentences and
>> simpler words <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words> and grammar
>> <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar> than the English Wikipedia
>> <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia>.
>> The Simple English Wikipedia is also for people with different needs.
>> Some examples of people who use Simple English Wikipedia:
>>
>>    - Students <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student>
>>    - Children <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children>
>>    - Adults <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult> who might find it
>>    hard to learn or read
>>    - People who are learning English
>>    <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language>
>>
>> Other people use the Simple English Wikipedia because the simple language
>> helps them understand hard ideas or topics they do not know about.
>> Right now, the Simple English Wikipedia has 117,857 articles. As of
>> October 2015, it was the 49th largest Wikipedia
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 3:32 AM, Samuel Klein <sj at laptop.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Barry, this looks like an excellent candidate to merge with Vikidia.
>>> Have you worked with them or their community of children and teachers?
>>>
>>> https://en.vikidia.org/wiki/Main_Page
>>>
>>> Warmly, SJ
>>>
>>> On Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 11:10 AM, Barry Desborough <
>>> barry.desborough at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello, I’m Barry Desborough, a retired teacher who taught in English
>>>> primary and secondary schools.
>>>>
>>>> I have been trying, on and off, to get an idea off the ground. It is
>>>> for a free, online, child-oriented encyclopedia. I have tried approaching
>>>> Wikipedia itself, the Khan Academy and the California CK-12 initiative, and
>>>> I have paid for and started to develop a  Wikispaces site "Wikidia dot net"
>>>> to show how the idea works. Unfortunately, I was not able to rustle up
>>>> enough contributors to be able to justify continuing to pay for the site,
>>>> and for various reasons, the other sites are not a good match for the
>>>> project idea.
>>>>
>>>> What’s a child-oriented encyclopedia? It’s an encyclopedia that a
>>>> child, on their own, may go to and navigate for themselves, to find
>>>> age-appropriate educational content of interest to them. Pages should be
>>>> brief, and as simple as possible for conveying the information. The pages
>>>> should also be suitable for directed learners, and usable as teaching
>>>> material by educators. Wikipedia content, as is used by the OLPC Digital
>>>> Library, is not generated with the needs of children in mind. I have an old
>>>> prototype of the idea still on the net at
>>>> https://wikids.wikispaces.com/Index+1 which should give the general
>>>> idea.
>>>>
>>>> I am looking for a new home for this project, and it occurred to me
>>>> that the OLPC might be able to host it, and encourage other contributions
>>>> of suitable content, either from educators, or from children themselves,
>>>> wiki-style. Generating content for it should provide a great motivational
>>>> incentive for classes of pupils! There’s constructivism for you! All it
>>>> would need would be a separate searchable wiki on the OLPC website. I would
>>>> be happy to spend the rest of my retirement generating, curating and
>>>> moderating content for such a wiki, and I would be willing to contribute a
>>>> substantial (for me) sum in order to help get the thing started and keep it
>>>> going.
>>>>
>>>> With the cost and producing and distributing textbooks is so high, and
>>>> in a world where teachers are unavailable or too expensive but cheap
>>>> internet technology is becoming ever more accessible, I believe far more
>>>> attention should be paid to providing accessible, high quality,
>>>> appropriately pitched educational content.
>>>>
>>>> Is there anyone on the list with the authority to pick this up, or has
>>>> contacts with such people?
>>>>
>>>> What are your thoughts on the idea?
>>>>
>>>> Regards
>>>>
>>>> Barry
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Olpc-open mailing list
>>>> Olpc-open at lists.laptop.org
>>>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-open
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Samuel Klein          @metasj          w:user:sj          +1 617 529
>>> 4266
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
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