<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Just to say where I am with this at the moment.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Vikidia. <a href="https://en.vikidia.org/wiki/Main_Page" class="">https://en.vikidia.org/wiki/Main_Page</a> - This looks OK, but there are only 15 active users the English version. The site is not as high profile as it would be if it was hosted/promoted/supported by Wikipedia or OLPC. There is some concern about the ISP that is hosting it. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OVH#Controversies" class="">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OVH#Controversies</a> </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Wikibooks. There appear to be problems with creating Wikibooks. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Books" class="">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Books</a> Given that this could be overcome, there would remain the problem that the search function will search all of Wikibooks, including adult-level content, rather than just the current book, books for schools or Wikijunior. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I’ll be looking at creating content for Vikidia and promoting it. Perhaps if it was “adopted” and promoted by OLPC it would help, but I still think that a children’s encyclopaedia wiki under the auspices of OLPC and hosted by Gossamer Threads would be the ideal solution, and I hope this can come to the attention of someone within the OLPC who could make it happen. Please pass this on if you know any such people.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Thanks for your attention.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Barry</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 19 Mar 2016, at 10:10, Barry Desborough <<a href="mailto:Barry.Desborough@gmail.com" class="">Barry.Desborough@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Thanks for your help, guys, and sorry for the delay in responding.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Re. Vikidia, I had looked at that, but the hosting doesn’t look too secure, and the profile is low in comparison with Wikipedia.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The idea of using Wikibooks creation looks like the way for me to go (I am a lone contributor with no means for recruiting students, but more than willing to cooperate with others). The only problem I see is that the default search facility takes you out of the book you are in. The ideal would be to have an additional or alternative search function to search within the book. Does anyone know if this is possible and if so, how?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Barry</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> </div><br class=""><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 17 Mar 2016, at 02:42, Sven AERTS <<a href="mailto:svenaerts228@gmail.com" class="">svenaerts228@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class="">Hi Barry,<div class="">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.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Regarding the encyclopedia per age group. Wouldn't a collaborative wikibook in the style of </div><div class="">"My first Encyclopedia - for 5-6-7 years olds", </div><div class="">"My first Encyclopedia - for 8-9 years olds", <br class=""></div><div class="">"My first Encyclopedia - for 10-11-12 years olds", <br class=""></div><div class="">be the way to go?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Have a nice continuation of yr day :)</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 16, 2016 at 10:09 AM, Barry Desborough <span dir="ltr" class=""><<a href="mailto:barry.desborough@gmail.com" target="_blank" class="">barry.desborough@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br class=""><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word" class="">Thanks for all your comments guys. <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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.</div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Barry</div></font></span><div class=""><div class="h5"><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 13 Mar 2016, at 11:37, Sven AERTS <<a href="mailto:svenaerts228@gmail.com" target="_blank" class="">svenaerts228@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class="">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:<div class=""><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Schools" target="_blank" class="">https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Schools</a><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">!</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 11:26 AM, Sven AERTS <span dir="ltr" class=""><<a href="mailto:svenaerts228@gmail.com" target="_blank" class="">svenaerts228@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br class=""><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr" class="">Hi Barry, hi Samuel,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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"?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">"<span style="color:rgb(77,77,77);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:0.75em;background-color:rgb(246,246,246)" class="">Languages"</span></div><div style="margin:0px 0px 0px 1.25em;padding-top:0px;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:16px;background-color:rgb(246,246,246)" class=""><ul style="list-style-type:none;margin:0px;padding:0px" class=""><li style="margin:0px;line-height:1.125em;padding:0.25em 0px;font-size:0.75em;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/" title="Simple English" lang="simple" hreflang="simple" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">Simple English</a></li></ul></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px" class="">The <b class="">Simple English Wikipedia</b> is a <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">Wikipedia</a> <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia" title="Encyclopedia" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">encyclopedia</a>, written in <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_English" title="Basic English" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">basic English</a>.<sup style="line-height:1" class=""><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_English_Wikipedia#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);white-space:nowrap;background:none" target="_blank" class="">[1]</a></sup></div><div style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px" class="">Articles in the Simple English Wikipedia use shorter sentences and simpler <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words" title="Words" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">words</a> and <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar" title="Grammar" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">grammar</a> than the <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia" title="English Wikipedia" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">English Wikipedia</a>.</div><div style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px" class="">The Simple English Wikipedia is also for people with different needs. Some examples of people who use Simple English Wikipedia:</div><ul style="margin:0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em;padding:0px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px" class=""><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em" class=""><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student" title="Student" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">Students</a></li><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em" class=""><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children" title="Children" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">Children</a></li><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em" class=""><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult" title="Adult" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">Adults</a> who might find it hard to learn or read</li><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em" class="">People who are learning <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language" title="English language" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(11,0,128);background:none" target="_blank" class="">English</a></li></ul><div style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px" class="">Other people use the Simple English Wikipedia because the simple language helps them understand hard ideas or topics they do not know about.</div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px" class="">Right now, the Simple English Wikipedia has 117,857 articles. As of October 2015, it was the 49th largest Wikipedia</span><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 3:32 AM, Samuel Klein <span dir="ltr" class=""><<a href="mailto:sj@laptop.org" target="_blank" class="">sj@laptop.org</a>></span> wrote:<br class=""><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr" class="">Hi Barry, this looks like an excellent candidate to merge with Vikidia. Have you worked with them or their community of children and teachers? <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://en.vikidia.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank" class="">https://en.vikidia.org/wiki/Main_Page</a><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Warmly, SJ</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 11:10 AM, Barry Desborough <span dir="ltr" class=""><<a href="mailto:barry.desborough@gmail.com" target="_blank" class="">barry.desborough@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br class=""><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word" class=""><div class="">Hello, I’m Barry Desborough, a retired teacher who taught in English primary and secondary schools. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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 <a href="https://wikids.wikispaces.com/Index+1" target="_blank" class="">https://wikids.wikispaces.com/Index+1</a> which should give the general idea.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">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.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Is there anyone on the list with the authority to pick this up, or has contacts with such people?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">What are your thoughts on the idea?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Regards</div><span class=""><font color="#888888" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Barry</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></font></span></div><br class="">_______________________________________________<br class="">
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