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Grants:Project/Rapid/Wakoma/13th eLearning Africa Conference 2018

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statusFunded
Sitando/13th eLearning Africa Conference 2018
Wakoma Incorporated request to attend the eLearning Africa Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.
start dateSeptember 24
end dateOctober 1
budget (local currency)1,887.00 USD
budget (USD)organization
grant typeindividual
grantee• Sitando
contact(s)• eric(_AT_)wakoma.co


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Please see the sample Travel application before drafting your application.

Project Goal

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Choose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed.

  1. Expand network of potential partners and collaborators
  2. Increase awareness of Wikimedia projects
  3. New interest in "offline" Wikimedia content and services
  4. Identification of contacts and projects in offline, rural, informal and humanitarian contexts
  5. Recruit new editors
  6. Recruit new users

Project Plan

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Activities

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Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of the event you're attending and why is it important that you attend?

eLearning Africa is the largest conference and networking event related to “ICT supported education, training and skills development in Africa”. The conference brings together high-level policy makers, decision makers and practitioners from education, business and government and is described as “a must for those who want to develop multinational and cross-industry contacts and partnerships, as well as enhance their knowledge, expertise and abilities”.

It is important to attend this conference to bring awareness to the WikiMedia Foundation, Internet-in-a-box, WikiProject Med, WikiFundi, Kiwix and the role they play in education in many different contexts. There is no mention of these initiatives anywhere in the eLA program, so it’s important to shed light on their contributions and how we are using their services in our own WikiBox project. The WikiBox project entails deployment of nano-servers hosting localized educational services and content (including WikiMedia content) to support township schools and local violence prevention, career, and early childhood development programs.

Wakoma Incorporated’s mission is to increase access to affordable and sustainable services and empower marginalized communities through capacity development and innovation. The conference will be an opportunity to establish new professional contacts and partnerships for both Wakoma and WMF, particularly with those working in “offline”, rural, informal, and humanitarian contexts. eLA will be a chance to learn what others are doing in these areas and identify opportunities for collaboration and support. It will also be a chance to receive feedback on the WikiBox and WikiFundi which we'll share with the WikiMedia community. If representatives from WMF attended eLA, it would be possible to team up to attend more events and have a broader reach during the conference.

After the eLA Conference, Wakoma will prepare a report for WMF on new contacts and partnerships for the WikiMedia Foundation as well as opportunities for WMF partners to enhance their reach to offline and underserved communities. Phone calls with WMF staff will also be arranged to impart these opportunities and knowledge gained during the conference.

While I am quite new as an editor, I recently joined the South African WikiMedia Chapter and attended WikiMania in Cape Town, and I have been working closely with Michael Graaf, a long-time WikiMedian, on the WikiBox project.


2. Will you be presenting at the event?

I intent to present at eLA in three ways.

The first is to engage in discussions and debates in the follow sessions, as well as receptions and breaks.

I will organize a 1-hour presentation, and 1-hour workshop, during the conference. These are described in the section below.

Throughout the conference I will also have a WikiBox running for attendees to use and test. When connected to the device (the SSID will give connection instructions) they will be able to access a multitude of content and services, and we will be able to monitor usage data and collect messages of interest and suggestions from conference attendees.


3. What kind of outreach activity do you plan to do?

Before the conference I will reach out to key people and organizations though social media and email to arrange meeting times and announce my session/activity. I’ll use key hashtags on twitter, connect with attendees and presenters on LinkedIn, and post in the eLA facebook and LinkedIn groups.

For the activity itself, I plan to first do a presentation/workshop titled (tentatively) “how unconnected or under-served communities can empower themselves through low-cost mesh, EdTech and IoT solutions”.

The presentation will discuss the networks, hardware and software that comprise ICT solutions aimed at providing essential, resilient and low-cost communications, content and services in low-resource communities. There will be a focus on informal areas and humanitarian/disaster response contexts.

The presentation will also provide a background and demo of the WikiBox project, along with the following services and content it provides:

• WikiMedia content available on the WikiBox: • Wikipedia (in multiple languages), MediaWiki, Wikispecies, Wikinews, WikiMed Medical Encyclopedia, Wikiquote. Wikiversity, Wikivoyage, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Wikisource. • Kiwix • Vikidia • WikiFundi • Khan Academy/Kolibri • Moodle • Project Gutenberg • Calibre • Wordpress • OER2GO(RACHEL) • OpenStreetMap • African Storybook Project

Through the first presentation and conversations at eLA, we'll identify eLA participants interested in offline Wikimedia and educational content and services. We'll then run a second smaller workshop in which 5-10 participants will edit articles with WikiFundi(2.0), and engage in other 'offline' activities. The feedback from participants will be disseminated to the 'offline' project/community through skype calls and the following group: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Offline_Projects.

4. How will you let other participants know about your outreach activity?

At the conference I will make email announcements and use social media to broadcast the event time and location. I’ll tweet hashtags and mentions that get broadcast to the 6.6k conference followers and attendees. #eLA18, @eLAconference

Prior to the event I’ll post on the eLA Facebook group with almost 12k members, and the eLA LinkedIn group. If possible, it would be great to use WMF outreach channels before and during the event.

Lastly, before and during the conference I’ll have a WikiBox running to which any attendee can connect. When they connect to the WikiBox, they will see an advertisement at the top of the page announcing the event supported by WMF.


5. Do you have a specific networking plan? (e.g. specific people, organizations, groups you would like to develop partnerships with)

I intend to meet with the following people and organizations (among others).

  • • Santiago Amaya and Marie-France Agblo of GIZ presenting on Offline Teaching and Learning in Sub-Saharan Africa. They could be great resources for Kiwix.
  • • Atish Gonsalves an John Nduri from Humanitarian Leadership Academy.
  • • Ayub Golooba Kalema, Sustainable Change Solutions, Uganda to discuss mEducation.
  • • Robin Miller, Dalberg Advisors, Tanzania. Potential partnership with Praekelt.
  • • Ariam Mogos, UNICEF Ventures, USA
  • • Doreen Nabaho, INJINI, South Africa
  • • John Kwame Boateng, University of Ghana, Ghana
  • • Tony Carr, e/merge Africa and University of Cape Town, South Africa.
  • Alice Barlow-Zambodla, e/Merge Africa Network, South Africa
  • o Potential Partnership with e/merge Africa
  • • Ntumba Tshilombo Innocent, Université de Genève/InZone, Kenya. To discuss eLearning in Remote Areas
  • • Alexander Kiptanui, Swisscontact, Kenya and Miriam Ruiz, Avallain Foundation, USA. To discuss Education in Refugee communities.
  • • Jamie Stuart, onebillion, UK. To discuss education on smartphones
  • • Steven Vosloo, UNESCO, France. He’s one of the best. Potential partnership.
  • • Sheila Jagannathan, The World Bank, USA. To discuss MOOCs v. SPOCs. Potential Partnership.
  • • Kristin Palmer, University of Virginia, USA to discuss OER and mobile learning.
  • • Jacqueline Strecker, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Kenya. To discuss refugee EdTech. Potential Partnership.
  • • Laura Czerniewicz, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Potential Partnership.


6. What is your plan to follow-up with new contacts?

At the conference I’ll collect business cards and contact information. After (or during) the conference I’ll add contacts on LinkedIn, Twitter and send an email when possible to exchange contact information and establish a time to have a follow-up skype call. This worked particularly well with the WikiMania conference.

I’ll also have a form running on the WikiBox where users can submit their contact details and request more information or a meeting to discuss the project. I would like to be in Kigali a couple of days before and after the conference to attend pre- and post-conference activities and meet with potential partners.


Impact

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How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets as applicable:

  1. Increased number of new readers and editors, offline and online. (These figures were adjusted based on conversations with other Wikimedians):
    1. Number of new editors: 2-3
    2. Number of new users: 5-10
  2. New awareness of WikiMedia projects and services in the eLearning community
  3. Number of outreach activity participants: 10-20
  4. New partnerships and collaboration for Wakoma and WMF
    1. Number of new potential partners: 4-6
  5. New content for the commons. Will share presentation and workshop resources, and conference photos.
  6. Feedback on WikiBox, to be shared with other IIAB and offline initiatives, Kiwix, WikiFundi, etc.
    1. Number of participants exposed to WikiBox (eLA participants who click WikiBox SSID and access the contents, which we will track): 100-200
  • Note: The WikiBox project is quite nascent, and the above outreach activities are intended to be an exploration of how best to bring education and WikiMedia content and services to offline, rural, and marginalized communities. We intend to get feedback from eLA participants on the workshop(s) and WikiBox, which we will share with WMF and the wider community.

Resources

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What resources do you have? Include in-kind donations or additional funding. Wakoma will cover all food costs, and other costs not included in the budget below.

Wakoma will cover all pre- and post-conference costs and visa costs.

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

  • eLearning Africa Conference Registration: 690 USD (was able to secure registration discount)
  • Round-trip plane tickets from Cape Town to Kigali: 700 USD
  • Accommodation - AirBnB (60 USD x 7): 420 USD
  • Transportation in Kigali: (11 USD x 7): 77 USD
  • WikiMedia Swag for eLA attendees: ?
  • Total: 1887 USD

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Participants

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