വിക്കിപഠനം/ബീറ്റയില്‍ നിന്ന് പുറത്തേക്ക്
വിക്കിമീഡിയ ഫൗണ്ടേഷനിലെ കമ്മ്യൂണിറ്റി ഡെവലപ്‌മെന്റ് ടീം തയ്യാറാക്കിയ സൗജന്യ ഓൺലൈൻ പഠന പ്ലാറ്റ്‌ഫോമായ വിക്കിപഠനം അഥവാ വിക്കിലേൺ അതിന്റെ ബീറ്റാ ടെസ്റ്റിംഗ് കാലയളവ് അവസാനിച്ചു.കോഴ്‌സ് ഉള്ളടക്ക വിവർത്തനം എന്ന പുതിയ പ്രത്യേകത ഇതിനുണ്ട്.
പശ്ചാത്തലം
വിക്കിമീഡിയ സന്നദ്ധപ്രവർത്തകർ പ്രകടിപ്പിച്ച ആവശ്യങ്ങളെ അടിസ്ഥാനമാക്കി, നൈപുണ്യത്തിലും നേതൃത്വ വികസനത്തിലും നിക്ഷേപിക്കുക പ്രസ്ഥാന തന്ത്ര ശുപാർശകൾ, വിക്കിമീഡിയ ഫൗണ്ടേഷന്റെ കമ്മ്യൂണിറ്റി ഡെവലപ്‌മെന്റ് ടീം വിക്കിമീഡിയ പ്രസ്ഥാനത്തെ മുഴുവൻ സേവിക്കുന്നതിനായി സ്വതന്ത്ര സോഫ്‌റ്റ്‌വെയർ ഓപ്പൺ എഡ്‌എക്‌സ് ഉൽപ്പന്നത്തെ അടിസ്ഥാനമാക്കി ഒരു ഓൺലൈൻ പഠന പ്ലാറ്റ്‌ഫോം വികസിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിന് നേതൃത്വം നൽകി.
കഴിഞ്ഞ ഒരു വർഷത്തോളമായി ബീറ്റയിലാണ് ഇത് പ്രവര്‍ത്തിച്ചിരുന്നത്, കൂടാതെ നിരവധി കോഴ്‌സുകൾ അതിൽ പ്രവർത്തിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു. പ്ലാറ്റ്‌ഫോം മൊത്തത്തിൽ ബീറ്റയ്ക്ക് പുറത്ത് പ്രഖ്യാപിക്കാൻ ഞങ്ങൾ ഇപ്പോൾ തയ്യാറാണ്, കൂടാതെ കൂടുതൽ കോഴ്‌സുകൾ വികസിപ്പിക്കാനും വിന്യസിക്കാനും തയ്യാറാണ്.
Course content translation
Excellent courses can be authored in any language, and we can all learn from our peers and colleagues around the world. It was important to us that the platform not only support creating content in any language (which Open edX supports out of the box) but also allow translating whole courses from one language to another. We also did not want to assume a default translation direction (e.g. from English to other languages). In other words, we wanted any course, in any language, to be translatable into any other language.
Translation for course content was not an existing feature in Open edX, so we were faced with two main options: either to develop a full-featured translation infrastructure, of the level of sophistication Wikimedians have come to expect, in Open edX itself, or to come up with a way to rely on our existing translation system on Meta.
After much consideration, we chose the second approach: we commissioned the development of a mechanism in Open edX that "marks" a course for translation into a given language, which then exports the entire course contents (in small units), including video subtitles, to Meta, to be translated with the familiar translation interface on Meta, and to then be automatically pulled back into the WikiLearn platform, where the course author can review and accept translations. (The review step is a simple defense against automatically applying vandalized translations to ongoing courses.)
This feature itself is brand-new, and still is in beta, as we are only beginning to test it. One design limitation it has is that only course authors (or WikiLearn site admins) can initiate the translation of a particular course into a particular language. This means that if you see a course you would like to translate, and isn't already being translated, you have to contact the course author or the WikiLearn team to ask that the course be made translatable into your language. We hope this would be a trivial technical step, and if it turns out to be too cumbersome, we will consider automating or semi-automating it, budget permitting.
What does this mean right now?
First, it means the platform is ready for more learners to take the courses already available. You can browse the course catalog and enroll in courses, logging in using your Wikimedia account (via OAuth, no password necessary).
Secondly, it means the platform is ready for more courses to be developed and deployed on it. If you are interested in developing training curriculum on some topic (from a short module to a complete course), you are welcome to get in touch with the WikiLearn team to discuss your plan, outline the curriculum and learning goals, and get access to the content-authoring part of the platform ("Studio"). The platform welcomes any learning and training content relevant to an audience of Wikimedians (as distinct, for example, from elementary school arithmetic or high-school civics). Such content can be technical skills (e.g. "how to do batch uploads to Commons", "Programming bots using PyWikiBot"), social or non-technical skills (e.g. "Introduction to Public Speaking", "How to Write a Press Release", etc.), or wiki-cultural (e.g. "Introduction to the German Wikipedia's Notability Policy").
Thirdly, you can help by translating one of the existing courses into another language. See the available courses and target languages in the translation dashboard on WikiLearn. If you would like to translate a course not yet available for translation, or into a language not yet listed, recruit at least two other volunteers interested in translating that course into that language, and write to the WikiLearn team.
Finally, you can help make the user interface of the Open edX platform itself available in more languages (currently 19 languages are enabled and selectable from the language dropdown on the platform), by contributing translations to the Open edX project on Transifex (not a Wikimedia site).
What next?
The next major piece of work for developing the WikiLearn platform is defining the platform's governance: being a non-wiki platform, we cannot automatically rely on existing wiki processes, and need to figure out how to share power ('admin' status on the platform) and enforce conduct (including blocking repeat offenders) with trusted volunteers. Right now, the Community Development team members are the only admins on the platform, but we would like this to change as soon as possible, that is, as soon as we come up with definitions and processes.
We would like to develop these governance principles for the WikiLearn platform in conversation with the communities. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement about that conversation, which will take place on Meta.
Questions?
Questions are welcome on the talk page.