Submissions/Teaching Wikipedia in Africa

After careful consideration, the Programme Committee has decided not to accept the below submission at this time. Thank you to the author(s) for participating in the Wikimania 2014 programme submission, we hope to still see you at Wikimania this August.

Submission no. 1070

Title of the submission: Teaching Wikipedia in Africa

Type of submission (discussion, hot seat, panel, presentation, tutorial, workshop): Presentation, Discussion

Author of the submission: User:Nkansahrexford - Nkansah Rexford

E-mail address: nkansahrexfordgmail.com

Username: User:Nkansahrexford

Country of origin: South Africa (but Ghanaian by birth)

Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.): Africa Centre (WikiAfrica Project)

Personal homepage or blog: Profile

Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal): In the month of March, the Pan-African Open Advocate Training Course took place at the Africa Centre in Cape Town. It ended with an 'Activation Project' embarked on by the four delegates who partook the course who came from Malawi, Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire and Uganda. The goal of the project was to train workers at the Livity Africa studios in Cape Town to contribute to Wikipedia.

The delegates used the opportunity to guide the trainees in writing an article about Livity Africa onto Wikipedia, and learn how to upload to Wikimedia Commons. Though a first time experience for the participants of the training, it was an opportunity for them to learn about Wikipedia and also write and improve articles that interests them on Wikipedia, such as the Livity Africa article.

The article was initially collaboratively composed in this Google Document. All the participants were connected and was able to add content. The final result was then added to the WikiAfrica Incubator. After about a week, it was then moved into main Wikipedia.

The basic idea behind the project was to train newbies to embrace Wikipedia. However, the idea goes behind that. It also sought to exploit the possibility of training and guiding businesses and organizations to write or improve articles about their organization on Wikipedia in line with all writing policies and guidelines available, and ensuring Conflict of Interest doesn't alter good judgement of the contributors.

A short video documentary of the activation can be found on YouTube. The video will be made public during and after the Wikimania

An open discussion will thus follow based on the topic: "Is it still right for organizations or businesses to write about themselves on Wikipedia even if they adhere to all proper writing guidelines and policies?"

Track: WikiCulture & Community

Length of session (if other than 30 minutes, specify how long): 30 minutes (15 minutes for presentation; 15 minutes for open discussions)

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: Yes (if my scholarship application is awarded)

Slides or further information (optional): Video Documentary

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Flixtey (talk) 11:12, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Leutha (talk)
Djembayz (talk) 12:21, 18 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Your name here!