Grants:Project/Rapid/OFWA/Summer Open School
openfoundationwestafrica.org• adminopenfoundationwestafrica.org
We live in an era of information and technology, and information, communication and technology have gradually become a rudiment for career progression/growth in the corporate environment. These have also made life very easy and affected all facets of human life. However when it comes to the Global South (emerging communities or countries) there is a systematic bias, where access to information or even information available about the region is lacking. This is also a predominant issue when it comes to areas of computer programming, innovation and other new technologies (robotics). These however, are the growing areas demanded in jobs and (or) play roles in economic development. Again when it comes to content, there is not enough information about the region because there are a few contributors from the region contributing to information about the region globally.
Globally, there has been a trend whereby open movements have decide to champion access to information and technology by employing various free and open softwares like Wikipedia, Open Street maps, Creative Commons, etc. Unlike the proprietary resources or softwares, these are free and again accessible and reusable due to the copyleft licenses most of these softwares use. It is now very common for someone living in Bujumbura to earn a degree from a University in Slovakia through open and distance learning at a cost relative cheaper if not free. Again as a result of Open Governance, any citizen can have access to national data without having to go through long winding and circuitous road just to have access to information. These information are used in diverse ways to develop programmes that are of national benefit, such may include (traffic and navigation system, unified identification software, etc.). Other Open activities in areas such as Open Science, Open Data and the likes are all aimed at increasing and improving learning for all.
Project Goal[edit]
Briefly explain what are you trying to accomplish with this project, or what do you expect will change as a result of this grant. Example goals include, "recruit new editors", "add high quality content", or "train existing editors on a specific skill".
The Summer Open School is a 2 day training program aimed at bringing students drawn from different tertiary institutions and academic disciplines together to learn and have a hands on experience about Open Resources, network and become contributors to the Open movement. This will be aimed at equipping students with skills to contribute to the open movement while acquiring skills that are relevant in several career paths. This will also include mentoring and team building where the participants will be equipped with other soft skills.
- Create awareness about the Open Movement (specifically on Wikipedia and Creative Commons, and others)
- Train participants to contribute to Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons
- Train participants to understand the various CC licenses
- Build other soft skills of participants in several other areas (research and writing skills, importance of volunteering, leadership)
- Growing a new generation of contributors of the open movement who can contribute to at least two Open Projects
- Breeding or promoting the spirit of collaboration in the open movement
- Extending reach of Wikipedia and its sister projects
- Inspiring ambassadors of the Open Movement
Project Plan[edit]
We intend to host a 2 day training program that will be opened to all tertiary students. A total number of 50 participants are expected to be trained within the two day training program. In pursuance of a more gender balanced training program, we hope to admit not less than 40% of the total number of expected participants.
Activities[edit]
Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing?
The early mornings of Day 1 of the training program will include plenary talks on the Open Movement, a presentation on the introduction of the Wikimedia Movement and an introduction to Creative Commons. Later that morning there will be a fair on most of the open platforms (each will have a booth to showcase what they have). Little after that all participants will be allowed to grab some lunch, immediately after lunch there will be a presentation on Creative Commons Licenses and then followed by a hands on session Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. Later in the afternoon there will be a presentation on OSM and how to import OSM data into Wikipedia. The final sessions of the day will include agenda building and open discussions on relevant topics in the open movement (eg: why volunteer for the open movement, volunteer burnout issues, etc.)
Day 2 of the training program will consist of presentation from other aligned organisations and projects (Linux Accra User Group, Wikipedia Library, WikiData, Mozilla Ghana, Crypto Currencies, etc.) There will be in depth break out sessions on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, MediaWiki, Creative Commons and Open Street Maps, these will happen concurrently and will also include edit-a-thons, map-a-thons, etc. Later in the day an awards and closing ceremony will be held to award winners of edit-a-thons, etc.
How will you let others in your community know about your project (please provide links to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions)? Why are you targeting a specific audience?
- An email will be sent to the Wikimedia Ghana mailing list
- A post will be shared on the OFWA Facebook and Twitter platforms
- An email has been sent to CC Africa mailing lists
- An email will be shared with all tertiary institutions in Ghana
What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?
We would have trained 50 new ambassadors of the open movement and built relevant soft skills to compete in this technology era. Several academic required skills such as research and writing skills will be developed by participants and participants will possible contribute to the open movement.
Impact[edit]
How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets and feel free to add more specific to your project:
- Create the awareness and Increase the reach of Wikipedia.
- We expect to admit at least 50 participants.
- We expect to create at least 10 articles.
- We expect to at least recruit 50% of participants as contributors to Wikipedia.
- Ensure at least 10% of the total number become ambassadors of Wikipedia in their respective universities.
- We expect to retain at least 10% of the number of participants as active editors.
- We expect to have at least 10% of participants contribute to more than one platform within the open community.
Resources[edit]
What resources do you have? Include information on who is the organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).
- The project will be organized by a host of active Wikimedians as mentioned below:
- User: Flixtey is also a very active Wikimedian and a Community leader. He has been a key part of the organization of the two previous editions in Ghana.
- User:Rberchie is an active Wikimedian in Ghana and has been part of the organizing team in the two past editions that were held in Ghana .
- User:SAgbley was the main organizer for last year's edition in Ghana.
- User:Joy Agyepong is an active Wikimedian in Ghana and was a key part of the previous editions held in Ghana.
- User:Andrews Lartey is a volunteer developer editor and developer in the Wikimedia Movement and he skills we be useful for the MediaWiki training.
We have already received an amount of $670 from Creative Commons in support of the project. This amount will be used to cover the cost of printing materials for CC branded items, other related printing cost (roll up banner for the event) and the cost of venue.
What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense:
| ITEM | QUANTITY | UNIT PRICE GHC | TOTAL BUDGET GHC | TOTAL BUDGET USD | COMMENTS |
| Tshirts | 75 | 22 | 1650 | 383.72 | Needed as a marketing tool for the event during and after. 50 tshirts will be summer open school tshirts as we intend to have this yearly, 25 out of the 75 will be Wikipedia related tshirts. |
| Food | 100 | 50 | 5000 | 1162.79 | Since we will be keeping participants for long hours we wish to provide one coffee break and launch for 50 people x 2 days = 100 as stated in the quantity column. |
| Water | 5 | 20 | 100 | 23.26 | A box contains 24 so literally we need 2 for a day making 4 total. But we added one for contingency reasons |
| Internet | 1 | 399 | 399 | 92.79 | The program will require internet usage and we anticipate using the internet resources of the venue might create problems, so this is a back up |
| Transport | 80 | 4 | 320 | 74.42 | Transportation to and from venue for 2 days by resident organizers |
| Phone calls | 50 | 4 | 200 | 46.51 | For call and preparation towards the program. |
| Miscellaneous | 1 | 767 | 767 | 178.37 | Any uncertainties not covered in the cost. |
| Amount requested | 8436 | 1961.86 |
Endorsements[edit]
- Great initiative that needs to be supported to promote cross collaborations of Open Movements in Africa. Rberchie (talk) 10:28, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
- I strongly endorse this project. This will be a great opportunity for students, especially the University students. They will gain practical hands-on training on how to contribute to Wikipedia and it's sister projects. Great initiative.
Shahadusadik (talk) 14:00, 23 August 2017 (UTC)