Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Quality improvement and community development of Kannada Wikipedia - Phase 2

Endorsements

Please login, add your endorsement, and sign by typing --~~~~ below-

1.  Strong support This project has the potential to significantly enhance the quality and accessibility of Kannada Wikipedia, making it a more valuable resource for worldwide users. His (Pavanaja) deep understanding of Kannada language and culture, combined with his technical expertise, makes him an ideal candidate to lead this important initiative. -- Prajna gopal (talk) 10:49, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
2.  Strong support Enhancing Kannada Wikipedia will make it a richer and more accessible resource for global audiences. With his (Pavanaja) unique blend of linguistic knowledge and technical skills, they are well-suited to drive this impactful initiative forward. --Prakrathi shettigar (talk) 11:03, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
3.  Strong support This project holds the promise of greatly improving the quality and reach of Kannada Wikipedia, transforming it into a more valuable resource for users across the globe. So, I strongly support this project. -- Rakshitha b kulal (talk) 11:18, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
4.  Strong support Improving Kannada Wikipedia will transform it into a more comprehensive and user-friendly resource for people around the world. With (Pavanaja)'s rare combination of linguistic expertise and technical proficiency, he is highly capable of leading this meaningful project to success. --Apoorva poojay (talk) 11:26, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
5.  Strong support The Kannada Wikipedia's operations were proceeding smoothly. For the past few years, it has been getting even better. On a technical level, page layout, information organization, etc., are getting more systematic. Such initiatives are crucial in this regard to make Kannada Wikipedia's content more approachable. I wholeheartedly endorse this project.--Vishwanatha Badikana (talk) 11:59, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
6.  Strong support This project has the potential to greatly enhance the quality and accessibility of Kannada Wikipedia, transforming it into a richer and more user-friendly resource for a global audience. Pavanaja’s unique combination of deep linguistic knowledge, cultural insight, and technical expertise positions him as an ideal leader for this initiative. By improving Kannada Wikipedia, this project promises to create a more comprehensive and valuable platform that will benefit users worldwide, making it an impactful and meaningful endeavor. --KR Sanjana Hebbar (talk) 11:59, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
7.  Strong support This initiative has the potential to greatly enrich the quality and reach of Kannada Wikipedia, transforming it into a more comprehensive and accessible resource for users around the globe. With his profound knowledge of the Kannada language and culture, coupled with his technical prowess, he (Pavanaja) is exceptionally well-suited to spearhead this impactful endeavor.--Akshitha achar (talk) 12:25, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
8.  Strong support I wholeheartedly endorse Pavanaja's initiative to enhance the quality of Kannada Wikipedia. This project will significantly contribute to the preservation and promotion of Kannada language and culture, making knowledge accessible to millions of Kannada speakers worldwide.- Veena Sundar N. (talk) 13:27, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
9.  Strong support Pavanaja's vision to strengthen Kannada Wikipedia will revolutionize access to knowledge, inspiring a new generation of Kannada speakers.This initiative will be a milestone in Kannada language's digital journey.Enhancing Kannada Wikipedia's quality will significantly expand the reach of Kannada language and culture, impacting millions worldwide.ಪೂರ್ಣಿಮಾ ಶೆಟ್ಟಿಗಾರ್ (talk) 14:12, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
10.  Strong support In this project is very important to improve the kannada article quality and success. Pavanaja Sir has worked very hard to bring Kannada Wikipedia to great heights. We need support to make it better. So I am fully supported to endorse this project. --Pallaviv123 (talk) 14:26, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
11.  Strong support This project can greatly improve the quality and availability of Kannada Wikipedia, making it easier for people worldwide to use. Pavanja's strong knowledge of the language, culture, and technology makes him the right person to lead this effort. By improving Kannada Wikipedia, this project will create a more helpful and valuable platform for users everywhere, making it a worthwhile and impactful project.--Prajna poojari (talk) 14:41, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
12.  Strong support This project has the potential to significantly enhance the quality and accessibility of Kannada Wikipedia, making it a more valuable resource for worldwide users. His (Pavanaja) deep understanding of Kannada language and culture, combined with his technical expertise, makes him an ideal candidate to lead this important initiative. I will support this initiative -- ಮಹಾವೀರ ಇಂದ್ರ- Mahaveer Indra (talk) 14:57, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
13.  Strong support Undoubtedly the two-decade journey of Kannada Wikipedia has crossed many a milestone. But the real growth cannot be assessed without concerns of quality. There are many issues to be addressed in reliabilty, information exploration, and quality enhancement. The project proposed by Dr Pavanaja with community participation will certainly strenghthen the core of Kannada Wikipedia. --Gradiga (talk) 15:04, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
14.  Strong support In this project is important to improve the kannada article quality. Pavanja's strong knowledge of the language, and technology makes him the right person to lead this effort. I am fully supported to endorse this project. --Kavyashri hebbar (talk) 16:26, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
15.  Strong support I strongly support this project, as it will significantly enhance the quality and accessibility of Kannada Wikipedia, making it a more comprehensive resource for users worldwide. With User Pavanaja's deep knowledge of the language and culture, coupled with his technical expertise, he is ideally suited to lead this transformative initiative.--Yakshitha (talk) 04:04, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
16.  Strong support This project has the potential to greatly enhance the quality and accessibility of Kannada Wikipedia, making it a more valuable resource for users worldwide. Dr. Pavanaja’s deep understanding of the Kannada language and culture, combined with his technical expertise, makes him the ideal leader to spearhead this initiative. By addressing content quality, reliability, and accessibility, this project promises to elevate Kannada Wikipedia, ensuring it becomes a richer and more user-friendly platform. Such efforts are critical for preserving and promoting Kannada’s linguistic and cultural heritage in the digital space. I strongly support this initiative and believe it will have a transformative impact on the global reach and utility of Kannada Wikipedia. --BHARATHESHA ALASANDEMAJALU (talk) 00:40, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
17.  Strong support -This initiative will be useful for many new members also to bring new concept and quality in the articles-TCsshetty (talk) 09:45, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
18.  Strong support I support this initiative to enhance the quality and community engagement of Kannada Wikipedia through workshops and training sessions. This structured approach to improving articles and mentoring new and existing editors is a commendable effort towards fostering a vibrant and skilled Kannada Wikipedia community. This initiative will breathe new life into Kannada Wikipedia, strengthening its foundation and ensuring the availability of high-quality content for readers. I commend the organizers and participants for their dedication to this noble cause and wish the project great success in its mission to enrich Kannada Wikipedia and empower its community. Ashay vb (talk) 10:56, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
19.  Strong support I strongly support this project, I strongly support this initiative and believe it will have a transformative impact on the global reach and utility of Kannada Wikipedia. --Kishore Kumar Rai (talk) 15:47, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
20.  Strong support ChiK (talk) 16:52, 21 November 2024 (UTC)
21.  Strong support I strongly support this project. Such efforts are important for growth of the Kannada language wikipedia and Pavanaja ji is an Ideal person to lead such an effort due to his long engagement with outreach activities. Best wishes!  Innocentbunny    TALK  03:02, 22 November 2024 (UTC)
22.  Strong support Dr. Pavanaja sir has putting so much of effort for the growth of Indian languages majorly Kannada and Tulu. He has been doing outreach activities since so many years and motivated young minds with the concept of share your knowledge. These kind of projects are much needed for the growth and development of our communities. Hence I strongly endorse this project. Looking forward to see this project hosted in our community. Dhanalakshmi .K. T (talk) 04:25, 22 November 2024 (UTC)
23.  Strong support In this project is very important to improve the kannada and tulu article quality.--Vinoda mamatharai (talk) 14:02, 22 November 2024 (UTC)
24.  Strong support I strongly support this project.--Sudheerbs (talk) 07:08, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

    this is good initiative. Must be supported. Mallikarjunasj (talk) 12:40, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

25.  Strong support This is a good initiative and kannada wiki needs projects like this ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ (talk) 15:50, 27 November 2024 (UTC)
26.  Support Initiatives and programs like are much needed for Kannada Wiki projects. --ವಿಕಾಸ್ ಹೆಗಡೆ | Vikas Hegde (talk) 06:19, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

opposed

Kannada researchers Lakshmi g Prasad case in FIR Bangalore City Police station. Pavanaja, and other Violence's Human Rights. Already investigation Central Human Commission not good behavior in community.  Strong oppose this project.--Lokesha Kunchadka (talk) 21:41, 21 November 2024 (UTC)

The person who wrote this comment, Lokesh Kunchadka, is a blocked user in Kannada Wikipedia. He was blocked for violation of friendly space policy, trolling new users, unacceptable behavior, etc. It was an unanimous decision of Kannada Wikipedia community.Hence his comment can be ignored.--Pavanaja (talk) 06:40, 22 November 2024 (UTC)

Lokesh Kunchadka, who was misrepresented in Kannada Wikipedia, is not related to the Kannada Wiki community. The opinion given by Pavanaja about him is correct. The Kannada community is doing well. There is no violation of any human rights. We should respect those who speak with knowledge. I oppose the opinion of Lokesh Kunchadka, who has given false insults.--Vishwanatha Badikana (talk) 12:09, 22 November 2024 (UTC)

Vishwanatha Badikan , Pavanaja Two person Accused at Bengaluru City Jnanabharathi Police Station FIR Registered Kannada Researchers Dr. Lakshmi G Prasad Year 2022. --Lokesha Kunchadka (talk) 02:49, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

Lokesha Kunchadka has criticized me and Pavanaja out of personal hatred. The matter he has referred to has already been discussed in court. The district court in Mangalore has issued a permanent injunction regarding this issue. Therefore, anyone else who speaks about such matters in this context will also be subject to contempt of court. As a result, individuals like him engaging in such defamation within Wikimedia activities have caused distress to me as an active editor and to many others in our community. The concerned parties should be cautious and avoid such actions.--Vishwanatha Badikana (talk) 07:50, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

Lokesh Kunchadka,blocked user in Kannada Wikipedia. Pavanaja's vision to strengthen Kannada Wikipedia will revolutionize access to knowledge, inspiring a new generation of Kannada speakers. This initiative will be a milestone in Kannada language's digital journey. These type of projects are much needed for the growth and development of Kannada communities. So, Lokesh Kunchadka's comment can be ignored.--Kishore Kumar Rai (talk) 16:47, 23 November 2024 (UTC)

Follow-up questions on your grant application

Hello Pavanaja,

Thank you for putting in a general support application.

For documentation purposes, I am also including a list of resourcing projects (non-exhaustive) which were led by you previously. Please feel free to add onto the list as necessary.

• 2023: Quality improvement and community development of Kannada Wikipedia

• 2022: Research on effectiveness of Wikipedia in Education as a platform of improving the cognitive ability among students

Observations/ Recommendations / Notes

Below, you will find the consolidated feedback and observations from the review team (i.e. SA regional funds committee and programme officer). Do take time to read and respond (i.e. provide more details) to the sharing(s) as necessary. Note: The review team may not have the same lived experience or understanding of the local context as you/your team. Hence, providing further insights will be very helpful in building on our collective wisdom and shared learnings.

• 1) Related to question 8/ programs, approaches, strategies and challenges: We appreciated how you defined the challenge/ problem, provided data to support your observation (through surveys) and from there build on proposed programmatic approach.

• • a) As workshops/ training content will be a key part of your proposed approach, could you map out the content that you will be covering for the 12 workshops you have in mind and the Wikimedians you could potentially tap on to as resource persons? Could you scope out the role of the resource person in more detail? For example: What is the expectation, skillsets/ experience, how will they be supporting you? How do you plan to recruit these resource persons? How do you assess if they are a good fit?

• • b) Could you elaborate on your knowledge management approach to your project? For example: how do you plan to capture learnings and know-how so that wikimedians who work in a similar space don't have to start from scratch, but builds on the knowledge/processes that you have gained/ learned. Here are examples which you may find useful: Training resources created and hosted by Wikimedia Australia; Introduction to wikipedia and commons micro credential course

• • c) How are you looking at retention and supporting continued interest of the students/ communities that you have reached out to? Here's a resource from Let's Connect on Retaining New Editors #2 (i.e. growth tools) which could be supportive and adapted/adopted as part of your toolkit for future iterations of your retention strategy.

• 2) Budget section: We observed there is a year-on-year doubling of budget for the project. a) To support our understanding of the increase, would you be able to compare the proposed budget for this year with that of last year and share what are the key drivers of the increase? b) There can also be more clarity on the cost assumptions behind each line item. Examples of how other groups have structure their budget request - Strategy/ Activity/ Expense Category/ Description. You can also provide online links to support your cost estimates.

Note to applicant: During the review process, the SA Funds Committee meets 3-4 times (2-2.5 hours/ session) during the review cycle to discuss the grant applications submitted for the cycle. Thereafter additional time is dedicated for individual review (i.e. one review form is submitted for each application - estimated time spend can be about 1 hour/application/person). We would like to highlight that the review team spends a significant amount of time on each application reviewing and providing their perspectives. We hope you will also participate fully in the process by setting aside dedicated time and mind space to provide thoughtful responses to the feedback. During the discussion rounds, we have also captured the verbatim feedback below. Some of which may be on a similar topic. If you notice the trend, it would mean that the question/ observation was raised by several members of the review team and we encourage you to dig deeper to provide more information. If you require support in understanding the context to the feedback and/or in crafting a response. Please know that you can reach out the programme officer for support.

• 3) Community feedback is unclear and not transparent; Activities are not clear -- is it possible to see a presentation / training module used by the instructor or have feedback from students? Are the editors being retained? What is the plan moving forward to scale?

• 4) There is no visible on-wiki community discussion or endorsement for the grant application.

• 5) Annual plans for general activities like these need community participation, transparent hiring, accountability from user groups or other affiliates. These are not well detailed in the proposal

• 6) There are certain partnerships in the form of interaction with the college is proposed. But it looks like the colleges selected would be random and not through systematic approach.

• 7) I wonder if we could encourage the applicant to implement a structured method for feedback collection from community members (e.g., surveys, interviews, or discussion forums post-implementation) as this is not clear. For example: How does the team plan to measure the project’s impact on community members? Would there be a survey or reporting mechanism for participants to provide feedback on the skills they’ve gained or the project’s overall impact?

• 8) On scalability and Broader Application of Partnerships, I wonder if we can encourage clarification on how partnerships may be scaled or adapted to serve other language communities or regions. For example: Are there specific partnership models that the applicant sees as scalable or adaptable for other Wikimedia communities?

Thank you and we look forward to speaking on the 19 November and reading your responses by 24 November. Please let us know if you require more time.

Regards, Jacqueline on behalf of South Asia Regional Funds Committee JChen (WMF) (talk) 10:26, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

Responses to Follow-up questions on grant application

Thanks you very much for going through the grant application thoroughly and offering detailed observations, feedback and queries. Here are my responses

a) As workshops/ training content will be a key part of your proposed approach, could you map out the content that you will be covering for the 12 workshops you have in mind and the Wikimedians you could potentially tap on to as resource persons? Could you scope out the role of the resource person in more detail? For example: What is the expectation, skillsets/ experience, how will they be supporting you? How do you plan to recruit these resource persons? How do you assess if they are a good fit?

All the workshops will be theme based. Different locations will have different themes. For the ongoing project, the themes used were - Indian freedom fighters, Indian politicians, Indian forts, Persons from Mahabharat, Ramayana and other Puranas, Journalism, etc. I have not yet completely made a list of themes. These will be finalised after consulting the key participants at each location. The choice of topic will be offered to them. Resource person(s) will be experienced Wikipedians with good experience in conducting training and workshops. Role of the resource persons will be -giving a presentation on Wikipedia -what, why, how; basic principles of translation; editing Wikipedia -formatting, links, reference, images, etc; what is a good Wikipedia article; dos ad don’ts while editing; five pillars of Wikipedia; friendly behaviour; etc. Recruiting the resource persons will be based on how well they can fit the role just mentioned. After every workshop/training program, the performance of the resource persons will be evaluated based on the feedbacks of the participants. In every workshop/training program, at the end there will be a small session dedicated for this.

b) Could you elaborate on your knowledge management approach to your project? For example: how do you plan to capture learnings and know-how so that wikimedians who work in a similar space don't have to start from scratch, but builds on the knowledge/processes that you have gained/ learned. Here are examples which you may find useful: Training resources created and hosted by Wikimedia Australia; Introduction to wikipedia and commons micro credential course

Tutorial files and videos on editing Wikipedia and using content translation tool have been created and are available in commons. Some of the videos and tutorial files may be using old layout of Wikipedia. These may need change. Such changes will be made as part of this project. The current ongoing project is already being documented here. This page will be continuously updated till the end of the project.

c) How are you looking at retention and supporting continued interest of the students/ communities that you have reached out to? Here's a resource from Let's Connect on Retaining New Editors #2 (i.e. growth tools) which could be supportive and adapted/adopted as part of your toolkit for future iterations of your retention strategy.

Whatsapp  groups have been created for the participants and resource persons of workshops/training programs. Regular postings have been carried out in these groups. Some participants ask queries in these groups which are answered by the resource persons. Another activity is follow-up workshops/editathons for the participants. I am planning to conduct them for the participants of the current ongoing project in the Phase-2 (for which grant is sought). This will help in retaining some of the participants, if not all of them.

Budget section: We observed there is a year-on-year doubling of budget for the project. a) To support our understanding of the increase, would you be able to compare the proposed budget for this year with that of last year and share what are the key drivers of the increase? b) There can also be more clarity on the cost assumptions behind each line item. Examples of how other groups have structure their budget request - Strategy/ Activity/ Expense Category/ Description. You can also provide online links to support your cost estimates.

There is a drastic increase in costs in last one year. This has happened mainly in tourism sector. People did not travel for almost 3 years due to the Covid pandemic. They have started traveling extensively since last year. This demand has made the cost of travel and accommodation to increase almost 150-200%. Similarly food expenses also have gone up. In the ongoing project, Initially I had created the budget sheet and requested much higher amount that what was sanctioned. That made me drastically reduce the activities and deliverables. I have created the budget for this grant application, based on my original request for the ongoing project (which was drastically reduced by the SA fund committee) plus additional money for additional activities. I have added a community meetup of Kannada Wikipedia community which did not meet since the year 2022. I have also added a workshop for creating policy documents. These factors have contributed to the year-on-year increased budget.

Responses SA Funds Committee’s observations/queries

Community feedback is unclear and not transparent; Activities are not clear -- is it possible to see a presentation / training module used by the instructor or have feedback from students? Are the editors being retained? What is the plan moving forward to scale?

I waited for the initial response from the SA funds committee to ask for community feedback. Community feedback and endorsements have been obtained now. They are at the beginning of this page. All training modules, as already mentioned once above, are available in Commons. Additional presentations will be added if used during the project, which are drastically different from the existing modules. Some editors are being retained. The percentage retention is not very high. But global statistics also indicate similar numbers, regarding the percentage of retention of editors after any Wikipedia workshop.

There is no visible on-wiki community discussion or endorsement for the grant application.

Community feedback and endorsements are at the beginning of this page.

Annual plans for general activities like these need community participation, transparent hiring, accountability from user groups or other affiliates. These are not well detailed in the proposal

Annual plan for the ongoing project, the Phase-2 of which is the grant application is for, is detailed in this page. The activities are similar. Additional activities are community meetup of Kannada Wikipedia community  and workshop for creating policy documents. Other community members participate by suggesting topics for workshops/editathons. Some may chip-in by going through the articles created by the participants in the sandbox.

There are certain partnerships in the form of interaction with the college is proposed. But it looks like the colleges selected would be random and not through systematic approach.

Colleges and educational institutions are selected by various factors. Geographics location is the primary criteria. Firstly, we would like to go to new areas where we have not touched upon earlier. Then other criteria follow, viz., availability of PC lab, willingness of the institution, availability of students to participate (many factors affect this like exams, other activities), etc. I also want to go to places where we have conducted workshops earlier. This will help in retaining the editors.

I wonder if we could encourage the applicant to implement a structured method for feedback collection from community members (e.g., surveys, interviews, or discussion forums post-implementation) as this is not clear. For example: How does the team plan to measure the project’s impact on community members? Would there be a survey or reporting mechanism for participants to provide feedback on the skills they’ve gained or the project’s overall impact?

This is a very good suggestion. I will try to implement this.

On scalability and Broader Application of Partnerships, I wonder if we can encourage clarification on how partnerships may be scaled or adapted to serve other language communities or regions. For example: Are there specific partnership models that the applicant sees as scalable or adaptable for other Wikimedia communities?

The lessons learnt will be well documented. Like I have been doing, I will present this work in Indic Wikipedia community meetings/seminars/conferences. I am also planning to write a blog on my experiences. This will help other language communities. Pavanaja (talk) 06:33, 22 November 2024 (UTC)

An update on your application

Hello Pavanaja,

Thank you for your responses to the follow-ups questions. Based on your responses, the committee took a collective decision to not fund this application in its current form.

Here are some comments from the review team that were captured from the final deliberation round

9) This initiative has been funded for the past several iterations. While we see some positive outcomes, the outcomes seem like not justifiable enough to the proportion to the fund allocated. The workshops seem too expensive and too frequent. We would suggest focusing more on the quality of the workshop than quantity.

10) The proposed approach to outreach and training for this project may be limited as it is at different places monthly once with no plans for followups. From experience the random approach is unlikely to yield much output. The better approach would be like a club approach or wikipedia in Education kind of partnership. Overall the project is high on budget and low on expected yield in its current form.

The current application would require further thinking and clarity on questions/ comments for (1), (2), (3), (5-8) before it can be considered for a future application.

Thank you so much for your time and participation in the review process. We hope you will be able to continue your efforts in other ways and look to hear more.

Thank you.

Regards, Jacqueline on behalf of the SA Regional Funds Committee JChen (WMF) (talk) 12:35, 4 December 2024 (UTC)