1
00:00:08,170 --> 00:00:13,759
[Music]
2
00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:16,160
Hello everyone greetings from bangladesh
3
00:00:13,759 --> 00:00:18,720
it is a pleasure for me to be here today
4
00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,520
at the very first virtual wikimania with
5
00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,520
you
6
00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:23,600
i am angkon khosh dustidar from the
7
00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:25,920
wikimedia bangladesh chapter would like
8
00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:28,880
to welcome you all in this session
9
00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:31,679
titled organizing wiki education program
10
00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,800
as a non-credited work motivation is the
11
00:00:31,679 --> 00:00:34,960
pillar
12
00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:37,280
in this session i shall be sharing my
13
00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:39,600
experience learning outcome and the
14
00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,399
strategies of organizing the country's
15
00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:45,039
first ever weekly education program of
16
00:00:42,399 --> 00:00:46,960
its kind for the institutions are not
17
00:00:45,039 --> 00:00:49,280
ready to accept contribution to
18
00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,280
wikipedia as part of the students
19
00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,520
academic activity
20
00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,559
so let us start with a brief discussion
21
00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:59,520
of what is weak education program
22
00:00:56,559 --> 00:01:01,760
as the name suggests it is based on the
23
00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:04,239
integration of wikipedia and its sister
24
00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:06,240
projects to the educational platform
25
00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:08,960
mostly involving an educational
26
00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:12,400
institutions like a school college or
27
00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:15,040
university to give a simpler example let
28
00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:17,600
us consider the case where teachers are
29
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:20,159
giving assignments of writing wikipedia
30
00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,280
articles on topics related to the course
31
00:01:20,159 --> 00:01:23,439
curriculum
32
00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,880
the students achieve grades based on
33
00:01:23,439 --> 00:01:27,119
that assignment
34
00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:30,400
it has the capability of including
35
00:01:27,119 --> 00:01:31,759
educators and our students in the same
36
00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,000
platform
37
00:01:31,759 --> 00:01:36,079
lots of education programs are being
38
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,680
organized from time to time with
39
00:01:36,079 --> 00:01:39,520
praiseworthy contribution to the
40
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,920
wikimedia
41
00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:44,079
these programs are sometimes organized
42
00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,680
by the wiki clubs of those respective
43
00:01:44,079 --> 00:01:48,880
institutions
44
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:50,560
however not every institution is open to
45
00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:53,040
allowing this program
46
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:55,920
the traditional way of grading is too
47
00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,840
consistent in many institutions to make
48
00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,640
room for something new
49
00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:02,960
the formation of a wiki club is not easy
50
00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,960
as it needs to pass the rules and
51
00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:07,200
regulations of that particular
52
00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,399
institution and they can be rigid
53
00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,120
sometimes
54
00:02:08,399 --> 00:02:13,680
in bangladesh i faced similar challenges
55
00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:17,040
when i reached out to some institutions
56
00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:19,280
to organize even smaller scale programs
57
00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:21,840
they don't want to change their usual
58
00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:24,879
method of breaking like class test or
59
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:26,720
traditional way of providing assignments
60
00:02:24,879 --> 00:02:28,319
so what can be done here
61
00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,760
how can we reach out to those
62
00:02:28,319 --> 00:02:32,319
institutions
63
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:35,120
the education program can be organized
64
00:02:32,319 --> 00:02:37,440
in those institutions as a co-curricular
65
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:39,280
activity maybe through a collaboration
66
00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,959
with the existing clubs
67
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:43,519
but in that case
68
00:02:40,959 --> 00:02:46,480
students may not feel interested as it
69
00:02:43,519 --> 00:02:49,200
is not part of their graded activity
70
00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,440
so implementing an education program as
71
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:54,080
a non-credit our work needs to be
72
00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:56,560
designed carefully with enough support
73
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,480
as keeping the motivation of students
74
00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:01,280
can be a challenge here
75
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:04,159
also it must be organized in a certain
76
00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:08,480
timeline so that it doesn't add extra
77
00:03:04,159 --> 00:03:08,480
load to the regular academic activity
78
00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:14,239
with this goal in mind i approached one
79
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,560
of the clubs of bangladesh university of
80
00:03:14,239 --> 00:03:17,760
engineering and technology abbreviated
81
00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,519
as grid
82
00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:22,159
they expressed their interest to
83
00:03:19,519 --> 00:03:24,640
collaborate with the chapter but before
84
00:03:22,159 --> 00:03:27,680
organizing something at a larger scale
85
00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:30,159
we needed to test its applicability
86
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:33,440
so we organized a pilot program in
87
00:03:30,159 --> 00:03:36,480
august last year there were two programs
88
00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:39,760
a workshop followed by an adidas
89
00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:41,920
in the editathon 10 students created 22
90
00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:44,799
new articles from a given list on
91
00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:47,920
engineering topics within 10 days
92
00:03:44,799 --> 00:03:50,480
and nine of them were total newcomers it
93
00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:52,799
was really an encouraging result for us
94
00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,760
we felt motivated to organize something
95
00:03:52,799 --> 00:03:56,480
bigger
96
00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:58,959
so we went for it wikimedia bangladesh
97
00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:01,519
organized the country's first ever wiki
98
00:03:58,959 --> 00:04:04,239
education program of its kind with the
99
00:04:01,519 --> 00:04:05,519
country's future engineers that is its
100
00:04:04,239 --> 00:04:07,439
students
101
00:04:05,519 --> 00:04:10,720
we officially began the event on
102
00:04:07,439 --> 00:04:12,400
february 21 this year and it continued
103
00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:15,040
up to may 11.
104
00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:17,359
due to the covey pandemic everything
105
00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,759
happened online
106
00:04:17,359 --> 00:04:21,840
25 students from eight different
107
00:04:19,759 --> 00:04:23,919
departments of the university
108
00:04:21,840 --> 00:04:27,440
participated in this non-graded
109
00:04:23,919 --> 00:04:30,320
co-curricular event and they created 103
110
00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:32,720
new articles on bengali wikipedia
111
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:35,280
the articles include various fundamental
112
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:37,840
topics including electrical energy
113
00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:39,680
crystallographic effect delocalized
114
00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:42,400
electron etc
115
00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:46,240
each of the students selected three 1500
116
00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:48,080
words or two 1500 words and three 300
117
00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,440
words long articles from english
118
00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,759
wikipedia
119
00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:54,160
the topics of these articles were part
120
00:04:51,759 --> 00:04:57,520
of their course curriculum in any of the
121
00:04:54,160 --> 00:05:00,000
previous semesters on top of translating
122
00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,919
an article adding at least a new
123
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,600
paragraph in the bengali wikipedia
124
00:05:01,919 --> 00:05:06,320
article was needed
125
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:09,120
for this new section they added relevant
126
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:12,479
references from their academic textbook
127
00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:14,800
or journals which wasn't present before
128
00:05:12,479 --> 00:05:17,039
in this way they were able to share
129
00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,280
their knowledge with the mass readers in
130
00:05:17,039 --> 00:05:22,080
the easiest way contributing to
131
00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:22,080
wikipedia
132
00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:26,800
during the whole program we tried our
133
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:29,520
best to cooperate with them
134
00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:32,240
tutorials on how to create new articles
135
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:35,120
how to add references etc were provided
136
00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,199
to them before starting the program and
137
00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,039
during the whole program they were being
138
00:05:37,199 --> 00:05:41,520
mentored by myself
139
00:05:39,039 --> 00:05:44,320
whenever they had any new problems or
140
00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:47,199
any queries they reached out to me and i
141
00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:49,360
tried my best to help them as it was not
142
00:05:47,199 --> 00:05:51,919
part of their graded activity some
143
00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,759
flexibilities were incorporated the
144
00:05:51,919 --> 00:05:55,840
students could select the articles
145
00:05:53,759 --> 00:05:58,240
themselves otherwise in a graded
146
00:05:55,840 --> 00:06:00,639
activity the teachers chose the topic
147
00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,639
sometimes for the students
148
00:06:00,639 --> 00:06:04,880
the students who were able to finish
149
00:06:02,639 --> 00:06:06,720
their tests properly will be receiving
150
00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:10,000
certificates and souvenirs from the
151
00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:12,400
organizer as a token of appreciation
152
00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,360
after the event we took feedback from
153
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,840
them
154
00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:18,560
the idea of contributing to wikipedia
155
00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:21,680
did motivate them to select it as the
156
00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:24,880
desired co-curricular activity
157
00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:27,039
so now let us talk about what did we get
158
00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,520
the aim of the program was to involve
159
00:06:27,039 --> 00:06:31,759
future engineers so that they shared
160
00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,280
their knowledge on the largest online
161
00:06:31,759 --> 00:06:35,199
encyclopedia
162
00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:37,600
in bengali wikipedia there is a
163
00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:40,560
tremendous lack of quality articles on
164
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:43,520
engineering topics and i know that this
165
00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:45,919
case is similar to many other wikipedias
166
00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:48,960
often it is not easy to write on those
167
00:06:45,919 --> 00:06:51,360
topics without any background knowledge
168
00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,880
we need to include students so that we
169
00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,759
can get their knowledge for the
170
00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,319
betterment of the wikimedia movement
171
00:06:55,759 --> 00:07:02,639
through this program bengali wikipedia
172
00:06:58,319 --> 00:07:05,280
got 103 new and rich quality articles on
173
00:07:02,639 --> 00:07:08,160
the various engineering architectural
174
00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:10,319
and urban and regional planning topics
175
00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,160
this was one of the major motivations
176
00:07:10,319 --> 00:07:13,360
behind organizing the educational
177
00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,240
program
178
00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:18,319
we were concerned because it is not part
179
00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:20,960
of their credit hours and due to the
180
00:07:18,319 --> 00:07:22,960
tough time we all are going through
181
00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:25,440
but the students participated in this
182
00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:28,000
event in a really joyful manner
183
00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,400
we get many new wikipedians
184
00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,440
and most importantly a strategy to
185
00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,759
follow
186
00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:36,000
in feedback the students expressed their
187
00:07:33,759 --> 00:07:37,520
happiness to be able to participate in
188
00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,599
something like this
189
00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:42,080
one of the participants said an
190
00:07:39,599 --> 00:07:43,520
education program like this helped me to
191
00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,520
lock
192
00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,199
helped me a lot to gain experience at
193
00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:49,759
the co-curricular level
194
00:07:47,199 --> 00:07:51,759
the participants felt contented to know
195
00:07:49,759 --> 00:07:53,759
that they are directly contributing to a
196
00:07:51,759 --> 00:07:55,919
platform like wikipedia
197
00:07:53,759 --> 00:07:56,960
they expect more of such events in the
198
00:07:55,919 --> 00:07:59,520
future
199
00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,759
the event got a lot of media coverage as
200
00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,759
well
201
00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,680
now let us briefly focus on what did we
202
00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,400
learn
203
00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:10,960
we understood that despite the obstacles
204
00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:13,840
we face to organize anything new to the
205
00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:16,240
existing hard to be changed educational
206
00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,800
institutions we can introduce an
207
00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,639
education program there may be a pilot
208
00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,400
program is better to check the
209
00:08:20,639 --> 00:08:24,479
feasibility before
210
00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,879
collaboration with co-curricular clubs
211
00:08:24,479 --> 00:08:29,759
with related mindset can help in this
212
00:08:26,879 --> 00:08:31,280
record to organize these programs or any
213
00:08:29,759 --> 00:08:32,640
other program with educational
214
00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:35,120
institutions
215
00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:37,519
without the cooperation from any club
216
00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,120
reaching directly to these institutions
217
00:08:37,519 --> 00:08:41,120
is a mammoth task
218
00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,440
it requires seeking permission from many
219
00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,800
different persons and most likely to be
220
00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,200
rejected
221
00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:49,440
the clubs already have a way of getting
222
00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,440
permission for their programs so it
223
00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,680
leads to less hassle
224
00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,920
organizing such kind of an event holds
225
00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:57,920
the potential to organize larger
226
00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:00,240
programs in the future at those
227
00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:02,240
institutions
228
00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,640
so wikipedia is an interesting platform
229
00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:07,519
for newcomers students and teachers use
230
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:10,080
wikipedia a lot and they get benefited
231
00:09:07,519 --> 00:09:12,160
from it and it is possible to motivate
232
00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,080
them to contribute here
233
00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:16,560
an education program is an ideal
234
00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:19,040
platform for that it is not easy to
235
00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:21,839
organize one everywhere many people
236
00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:23,920
don't understand the way it works so it
237
00:09:21,839 --> 00:09:27,120
is better to start with this kind of
238
00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:29,040
step which we have found to be effective
239
00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,680
so thank you everyone for staying with
240
00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:34,320
me and feel free to reach out to me with
241
00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:37,120
any questions feedback or if you want to
242
00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:39,120
share any idea i hope i shall be able to
243
00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,000
meet you in person maybe in the next
244
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:43,910
year
245
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:47,010
stay safe thank you again
246
00:09:43,910 --> 00:09:47,010
[Music]
