Wikipedia Zero launches in India!
Wikipedia Zero - an ambitious project aiming to bring free access to Wikipedia to all developing countries - has signed it's first deal in India.
This is great news for the 60 million subscribers of Aircel (India's 7th largest network provider), who now get free access to all wikipedia information via the Wikipedia Zero. This is also great news for the developing world at large. The more popular demand for this, the more local operators will take heed, and offer this free data access to their subscribers.
This brings the number of people with free access to over half a billion! If you are in one of the following 17 countries (and using the right network), you won't need to pay any data rates to access all the knowledge in Wikipedia:
Uganda, Tunisia, Malaysia, Niger, Kenya, Montenegro, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Russia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India
Wikipedia Zero works in the same way as Facebook Zero, offering a minimal (low data) version of their site to specific operators, and covering the data costs themselves. Users can browse on that specific URL, without paying any data charges.
Users can access Wikipedia at zero.wikipedia.org and m.wikipedia.org - but if you are browsing from a different network, you won't get it free (in the case of "zero", you might not even see it!)
We haven't been able to test the difference is between the "m" and the "zero" sites, but believe that "zero" has no images at all, and is even faster, with a more minimalist design to perform better on low end devices and slow connections.
It is not really possible to estimate the impact of sharing free knowledge with hard to reach areas in the world without getting all misty eyed and coming up with bland generalisations, so I'd rather like to point you to one small story from a shanty town just outside Cape Town, South Afrtica:
Sinenjongo High School is made of old shipping containers, in a township of very poor dwellings, populated by people who really do not have very much going for them, apart from their own energy, and initiative
Staff and kids at the school heard about Wikipedia Zero - which is NOT currently available to them, and set up a petition to the local network providers to sign up.
This made the local press, which caught the eye of the South African wikipedia team, who passed on the message to their global team.
This in turn, helped generate huge online interest. See this fantastic blog post from from Victor Grigas, a wikipedian who was so inspired he made his first trip to Africa to meet the school
The story isn't over yet. South Africa doesn't have Wikipedia Zero. (nor do many other needy countries), but the more voices that are heard, the closer we will get to freedom of information, and rights to knowledge!
Spread the word
- Language123
Language123 - Free English Essays blog. Where you can find a variety of free English Essays. http://language123.blogspot.com When you need language123? - You are asked to write an essay by an English teacher. You do not have ideas to write. It is time...
- What's This Blog For?
I don't use my blog very often. I used to use it for Real English® activities almost every day. Facebook has replaced this blog for this essential function.Today I will use it for a personal post: http://wapo.st/yVDWT9 When there are so many blogs...
- Good Podagogy
If you are on this site, I assume you know what podcasting is, and how it can be used for learning. (if you are unsure, try wikipedia) the good news: many learning institutions know this, and are starting to use podcasting or it's younger brother...
- India?s Mobile Phone Users Increasing By 1m A Week
More than 1 million people a week are becoming new mobile phone users in India, reports The Business Online. "According to the Cellular Operators? Association of India, the number of mobile users in India has topped 110m. About half of India?s towns...
- Qr Codes Anyone?
QR Codes have been around for a while. They are one of several different attempts to improve on barcodes, offering a small image that contains machine readable data. You may not realise, but your phone could tell you that the one on the right says "www.m-learning.org"...