Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Research Fund/Overcoming challenges of introducing Wikipedia in Nigeria classroom
 | This is a declined Wikimedia Research Fund application. Review the full proposal. |
Overview
editUsername
Applicant's Wikimedia username. If one is not provided, then the applicant's name will be provided for community review.
- Oby Ezeilo
Project title
- Overcoming challenges of introducing Wikipedia in Nigeria classroom
Entity Receiving Funds
Provide the name of the individual or organization that would receive the funds.
- Igbo Language and Culture Institute Ltd/Gte
Research proposal
editDescription
editDescription of the proposed project, including aims and approach. Be sure to clearly state the problem, why it is important, why previous approaches (if any) have been insufficient, and your methods to address it.
- Educational institutions in Nigeria do not use Wikipedia even though most of them do not have access to other subscription-based repositories. In certain instances, students are instructed not to use Wikipedia content in their research. To address this, we propose a research study on why educational institutions do not use Wikipedia and how the situation can be remedied. This research is to identify current challenges and concerns inhibiting the use of Wikipedia for learning in Nigeria. We will also seek to find out the government policies and directives (if any) that inhibit the use of Wikipedia for learning in Nigeria, whether students and teachers are sufficiently informed on Wikipedia and its potential as a learning resource, and any other challenges and concerns inhibiting the use of Wikipedia for learning. Also, of importance to this research is whether the availability of Nigerian local languages content in Wikipedia will improve the acceptance of Wikipedia in Nigerian education systems. The study will develop a guide on how Wikipedia will be introduced in the Nigerian educational system and how teachers and students will be motivated to use Wikipedia content for learning and research. In carrying out this research we will liaise with Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa Wikimedia User Groups many of which will participate in the research. A project team will be set up headed by a Project Coordinator and supported by four other members. Three Nigerian universities located at the three dominant tribes/languages in Nigeria will be used to conduct the research. They are Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nile University of Nigeria, and University of Lagos. The project team will conduct focus group discussions and interviews with key stakeholders including government agencies and leadership of these universities to address the project research issues. We will develop questionnaires that will extract the relevant information from teachers and students in the target universities and wider stakeholders in the education community. These questionnaires will be administered and processed. To ensure participation, sub-teams will be set up in each of the three participating universities to oversee the research work. At the end of the research, the project will produce a report on Wikipedia usage in the Nigerian education system and a manual to guide the introduction of Wikimedia in schools in Nigeria.
Budget
editApproximate amount requested in USD.
- 30,000-39,999
Budget Description
Briefly describe what you expect to spend money on (specific budgets and details are not necessary at this time).
- We will spend money on meetings of the project team including some flight tickets and hotel expenses; strategic meetings with government ministries and agencies; printing and distributing questionnaires; a retreat to analyse data and write the report/manual; open access publishing cost; stipend for project team members and research assistants; stakeholders forum to present the report/manual; a press conference and specially arranged articles and programmes in the media to publicise the report.
Impact
editAddress the impact and relevance to the Wikimedia projects, including the degree to which the research will address the 2030 Wikimedia Strategic Direction and/or support the work of Wikimedia user groups, affiliates, and developer communities. If your work relates to knowledge gaps, please directly relate it to the knowledge gaps taxonomy.
- The study will facilitate and guide the introduction of Wikipedia in Nigerian educational institutions. With a population of over 200 million and a median age of about 18 years, Nigeria has many students. Introducing Wikipedia in the classroom in Nigeria will therefore be the best way to deepen the penetration of Wikipedia. This will lead to more diverse contributions and usage and avail Nigerian students of free knowledge as many of them cannot afford to pay for online material due to the high poverty index. It will also facilitate the work of the four Wikimedia User groups in Nigeria as the study will also show the acceptance and challenge of the three Nigerian Languages in Wikipedia being Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba.
Dissemination
editPlans for dissemination.
- The report of the research and the manual will be presented in a stakeholders’ forum which will be attended by representatives of universities, government agencies, lecturers, students, and wikimedians from the 4 User Groups in Nigeria. The report will also be sent to different universities, polytechnics, colleges of education etc. We will also address the press on the research and sponsor feature articles and programmes in different media houses to popularise the research work.
Past Contributions
editPrior contributions to related academic and/or research projects and/or the Wikimedia and free culture communities. If you do not have prior experience, please explain your planned contributions.
- Obiageli Ezeilo has contributed to several Wikimedia projects and is a test wiki administration for Igbo Wiktionary and Igbo Wikipedia. Also, she is a founding member of the Igbo Wikimedia User Group. Professor Nkechinyere Nwokoye and Associate Professor Chigozie Nnabuihe have conducted different research and presently supervising different research work at the university. Mr. Betrand Ezeilo is a Director in Nigerian Copyright Commission. He was part of a Ford Foundation-funded Study on Copyright piracy in Nigeria. He has participated in several projects in Wikimedia. Edith Nwaobu is a lecturer and a doctorate degree student at the University.
I agree to license the information I entered in this form excluding the pronouns, countries of residence, and email addresses under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. I understand that the decision to fund this Research Fund application, the application itself along with all the information entered by my in this form excluding the pronouns, country of residences, and email addresses of the personnel will be published on Wikimedia Foundation Funds pages on Meta-Wiki and will be made available to the public in perpetuity. To make the results of your research actionable and reusable by the Wikimedia volunteer communities, affiliates and Foundation, I agree that any output of my research will comply with the WMF Open Access Policy. I also confirm that I have read the privacy statement and agree to abide by the WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
- Yes