2. Siyavula - “we are opening”
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Community
Siyavula is a social enterprise built on
community, openness and
technology, working to make high
quality educational resources
available to every learner and teacher
in South Africa.
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4. South Africa
South Africa has 11 official languages
Grade R-3: mother tongue instruction
Grade 4+ : instruction in English and Afrikaans
80% instruction in English
20% in Afrikaans
Image licence: CC-BY-SA
14. Community
Anything we produce with, for, or by the community,
we release freely and openly
Provide a space for people to give back meaningfully to
education in South Africa
Volunteers:
Postgrad students:
Honours, Masters, PhD
Lecturers and senior lecturers
Educators
People in industry
15. Community
Volunteering is a personal experience
Always be:
Friendly
Respectful
Appreciative
Understanding
Enthusiastic
17. Community - Translation
Work with volunteers whenever possible
2012: 54 volunteer translators
2013: 31 volunteer translators
22 textbooks and teachers' guides translated,
assisted by volunteers
22. Community – Translation Learnings
Be like a Boy Scout – Be Prepared!
Work with translating volunteers that have strong subject knowledge
Friendly check ins
Pros
Translation can go quickly
Community building – word spreads
Good quality work
Cost saving (about 20% saving per title)
Cons
Can be slow
Translation quality differs across chapters and even in one chapter
Uncertainty about quality of work (it all depends on who you work with)
23. Community
What I'm still figuring out...
?
How to ensure we receive consistently good translation work from volunteers?
Training?
Maybe not split chapters?
Try different approaches?
Discuss their translations with each other
Swap work and give feedback
Volunteers use review function on Transifex
24. Where to from here?
Siyavula Slate of Open Titles
catalogue of the 50 most crucial textbooks needed for
school level STEM performance
engage with education authorities in South Africa for
official review and endorsement at the national level
textbooks distributed widely - some of the most
accessible educational resources in the country
3 year implementation
Looking for sponsors and partnerships