Presented at the 1st International Conference of the African Virtual University, 20-22 November 2013, Nairobi, Kenya.

1. Bridget Nash
bridget@siyavula.com

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.

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

5. What we have done

6. Free (and where possible, open)
everything...
Open processes
Open copyright licences
Open standards
Opensource software

7. Open Licences

8. Technology enables and enriches
http://everythingmaths.co.za/
http://everythingscience.co.za/
500,000 visitors p.m.
Videos
Simulations
Intelligent Practice
http://www.thunderboltkids.co.za/
ePubs
Comics
Videos
Simulations

9. Textbook delivery
DBE have printed and distributed around 23 million
of our textbooks, 16 million of which are our Gr 4-6
NS&T workbooks

12. Community - Volunteers
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Community

13. Community - Management
Annotate and Google Docs

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

16. Community - Recruitment

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


18. Community - Translation

Resource info pack

Deadline

19. Community – Translation Events

20. Community - Translation

21. Community - Recognition

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

25. Bridget Nash
bridget@siyavula.com
www.siyavula.com
@Siyavula
facebook.com/siyavula