What is Kiwix?
What you will learn?
Kiwix is a free and open-source offline web browser created by Emmanuel Engelhart and Renaud Gaudin in 2007. It was first launched to allow offline access to Wikipedia. But it has expanded to include other projects from the Wikimedia Foundation and public domain texts from Project Gutenberg. and others.
It is available in more than 100 languages. Kiwix has been included in several high-profile projects, from smuggling operations in North Korea[ and encyclopedic access in Cuba to Google Impact Challenge's recipient Bibliothèques Sans Frontières.
Founder Emmanuel Engelhart sees Wikipedia as a common good, saying "The contents of Wikipedia should be available for everyone! Even without Internet access. This is why I have launched the Kiwix project."[6]
After becoming a Wikipedia editor in 2004, Engelhart became interested in developing offline versions of Wikipedia. A project to make a Wikipedia CD, initiated in 2003, was a trigger for the project.
Awards
In 2012 Kiwix won a grant from Wikimedia France to build kiwix-plug, which was deployed to universities in eleven countries known as the Afripedia Project. In February 2013 Kiwix won SourceForge's Project of the Month award and an Open Source Award in 2015.
Read more- https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwix
Introduction
Imagine a world where education is accessible to all, regardless of access to the internet. This vision is being made a reality by Open Foundation West Africa through the launch of the Kiwix Mentorship Program. With the goal of empowering African individuals with the knowledge and skills to use Kiwix software, the program aims to eliminate barriers to educational resources in areas with limited connectivity. Join us in making education more inclusive and reachable for all.
The Kiwix Mentorship Program is just one of the many initiatives undertaken by Open Foundation West Africa to promote open knowledge and equal access to education. With a team of dedicated mentors, participants will receive hands-on training and support to maximize their use of the Kiwix software. This will enable them to make a positive impact in their communities by providing access to a wealth of educational resources and information. With the successful completion of the program, mentees will become ambassadors of the open knowledge movement and help to spread the reach of Kiwix. Join us in creating a future where education knows no boundaries."
Why is mentorship Important?
The Kiwix Mentorship Program is important because it addresses the issue of unequal access to education and information, particularly in areas with limited internet connectivity. By providing mentees with training and support, they will be equipped to overcome these challenges and make educational content readily available in their communities. This not only helps to bridge the digital divide but also empowers individuals to take control of their learning and development. By fostering a new generation of advocates for open knowledge, the Kiwix Mentorship Program has the potential to make a lasting impact on education and information access for years to come.
What will happen?
The participant will be taken through a training course with assignments
Mentors will be connected with at least 2 mentees
Continuous support will be provided throughout the project
Certificates would be awarded to mentees who complete the course
Mentees will stand the chance of winning our mini fund award to implement the Kiwix project in their community
Who can participate?
Wikimedia Volunteers
Educators
Wikimedia Affiliate/user groups, Organizations
Organizations/Institutions
Individuals
Benefit
Learn new project
Learn new skills, eg; how to use the Kiwix software to access educational content offline
Networking and collaboration opportunities
Access educational content
Educators and learners will be able to access educational content in their schools without any internet cost when the project is implemented
Students can access content like Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Ted Videos, Subject matter content etc to improve learning
Kiwix is a free and open-source offline web browser that brings internet content to
millions around the world who don't have access to the internet.
Who is responsible for Kiwix?
The organization name is also called Kiwix.
Kiwix is a registered not-for-profit entity which neither collects user data, nor
put out ads.
Do I need to pay for the software?
●Kiwix is entirely free and open-source, meaning that you can share and
distribute it without having to ask for our permission.
●Also ensure that content are also fully open-source and free to use and share.
Read more about Kiwix, what it is and history behind it here (in 41 languages) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwix
Kiwix comes into two folds;
Reader + Content
The Kiwix reader runs on almost any device (mobile phones, computers, etc.).
For the end user it feels pretty much like a regular browser as the experience is almost
identical to browsing the source website(s). Except that there is no internet.
The content are the websites that have been turned into zim files
Where do I find zim files?
Kiwix comes without content files. You need to download them from the app’s
library, download them from their repository, or generate your own via Zim
How do I deal with content with large files
We can make highly compressed copies of entire websites that each fit into a
single (.zim) file. Zim files are small enough that they can be stored on users’
mobile phones, computers or small, inexpensive Hotspot.
I can not copy Zim files on my hard drive or SD card?
Storage is often formatted using the FAT32 filesystem which can’t store files
bigger than 4GB.
We recommend using exFAT or NTFS which can deal with large files and are
broadly supported.
How do I store Large Zim files?
In some languages, Wikipedia, in particular, can be particularly large (it has
If you are on a phone, consider hosting your ZIM files onto an external
There are also thematic contents (e.g. Maths, History, etc.) so that you can
more than 6 million of articles, after all).
microSD card, or download a version without images (nopic, 60% smaller) or
limited to the introduction and info box of each article (mini, 95% smaller).
pick and choose only the parts that you want.
Can I only download parts that have changed since I last
downloaded Wikipedia?
Incremental updates are not available yet, but we’ve started looking into it. This is
a pretty complex project, and we need your help to make it happen!
What do mini, nopic and maxi mean in the Wikipedia zim
files?
File size is always an issue when downloading such big content, so we
Mini: only the introduction of each article, plus the infobox. Saves about 95%
nopic: full articles, but no images. About 75% smaller than the full version
Maxi: the default full version.
Dealing with older computers
- Older computers: So in case regular desktop Kiwix does not work on a computer
(usually because it’s on older Windows, or 32-bit processor), you can either use
the browser extensions or an electron app. Caveat emptor: because the tech is
slightly different some zim files might not work properly (for instance Youtube
videos will lack sound, I think). Wikipedia should be ok as it is our benchmark.
I have a 32-bit computer (Windows XP or Vista) and can't
run Kiwix 2.0 nor read the newer zim files. What can I do?
We recently released Kiwix-JS for 32-bit Windows Try it!
In this session, you will learn the step-by-step practice of downloading Kiwix Reader and how to convert content and out on Kiwix
Kiwix is available as a native
application for Android, Linux,
Mac OS, iOS and Windows
operating systems. It is also
available as Chrome, Firefox
and Edge extensions.
Content files can be downloaded from
the apps or from the library.
Does Kiwix have a Library?
Yes!
You can access the Kiwix Library here-library.kiwix.org
How to request new resources-Zim Files?
●You will need to open a ticket on GitHub at
https://github.com/openzim/zim-requests/issues.
●It’s pretty straightforward: The name, URL, short description, a link to their
logo, etc is needed.
●This works also for Youtube channels and playlists.
●NB:Please open only one ticket per resource (ie, 10 tickets for 10 different
websites)
Example of content
Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Project Gutenberg
TED Talks
Phet
What is the objective?
Affordable access to knowledge
Uncensored content
More resources for students
Assignment
Section A (Theory)
1. After taking this course what is your understanding of what Kiwix is?
2. How do you think Kiwix can be useful for your community?
3. What are the challenges in your community which you perceive that this
software could be an ideal solution to it?
Section B (Practical)
Download the Kiwix reader
Look for an open-source website and turn it into a zim file
Add the Zimfile on the kiwix and share screenshots of the process and end
email to info@ofwafrica.org
Need Help?
Join Weekly office hour
Or contact your Mentor for further assistance.
Send Assignment twice (2 time) the ff way;
First Assignment
Subject - Assignment 1 - (Insert full Name) - (Insert Team Number)
Email to - rbrown@ofwafrica/(include your mentors email)
Second assignment
Subject - Assignment 2 - (Insert full Name) - (Insert Team Number)
Email to - rbrown@ofwafrica/(include your mentors email)
Background
The 74th UN General Assembly proclaimed
28 September as the International Day for
Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) at
the UN level in October 2019
Read more here- https://www.un.org/en/observances/information-access-day
Right to internet access a fundamental
human right - United Nations 2016
Resolution.
Read more here- https://www.article19.org/resources/un-human-rights-council-adopts-resolution-on-human-rights-on-the-internet/
As a continent, Africa has seen steady growth in Internet penetration since its rate of 0.78 percent in 2000. Internet has now reached 28.7 percent of Africa, but there are major disparities in Internet access and use across the continent. In this video, we compared all the Countries in Africa with the most Internet users and Internet Penetration Rate.
An "Internet User" is any individual who can access the Internet, via a computer or mobile device, within the home where the individual lives. In order to have access, the hardware equipment must be in working condition, the Internet subscription service must be active, and the individual household member must have access to it at any time (there must be no barriers preventing the individual from using the Internet).
The Internet Penetration Rate corresponds to the percentage of the total population of a given country or region that uses the Internet
Source: https://youtu.be/WSQHDxEU8qY
What do you think, let us know your comment in the comment section.
What Covid-19 Thought us!
How did our education
system coup?
How have the world
coped?
Online learning
e-health
Working online
Online events
How did your country adapt? Share in the comment.
What are the pros and cons of e-learning?
In this video, Florence Devouard shares a broad perspective on open-source offline tools and OER resources available, as well as initiatives happening in the Wikimedia ecosystem, in relationship to the education sector as of 2021.
It was created to be displayed during the OE Global Connect 2021. https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/using-... Links
In this Video Felix Nartey talks about his journey on the kiwix project and what inspired him.
In this video, Otuo Acheampong Boakye shares his Kiwix Experience.
In this section, you will learn tips on how to implement Kiwix in your community.
This video takes you through the pre-project survey. This is the. survey you take before you start the installation. Here is the link to the survey.
The information collected is very vital for our evaluation and assessment of the program.
This video take you through some survey questions that implementers of the Kiwix project. complete after their visit to the school.
Here are some of the resources that can be useful to you;
1. Introductory to Kiwix training slides for Trainers
