This profile is part of a series about Offline Wikipedia
For most people, a cross-country bike ride sounds like a daunting prospect, but for Ethan Sherbondy, a computer science senior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it was a welcomed challenge.
Last summer, he and seven other students, under the moniker of Spokes, set off from California, cycling through Washington D.C. and visiting twelve major cities along the way to teach local kids about science and project-based learning.
“Two summers ago, a friend of mine named Turner proposed this idea of doing a bicycling trip, initially just as a fun thing,” Sherbondy explained. “Then we started thinking, maybe we could use the bike trips as an opportunity to help people, and maybe learn some things about the state of this country that we live in.”
Throughout the trip, the group was often unable to access Wikipedia due to poor signal coverage over remote areas of the United States. “The idea of not having access to Wikipedia actually horrified me,” he said, “because I’m one of those sorts of people that is just constantly reading articles and learning things through Wikipedia.”
Thankfully, the team was armed with Kiwix, an offline version of Wikipedia. With the software, they held “learning festivals” in schools and community centers, teaching local children about engineering and computers.
“Something that consistently surprised me was that there was almost a stigma against science and engineering. Or even if there wasn’t a stigma, there was just kind of this vacuum, like an absence of understanding of what this whole chunk of society does from day-to-day.”
“We would essentially hold giant brainstorming sessions with the kids and get them to come up with projects that they were interested in,” he said, “and then help them make the first steps towards realizing their goals.”
Teaching is something Sherbondy is interested in, which made the trip that much more rewarding for him. “The way that I see teaching is that everyone is a teacher in some capacity,” he said. “At the very least I will throughout my life be making educational resources, even if I’m not a teacher in a conventional way. But I do love teaching and I think it’s a wonderful thing to do.”
Wikipedia is a controversial topic in education, with strong opinions on both sides of the argument. But Sherbondy feels that, despite its flaws, it’s still a great resource for information gathering. “I don’t know if I would call it a teaching tool necessarily. I think of it as a research tool, or as a way of just mapping out the space of possibilities,” he said.
“I think it’s very well maintained and edited. Factual inaccuracies are few and far between, especially for the more technical areas. For the sciences, math and the engineering fields, the articles have been consistently informative, very good summaries, and at least a starting point.”
“It’s the best example that I’ve seen in the whole world of a group of people genuinely trying to make information free,” he added. “Information is how we make decisions. Information is how we learn how to reshape the world. Without information we’re walking blindly into the future. Even 20/80 vision would be okay to walk into the future. But blindly, that’s just scary!”
Joe Sutherland, communications volunteer for the Wikimedia Foundation
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Kwa watu wengi, safari ya baiskeli ya kuvuka nchi inaonekana kama matarajio ya kutisha, lakini kwa Ethan Sherbon, mwanafunzi wa sayansi ya kompyuta katika Taasisi ya Teknolojia ya Massachusetts, ilikuwa changamoto ya kuwakaribisha. "Mwaka jana, yeye na wanafunzi wengine saba, chini ya jina la ""Spoke,"" waliondoka California, wakisafiri kwa baiskeli kupitia Washington DC na kutembelea miji mikubwa kumi na miwili njiani kufundisha watoto wa eneo hilo juu ya sayansi na kujifunza kwa msingi wa mradi." "Mwaka mmoja uliopita, rafiki yangu aitwaye Turner alipendekeza wazo hili la kufanya safari ya baiskeli, mwanzoni kama jambo la kufurahisha", Sherbondy alielezea. "Kisha tukaanza kufikiria, labda tunaweza kutumia safari za baiskeli kama fursa ya kuwasaidia watu, na labda kujifunza mambo kadhaa juu ya hali ya nchi hii ambayo tunaishi. ""Katika safari nzima, kikundi mara nyingi hakikuweza kupata Wikipedia kwa sababu ya chanjo duni ya ishara katika maeneo ya mbali ya Marekani." "Wazo la kutokuwa na upatikanaji wa Wikipedia kweli liliniogopesha, ""alisema, ""kwa sababu mimi ni mmoja wa aina hizo za watu ambao ni kusoma tu makala na kujifunza mambo kupitia Wikipedia". Kwa kutumia programu hiyo, walifanya "sherehe za kujifunza" katika shule na vituo vya jamii, wakiwafundisha watoto wa eneo hilo kuhusu uhandisi na kompyuta. <unk>Kitu ambacho kilinishangaza daima ni kwamba kulikuwa na karibu stigma dhidi ya sayansi na uhandisi. "Hata kama hakukuwa na stigma, kulikuwa na aina ya utupu, kama kutokuelewa kile ambacho sehemu hii nzima ya jamii inafanya kila siku. ""Tungefanya vikao vikubwa vya kujadili mawazo na watoto na kuwafanya wafanye miradi ambayo walipendezwa nayo, kisha kuwasaidia kufanya hatua za kwanza kuelekea kutambua malengo yao. ""Ufundishaji ni kitu ambacho Sherbondy anapendezwa nacho, ambayo ilifanya safari hiyo kuwa yenye faida zaidi kwake." "Njia ninayoona kufundisha ni kwamba kila mtu ni mwalimu kwa uwezo fulani", alisema. <unk>Kama kiwango cha chini nitakuwa katika maisha yangu yote nikitengeneza rasilimali za elimu, hata kama mimi si mwalimu kwa njia ya kawaida. Lakini napenda kufundisha na nadhani ni <unk> jambo la ajabu kufanya.<unk> Wikipedia ni mada ya utata katika elimu, na maoni yenye nguvu katika pande zote mbili za hoja. Lakini Sherbondy anahisi kwamba, licha ya kasoro zake, bado ni rasilimali kubwa ya kukusanya habari. <unk>Sijui kama ningeita ni chombo cha kufundisha lazima. Mimi kufikiri ya ni kama chombo cha utafiti, au kama njia ya tu ramani nje nafasi ya uwezekano, "alisema. Nadhani ni vizuri sana kudumishwa na kuhaririwa. Ukosefu wa usahihi wa mambo ni wachache na mbali kati, hasa kwa maeneo ya kiufundi zaidi. "Kwa sayansi, hisabati na uhandisi, makala zimekuwa daima habari, muhtasari mzuri sana, na angalau hatua ya kuanzia, ""Ni mfano bora kwamba nimeona katika dunia nzima ya kundi la watu kweli kujaribu kufanya habari bure." <unk>Habari ni jinsi tunavyofanya maamuzi. Habari ni jinsi tunavyojifunza jinsi ya kuunda upya ulimwengu. Bila habari tunaenda kwa upofu katika wakati ujao. Hata 2080s, ni sawa na 2080s, lakini kwa sasa, ni sawa na 2080s. Lakini kwa upofu, hiyo ni ya kuogopesha tu! <unk> Joe Sutherland, kujitolea mawasiliano kwa ajili ya Wikimedia Foundation Je, unaweza kutusaidia kutafsiri makala hii? Ili makala hii ifikie watu wengi iwezekanavyo, tunataka msaada wako. Je, unaweza kutafsiri makala hii ili kupata ujumbe nje?Anza tafsiri