Using Technology to Communicate Science in Regional Languages: Experiences from Karnataka

Abstract

With increasing penetration of the Internet into rural India, we now have a new opportunity to use it as an effective way of communicating science in regional languages. This paper proposes to discuss, in detail, the author’s learnings from over a decade of using the Internet for Science and Technology communication in the Kannada language.

The author, through his blog Ejnana.com, has been communicating Science and Technology in Kannada since 2007. Newer channels such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp have also been actively used to supplement this effort. Some of the content created has also been made available as ebooks in Kannada.

In addition to the author’s efforts, this paper also provides an overview of similar efforts undertaken by other Kannada authors active in the same space. Collectively, all these efforts show us the vastness of the unserved/underserved audience group that exists for Science and Technology content in regional languages. Experiences discussed here also show that the general public is ready to positively receive Science and Technology content if provided to them in a form that is accessible, and at a level that can be easily comprehended.