User:Msannakoval/Collab

Floor Koudijs asked me to reflect on my deep knowledge of education programs, to consider what is special and unique about the programs represented in the Collab, and to share some suggested questions and conversation prompts prior to the upcoming meeting in Sweden. I am doing so here. Msannakoval (talk) 12:31, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Questions for the Collab

Argentina: Melina

You are leaving WMAR and your role as education program manager to take on other professional challenges. Talk to us about your decision to move on. What advice do you have for your replacement?

Armenia: Lilit

Tell us about your use of Armenian Wiktionary with newer student editors. Armenian students have contributed more than one third of the content on Armenian Wiktionary! This has clearly been great for Armenian Wiktionary! The project has seen tremendous growth, according to stats.wikimedia.org. Why do you believe it is effective and a better project than Wikipedia for young newbies?

Bulgaria: Vassia

Describe the partnerships with GLAM groups in Bulgaria: the National Archives, the Sofia Zoo. Are there any areas of intersection with the education program?

Discuss your experience working with college freshmen. What did you learn from it? What advice do you have for other education program leaders who may wish to work with this level of learners or age group of students?

Tell us about the Wiki Educators Survival Kit. It's awesome!

Tell us about your Roadmap for designing a wiki education course.

Talk to us about burnout and how to avoid it. Citation needed? See slide 3 here!

Catalonia: Àlex

Through Viquibalear, your education program has served students in Catalonia, Andorra, Alghero, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands. Your students have contributed to Wikipedia in Catalan, French, Italian, Occitan, and Spanish. What challenges do geography and linguistics present in maintaining a strong education program?

Àlex was a founding member of the Collab. He stepped down and was replaced by Mariona. Then she stepped down and he replaced her. Talk about this turnover in program management. What circumstances make it challenging? In our volunteer-led movement, turnover may be unavoidable. How can programs prepare for turnover so that knowledge is not lost?

Czech Republic: Vojtěch

How do you work effectively with seniors? Is this a model that you think can be replicated successfully elsewhere in the wiki world?

WMCZ has just hired a new education program manager. Tell us about that experience. What did you learn from the job search? What advice you have for other Wikimedia affiliate groups that might be looking to hire paid staff to support programmatic work?

Egypt: Reem, Walaa

Egypt's education program has a strong record of successful translation assignments. Describe your strategies for recruiting new language faculty members to participate in the program? What are the challenges for the education program team and the community when working with translations from so many languages?

Reem has held many roles in the movement, the local community, and the education program. Describe the arc of your wiki career. What advice do you have for new education community members seeking leadership opportunities?

Hong Kong: Venus

WMHK has struggled as a chapter since hosting Wikimania 2013. This year, WMHK completed its first education program pilot. What role do you see the education program playing in reviving and revitalizing the chapter and its members? With many programmatic options in the movement now -- GLAM, WLM, WLE, WEP, etc. -- why did the chapter choose education? Explain the thinking behind this choice.

India: Netha

India is a huge country with many languages with a diverse community with a complicated history. Tell us about how you work with these various groups to support their work. Why is it advantageous to have someone locally in the role of liaison or ambassador? What advice do you have for program leaders in similar situations?

Israel: Shani

Tell us about your collaboration with TED.

Mexico: Paola

Mexico is a big country with 2 strong but separate education programs. There are education program initiatives at 7 universities across the country on 9 campuses. These programs use a variety of modalities: for example, course assignments, Semanai, and Servicio Social at ITESM; WikiClubs at UNAM; and WikiMati, which works with primary school students. How are these various activities managed and how do you see your role as a Collab member in that oversight?

Serbia: Filip

WMRS has the oldest continuously-running education program in the wiki world: it is 10 years old this year. What inspired WMRS to do outreach in education? Why does WMRS continue to focus its programmatic work on education?

WMRS has hosted a regional EduWiki conference and a regional meeting of WikimediaCEE. Describe the challenges and the benefits of hosting gatherings of Wikimedians locally.

Serbian Wikipedia was the last Wikimedia project to have the Education Program Extension deployed, and it was amid some controversy. How did this tool aid your team in tracking and reporting student contributions to your project? Compare and contrast how this work was done before and after this tool was available to you.

WMRS has a paid staff member whose sole responsibility is supporting education program activities throughout the country. Describe her role and its value to your chapter. What advice do you have for other Wikimedia affiliate groups that might be looking to hire paid staff to support programmatic work?

Filip joined Wikipedia as a teenager only 17 years old. What advice do you have for education program leaders when recruiting teenagers to the movement? You have held many roles in the movement, your chapter, and the education program: admin, checkuser, sysop, bureaucrat, steward, OTRS agent, president of the chapter board. What advice do you have for new education community members seeking leadership opportunities?

Sweden: Sara

Sweden's education program is a success with learners at every age level. WMSE serves children with Wikimini, teenagers through the high school program, graduate students through the Wikipedian-in-Academy project, and adults with Swedish for Immigrants. WMSE developed open badges to recognize the achievements of teachers and students. Swedish students won a national award for their Wikiversity MOOC and their teacher won a national honorary award for using Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in her curriculum. What is the secret to WMSE's success?

WMSE is hosting the third face-to-face meeting of the WIkipedia Education Collaborative in March 2016. What advice do you have for the next host chapter/country?

Taiwan: Liang

Liang is active coordinator of the Wikimedia Asia Project, the movement's newest regional working group. How does your work with other Asian chapters inform and improve your own programmatic work in Taiwan? How can collaboration among regional working groups help strengthen and improve local education programs in the region?

There are fewer education programs in East and South East Asia (ESEA) than in other regions. Why do you think this is? What advice do you have for community members who might want to pilot education program activities in Asian countries?

Ukraine: Vira

WMUA expanded its education program significantly this past year through a partnership with the state regional administration brought about by a connection with a member of the national parliament. Why is it important to education program leaders to cultivate relationships with powerful people? What advice do you have for others who may wish to try this approach?

WMUA hosted the third meeting of members of Wikimedia Central and Eastern Europe. Talk about WMUA's role in this region and how regional cooperation has helped local education programs?

WMUA has translated several of the education program's instructional brochures. Talk about that process. How does localizing materials support the program team's efforts?

Uruguay: Roxana

Uruguay has a huge teacher training program. It is unrivaled in the wiki world. And it is thanks to a government partnership with the department of education, CFE. How many teachers have you trained total to date, approximately? And how do you effectively train so many teachers? How much volunteer time is involved? How does WMUY keep up? Is this the only education program work being done by the chapter, or are there also clubs and camps and courses too? How and why did WMUY prioritize training teachers over training students?

Spanish Wikipedia has a sometimes contentious community. How has the community treated the many new contributors from Uruguay's education program: students, teachers, and volunteers? What advice do you have for new education program volunteers from Spanish-speaking countries for integrating successfully with the community?

USA & Canada: Jami

Your program supports coursework at 280 universities in 2 very large countries. How much face-to-face interaction does your team have with educators and students in those schools? What strategies have you found effective for engaging with them remotely?

Your program fields inquiries from thousands of interested educators. How do you scale your replies so that you are not answering the same questions repeatedly? Are your strategies replicable for smaller education programs on smaller Wikimedia projects?

What criteria do you use to select programs to participate in your program? What benchmarks must they meet? How do you know that this educator/course/campus would be a bad fit?

At Wikimania 2014 in London, you shared "The 7 Biggest Mistakes the Wikipedia Education Program's Made -- and What We've Learned From Them". Are these mistakes and lessons universal? What new mistakes have you made and what have you learned from them?