Wikimedia:Starting an education program/Methods for recruiting Instructors
Wikipedia Education Program
Design your pilot
Menu Page 14 of 38
Methods for recruiting Instructors
How do you find good instructors? Here's a few suggestions:
- Existing instructors teaching with Wikipedia — Chances are, there's already an instructor running a Wikipedia assignment on your language version. Working with them to recruit their colleagues will make your life easier. Instructors generally trust other instructors more than they trust anyone else in regard to Wikipedia assignments.
- Personal relationships — Are you still in touch with instructors from when you were their student? Do you have any friends or family members who are instructors? Reach out to them and ask if it would be something they'd be interested in doing.
- Teaching and learning centers — Is there a university department dedicated to helping instructors at the institution with their curriculum? Many universities have such departments, with staff trained to assist professors on various ways of enhancing student learning. These centers, for example, help create class blogs or manage the Blackboard or Moodle systems. They may also have staff willing to be trained in how to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool, who can then recruit instructors who might be interested.
- Academic conferences — If there are particular disciplines you're interested in targeting, consider attending the annual conference of one of these disciplines as an exhibitor. Set up a booth and talk to the instructors who walk by about how they can use Wikipedia in their classrooms. Generally, if the idea hasn't "clicked" after 60 seconds, the instructor won't be a good fit, so encourage them to take some literature and move on.
- Subject matter lists — Many of these academic associations also have email lists to which all instructors belong. See if you can send out a message on one of those lists recruiting new instructors.
