Grants:APG/Proposals/2015-2016 round1/Wikimedia Israel/Proposal form
If you need to review the edit instructions you will find them in the editintro.
- Use this form if you are eligible to submit a proposal in the current round, to request funding in the current round.
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- This form complements your organization's annual plan, detailed budget, and strategic plan. It won't be considered complete without a detailed budget and strategic plan.
- Organizations may apply for a funding period that does not exactly match their fiscal years. Follow the instructions carefully to understand what time period each question refers to.
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A few terms used in the form:
FDC proposal form terms Wikimedia terms Learning & Evaluation terms
Overview edit
- 1. In order to support community review, please provide a brief description of your organization's work in the upcoming funding period.
- 2. Name, fiscal year, and funding period.
- Legal name of organization: Wikimedia Israel
- Organization's fiscal year: 01/01-31/12
- 12-month funding period requested: 01/01/16-31/12/16
- Currency requested: NIS
- Name of primary contact: Michal Lester Levy
- 3. Amount requested.
Table 1
| Currency requested (NIS) | US$ (1$=3.935 NIS) | |
| Total expenses for the upcoming year | 1,046,740 | 266,008 |
| APG funding requested for the upcoming year | 834,000 | 211,944 |
| Amount of funding received from WMF for the current year | 770,000 | 195,680 |
- 1$=3.935 NIS
- 1 NIS = $0.2541 USD
- 4. How does your organization know what community members / contributors to online projects need or want? Does your organization conduct needs assessments or consult the contributors and volunteers most involved with its work?
Wikimedia Israel is in constant contact with the editor communities of Hebrew Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and Wikisource in various channels:
- We run a mailing list in which our activists and volunteers can be updated on activities and issues, and where frequent discussions are made.
- Direct communication with WMIL staff and board via email, Facebook and talkpages.
- Community Coordinator monitors talk pages and discussions on Wikimedia projects which are related to our chapter activities.
- Some of the members of the board and staff are long time wikipedians and still active and thus often involved in discussions on the village pumps.
- During August 15’, WMIL ran a community evaluation survey among Hebrew Wikipedia editors. The survey results will serve as infrastructure for planning the 2016 activity and for developing a strategy for supporting the Wikipedia community in the coming years.
- The work plan was distributed (via email) to the WMIL mailing list and we received feedback and comments, some of which have been assimilated into the plan.
- 5. Please provide a link to your organization's strategic plan and separate annual plans for the current and/or proposed funding period, if you have them. A strategic plan is required.
- An overall programme background is in the chapter: Wikimedia Israel Strategic Principles and Activity Hubs.
Financials: current funding period edit
The purpose of this section is to give the FDC an idea of how your organization is receiving funds and spending funds toward your current plan. Your current funding period is the funding period now in progress (e.g. 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 for most organizations). For organizations new to the APG process, your current funding period is the 12 months before your upcoming funding period (e.g. 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 for most organizations).
Table 2
Financials for the current funding period Revenues or expenses Planned (budgeted) Actual, until one month before the proposal due date Projected Currency requested US dollars Currency requested US dollars Currency requested US dollars Revenues (from all sources) 1,006,800 255,858 962,297 244,548 1,500 381 Expenses 1,034,617 262,927 676,830 172,003 933,840 237,316
Table 2 notes:
- This annual plan and budget does not include the 2016 Wikimedia Hackathon to be hosted in Jerusalem.
- A sum of 50,000 NIS (all of 2015's surplus budget) will be used for funding the Hackathon, along with additional funds that are currently being raised.
Wikimedia Israel Strategic Principles and Activity Hubs edit
Wikimedia Israel's upcoming annual program for 2016 is based on the following strategic principles:
- High quality content: Wikimedia Israel is committed to support the creation high-quality content in all its programs through indicators, tutorial tools and guidance.
- Participation and content: promoting larger participation in Wikimedia projects and increasing their content.
- Community Empowerment: Providing support and assistance for all communities of Wikimedia projects in all languages spoken in Israel, and facilitating the participation of the community in Wikimedia Israel’s projects.
- Increasing Diversity in the Communities: Encouraging a wider diversity of editors' gender, age, and geographic location across all the different projects.
- Cooperation: Reinforcing the presence of Wikimedia Israel both on a local and on an international level, by tightening existing collaborations, creating new partnerships and developing tools for significant replication of the activity.
- Promotion of Free Culture: raising awareness of the concepts of free culture and the release of significant materials to the public domain.
Activity Hubs
This year, we have supported the growth in the Hebrew Wikipedia and Hebrew Wiktionary Projects. Key statistics include: +8% in HEWP articles, +15% of very active editors, as well as a stunning 1,582% increase in edits in the Hebrew Wiktionary, and a 480% increase in the active editor community of the project. The work plan for 2016 strives to maintain previous years’ growth, while expanding further professionalizing and expanding our programs:
Supporting Communities of Wikimedia Initiatives: Wikimedia Israel will continue, alongside Wiktionary volunteers, to work towards the expansion of activities in the project and will strive to recruit new editors to further strengthen the community. Wikisource community will receive full assistance in text editing tools and in contacting libraries for sourcing public domain materials. We aim to further expand our joint activity with the Wikipedia editing community through editor meetings and gatherings as well as through activities and specific activities intended for new editors. We will also continue to support the Wiki-Women group. In 2016, we will focus on incorporating new editors into Wikipedia through a move for facilitating friendlier templates, help pages, and similar tools. At the same time, we will encourage activities that contribute to a constructive community atmosphere.
In the Academic and Education arenas: last year, during Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director's visit to Israel, we gained local and international recognition and acknowledgment for our educational activities in both the school and academic systems. In 2016, we will continue to promote the informed use of Wikipedia by teachers and students, in collaboration with The Ministry of Education and CET (Center for Educational Technology) and other partners. At the same time, we intend to continue the development of instruction materials for teachers. The objective of creating this infrastructure is to create, within a few years, a shift in teachers’ perception of Wikipedia and to make sure that there are several dozen teachers who independently lead assignments for writing articles in their classrooms.
Creating Wikipedia articles with gifted and talented high-school students will continue and expand. The enhancement will be apparent in both the number of classes we will work with, and the number of articles that will be created. During 2016 we will strengthen our collaboration with the Superintendent of Gifted Education in the Ministry of Education and we will strive to promote the Wikipedia Clubs or Wikipedia Ambassadors Program in several schools. In the coming year, we will be striving to sustain and expand our collaborations in education.
In 2016 we seek to expand activities in universities and colleges, based on a work model that is being developed these days. In addition to content creating operations, we will present the significance and academic value of Wikipedia Assignments Programs to academic associations, and to heads of academic institutions, in an effort to encourage the establishment of additional programs to initiate.
The Instruction Team (which consists only of our volunteers) is at the forefront of the Chapter’s operation. We will continue to expand and support this team through meetings, peer learning and the development of instructional tools. Together with the dedicated team of volunteers, we will continue to develop instructional tools. In 2016, we will work towards expanding our volunteer instruction team to further support our activities in schools and in the academia.
The highlight of this activity is a tutorial courseware for self learning of Wikipedia editing, the distribution of which was launched in mid-September. During the first half of 2016 we will examine that tool and adjust it as necessary. In addition to the courseware, additional tools for the use of teachers as well as for the general public will be developed.
In 2016 we will stress the disseminating of knowledge gained in the organization to our partners in the Movement around the world, and will bring in knowledge from abroad.
We will host the International Wikimedia Hackathon in Jerusalem in April 2016. We expect the arrival in Israel of about 150 developers for this event!
The Board of Directors of Wikimedia Israel has marked several strategic matters to delve into during the coming year:
- What is the role of Wikimedia Israel as far as the readers’ communities go?
- What should be Wikimedia Israel operations with small language communities that are active in Israel?
- Releasing materials in the Wiki-GLAM sector, what would lead to significant materials release in GLAM institutions?
In 2016 we will be focusing on our work in the education and academia, as well as continuing our communities support programs. In accordance with our strategic focus areas, activity in the GLAM field will be discontinued pending a board deliberation. In addition, the WLM photography contest will be held without the accompanying events, allowing us to shift our focus to areas where we expect a better return on investment in the form of quality content addition to the projects. Consequently, the GLAM partnership budget will be decreased by 83.5%, in addition to a reduction of 38% in our public engagement budget by prioritizing the Hackathon over the Wikipedia Annual Conference, which will be decreased in size or postponed. Additionally, the travel budget will be reduced by 38%.
Wikipedia-Community Support edit
Table 3
Program (1) # of newly registered users (2) # of active editors involved (3) # of individuals involved (4a) # of new images/media added to Wikimedia articles/pages (4b) # of new images/media uploaded (optional) (5) # of articles added or improved on Wikimedia projects (6) Absolute value of bytes added to or deleted from Wikimedia projects Community Support 270 610 930 170 1040 620 n/a 2015 60 286 346 160 360 165 n/a
Table 3 notes:
Meta-objective: Extending the support and keeping active editors of Wikimedia projects motivated
These meta-objectives will be developed through the following specific goals:
Tightening the bonds between community members through face-to-face gatherings edit
- 9-11 face-to-face gatherings for uniting Wikimedia communities in 2016:
- 3 social gatherings for community building.
- At least 60 editors from various communities will attend each gathering.
- At least 10 new editors will attend each gathering.
- The gatherings will be planned in conjunction with community members.
- 6-8 editor meetings: WMIL continue to support the editor meetings lead by veteran Wikipedians who present a subject they specialize in, to other community members.
- At least 5 gatherings including an edit-a-thon focused on subject content.
- At least 2 gatherings concerning writing supported aspects (e.g. technical tools, procedures, monitoring, copyright, etc.)
- Each session will be attended by an average of 8 Wikipedians.
- For 20% of the participants it will be the first visit in the Chapter’s offices.
- 10 tours titled "A Thousand Words". They will be attended by 10 participants each. 50 images photographed in each excursion.
- WMIL will help to achieve Feedbacks from experts for at least 10 Featured articles.
- Note: during May 2015 a veteran Wikipedian approached us with a request for assistance in contacting experts (mostly from the academic world) and getting them to provide feedback on recommended articles. During this year, several experts were approached and we have created a guideline, for evaluating a recommended article.
- Mini grants for supporting at least 4 community initiatives.
- Providing financial support for 2 article writing contests initiated by the community.
- During the contest, at least 40% of the subject list for articles will be written and no less than 30 new articles.
- At least 40% of the participants are to be new editors.
- Assistance and support for all copyright related inquiries.
Increasing participation of contributors
- The survey we conducted in August 2015 among HEWP editors reveals to us that contributors have different perception and needs than editors. Contributers in general are satisfied with the work atmosphere, mostly do not involved in conflicts and enjoy editing. During 2016 we will try to integrate them in the chapters' activities and plan special program form them. Until the end of the 1st quarter We intend to do a second survey only for contributors, a focus group or interviews.
- By the end of 2016 al least 100 contributors will take part in WMIL activities.
- At least 150 new articles created or improved by contributors in various WMIL programs.
Increase skills of key individuals in community to deal with conflicts
- A session with an expert on Internet Conflict Resolution and Communication Skills.
- At least 15 admins will participate in the meeting that will take place during quarter 2:
- At least 75% of the participants will receive new tools for self conduct
- At least 50% of the participants will attest to using the tools
Leading a move for the renewal of community tools (graphic and textual) intended for integrating new editors edit
Wikimedia Israel expands its support for new editors, online and offline. One of the challenges new editors face is the "internal" community jargon. In order to ease *nboarding, WMIL will encourage the Hebrew Wikipedia community members to refresh common pages and templates.
- Redesigning 4 major templates (e.g. the Welcome template).
- A 10% increase in the use of selected templates.
- Editing the wording and redesigning of an explanatory page of a technical kind.
- Editing the wording and redesigning of one of the pages concerning writing procedures.
- Editing the wording and redesigning of one of the instruction pages with guidance for social integration in the community and dealing with common situations that new editors encounter.
- Design and formulation of 2 projects management help pages (for example: contest page.)
- At least 4 Wikipedians will be involved in each process.
- Integrating 2-3 new editors in each process.
Expanding the diversity of editors in Wikimedia projects communities edit
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- Bridging the gender gap through:
- support for Wiki-Women group:
- Constant communication with project leader and follow-up on the group activity.
- Support for online activity of the Wiki-Women community (in Facebook and Wikipedia): Routinely responding to inquiries regarding editing, presenting tools and providing editing tips and updates on activities of the Chapter.
- 2 social gatherings for community building of Wiki-Women, each attended by 10 women.
- During the year 3 editing courses will be offered to new female editors joining in. 10 women will participate in each course. Each course will yield 10 newly created articles.
- 20% of participants in each course will persist for about six months following the course.
- photographing images of women in their workplace.
- support for Wiki-Women group:
- The images will be incorporated into articles. (images of women of various professions are missing in the Hebrew Wikipedia articles):
- Finding a new partner for the program by the end of Q1.
- The project will yield 100 photos, 50 of which will be integrated into articles.
- A writing contest of articles about women.
- Compiling a list of potential values in conjunction with the Hebrew Wikipedia community. The list will include at least 100 women from different fields.
- At least 80% of the articles will be created during the contest.
- At least 50% of the contenders will be women.
- At least 50% of the participants are to be new editors.
- Increasing Wikimedia Israel involvement in activities of editors of additional languages (spoken in Israel).
- Cultivating a community of editors in the Arab Wikipedia:
- Throughout the year, 8 gatherings will be held in which between 5 and 8 editors will participate.
- A stable core group of 4 editors will be formed by the end of the year.
- Cultivating a community of editors in the Arab Wikipedia:
Note: The Arabic speaking group began operating in mid-2015 and as of the time of writing this proposal, has held two meetings so far. It is not yet possible to form additional metrics for the group.
Supplementary information edit
In addition to the activities listed here, Wikimedia Israel has provided, and will continue to provide Wikipedians with legal aid. We have also involved in dealing with a Troll who was harassing several Wikipedians. The Chapter is also in constant contact with the media, which is a source of great satisfaction to the community. Community members, especially the veterans, know that the Chapter is at their disposal for all intents and purposes.
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Wikimedia Israel surveys among editors of Wikipedia  Wikimedia Israel conducted an editors’ survey in August among HEWP editors. The survey had two target audiences: active editors (with voting rights[1]) and contributors. The questionnaire was similar in content but was distributed differently. Active editors received a personal invitation to participate on their talk page, while contributors were invited through a “Sitenotice”. A wide community coverage consisting of 151 active editors and 171 contributors participated in the survey. Gender: Almost 20% of the respondents were women.
Among the active editors, only 10% were women whereas 29% of the contributors were women. The explanations (open answers) for limited diversity among the editors ranged from a negative community atmosphere to a conservative point of view about gender roles. New editors: A large majority of editors acknowledged that new editors wanted to contribute to HEWP. They recognized the importance of a continuous arrival of new editors and felt that new editors were welcome. Wikimedia Israel: Almost 60% of the respondents are familiar with Wikimedia Israel. As expected active editors are more acquainted with WMIL than contributors. Among them, 78% agree with the statement that WMIL provides practical support to editors. Initial insights: Importance of contributors: Wikimedia Israel should get to know it’s contributors (non-veteran editors), and build a working plan to support their work. We will do that by assembling a focus group and a survey. Cultivating our Diversity: The survey supported our investment in diversifying our community, showing a strong presence of women contributors. We will continue to strive for a diverse community, with an emphasis of supporting the Wiki-Women Group. Improving the work atmosphere: We are aware of the need to provide the tools for making the work atmosphere better. We need to improve our visibility: We will strive to ensure that any contributor and editor who can benefit from our support will be aware of the existing tools and services we provide. The Hebrew Wikipedia has adopted a policy of deletion upon a 55% majority, with no minimum number of votes. In these votes, only registered users with one month seniority and at least 100 edits in the article, image, category or template namespaces in the past 90 days can vote. |
Wikimedia initiatives- Community Support edit
Table 3
Program (1) # of newly registered users (2) # of active editors involved (3) # of individuals involved (4a) # of new images/media added to Wikimedia articles/pages (4b) # of new images/media uploaded (optional) (5) # of articles added or improved on Wikimedia projects (6) Absolute value of bytes added to or deleted from Wikimedia projects Community Support 495 91 586 50 5000 402 n.a. 2015 450 36 486 30 5000 319 n.a.
Table notes:
- Include WLM contest
Additional Metrics:
- The central activity metrics for the Wiktionary project and the developers' communities are measured by the strengthening of communities.
- Keeping the number of Wiktionary community at a level of 20 editors who regularly perform 5 edits per month, will be deemed a success.
- Forming, by the end of 2016, a group of 10 developers who chose a joint assignment to work on, will be deemed a success.
Meta-objective: Extending the support provided to active Wikimedia projects' editors and keeping them motivated.
These meta-objectives will be developed through the following specific goals:
Forming and stabilizing an independent Wiktionary community edit
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Background: During 2015, WMIL has initiated two key operations that further increased the Hebrew Wiktionary activity. These projects were supported by The Academy of Hebrew Language: A course for new editors and an article writing contest. These activities increased the number of project’s articles and the editor course also contributed to recruitment of a few new editors who joined the community. The main challenge facing the community and Chapter in 2016 is creating a sense of community among editors. A sense of community arises from several factors: relationships in the community, finding common grounds, mutual support, and continuity. During 2016 we will aspire to strengthen the sense of community among Wiktionary editors through:
- 1-2 social gatherings of Wiktionary editors attended by at least 8 active editors.
- Encouraging active editors to initiate and carry out internal projects (such as a contest / article quality improvement / establishing a portal)
- A closer cooperation with The Academy of Hebrew Language: assistance with language policy guidance. 1-2 professional meetings throughout the year, to create a professional common denominator.
- These activities will contribute to keeping the editors in the project active, and to further expanding the number of editors. At least 10 new active editors are to be added to the project according to a measure of 5 edits per month.
- A course for new editors:
- Recruiting 14 participants to the course with an emphasis on gender, age, and geographic diversity.
- Recruiting, among active Wiktionary editors, 2 new volunteers to lead the course.
- Each participant is to write at least 13 articles during the course.
- 50% of participants will still be active at least six months after the course.
Monitoring and assisting the Wikisource community edit
- Hosting two community events attended by 5 volunteers each.
- Assistance with releasing materials from libraries in Israel.
Note: Scanned materials that are not limited by copyright are currently not readily available to the public in Israel. We will continue to assist in releasing materials as per requests from editors.
Recruiting developers and building a community of developers in MediaWiki edit
Background: The 2016 Hackathon to be held in Jerusalem in April 2016 provides WMIL with a great opportunity to forge a community of volunteer developers.
- Preparations for the Hackathon:
- 50 local participants will register for the Hackathon.
- A preliminary meeting for participants of the local Hackathon that will include at least 30 new subscribers at the end of February 2016.
- 5 active volunteers will plan and carry out the preparatory meeting.
- After the Hackathon:
- 20% of the local participants in the Hackathon to express an interest in continuing their activity.
- 50% of these will attend a follow-up gathering about a month after the Hackathon.
- At least 2 volunteers continue to take part in the group's activities on a technical level.
Content & Education edit
Table 3
Program (1) # of newly registered users (2) # of active editors involved (3) # of individuals involved (4a) # of new images/media added to Wikimedia articles/pages (4b) # of new images/media uploaded (optional) (5) # of articles added or improved on Wikimedia projects (6) Absolute value of bytes added to or deleted from Wikimedia projects Content 1340 75 1415 320 670 750 n.a. 2015 685 15 700 30 50 314 n.a.
Table notes:
Meta-Objective: Improve content and contributors involvement in Wikimedia projects
Increasing the involvement of new editors and improving the quality of contents edit
- Mapping areas that are lacking in the Hebrew Wikipedia contents and calling upon professionals to contribute from their relevant knowledge to Wikipedia.
- 4-6 courses for interest group representatives will be held during the year.
- At least 10 participants (with emphasis on gender, age and geographic diversity) will take part in each course.
- At least 10 articles will be created or significantly expanded as part of each course.
- 15% of the participants are to continue editing for six months after the course.
Expanding the project for photographing public figures edit
- Photographing public figures in order to integrate their images in Wikipedia articles and raise awareness to free content in Israel.
- Volunteer participation in three major events for photographing public figures.
- Coordinating with the Knesset Secretariat, a photo shoot event for photographing Knesset members and raising awareness to free content.
- Photographing as per requests by Wikipedians.
- At least 550 images taken, 200 of which will be integrated in articles.
Education edit
Meta-objective: Development of an Educational Program with the aim to broaden the knowledge and active participation of the education community in Wikimedia projects.
These meta-objectives will be developed through the following specific goals:
Expanding the activity with gifted and talented students.
- Continued activity with 4 gifted classes (approximately 130 students)
- Equipping the pupils of 10 gifted classes across Israel with editing skills. Approximately 350 new students will participate in editing activity on Wikipedia.
- At least 140 new articles will be created by gifted and talented students.
- 85% or more of the created articles will be incorporated into the article sphere.
- At least 80% of the articles will meet the Indicator for High-School Students’ Articles.
- The editing tutorial courseware will be integrated into at least 60% of classes.
- Developing and pursuing further advanced activities for at least 15-20 gifted students who will have excelled in editing during the school year of 2015-16.
Note: the activity with gifted and talented students greatly expanded during the year 2015. After the Wikipedia Academy Conference we were contacted by many teachers and school headmasters and we have also established collaboration with a national educational network. In order to prepare for the growing demand during August, 30 new teachers were trained towards the project of integrating Wikipedia Assignments in the schools that is to take place in the coming school year.
At the end of the school year (July 2015) we requested feedback from teachers who have worked with us. The most important feedback we received was that teachers are lacking indicator for evaluating the assignments and for grading them. The need for measures has also been indicated when the education team was preparing the work plan for 2016. The measures were formed while writing the work plan (based on the quality metrics in the English Wikipedia).
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Indicator for Evaluation of a Wikipedia Article Written by a High school Student Content The article is written in such a manner that there is no need to read additional material in order to understand the basics of the topic. The article does not contain irrelevant information. The information discussed in the article is precise. Structure The article has a clear logical structure, conveyed by the arrangement of its chapters and paragraphs. The article starts with an overview which sums up the subject's main topic. The article consists of at least 500 words (about 3,000 bytes) Beyond text The article contains internal wiki links. Adding pictures, graphs and/or additional visual means to clarify the subject is welcome. Adding Wikipedia categories is welcome Language and Concepts The article is well written, uses good wording and is free of spelling and grammar mistakes. The article uses a clear language. There is no use in professional terms, apart from exceptional cases where required. In such cases, the terms are explained. Impartiality (Neutrality) The article contains no personal opinions. In the case of a controversial topic, the different points of view are presented in a balanced manner and without bias, and the balance between them is reflected also in the information sources. Sources The article is based on at least three relevant and reliable information sources (a book or a book chapter, academic article, journals, relevant content sites, and sometimes-daily press). The use of information sources and images is consistent with copyright laws.
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Turning to a more profound activity with teachers in order to shift opinions and stances, to expand the use of Wikimedia and to contribute to its projects edit
- An additional cycle of teachers’ training for the informed use of Wikimedia will commence in 2016. A 25% increase in the number of course graduates (to about 250 teachers.)
- 80% of the trained teachers will acquire skills for a better understanding and use of Wikipedia (on Article Talk Pages, Feedback, Search options, etc.).
- 20% of the teachers will attest to using in their classrooms, the skills they acquired during the training.
- An online training course will be developed in the first quarter of 2016, for teachers who will teach editing skills. 70 teachers will participate, and 50 articles will be created / extended.
- A training for teachers of gifted students will open with at least 30 participants.
Extending activities in academic institutions edit
- Continuation of the Wikipedia Assignment activity in 9 academic courses, led by volunteers.
- At least 20 articles will be created as part of each course.
- Approaching 2-3 research associations and calling upon them to promote collaboration that would lead to creating articles in Wikipedia.
- Presenting and communicating the activities in association meetings.
- At least three participants of each session to express interest in the activity and request further information.
- Presenting the Wikipedia Assignment Program to decision makers in 1-2 universities to promote policy change regarding Wikipedia.
- Expanding the academic activity to additional 6 courses.
- One course in a Translation Department (using translation tools); one course in a Teacher Training College; 3 additional courses.
- In each course 20 articles in the least will be created.
- At least 50% of lecturers will continue the activities in the following academic year.
- Examination of the intervention model.
- One course in a Translation Department (using translation tools); one course in a Teacher Training College; 3 additional courses.
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Reimagining Wikipedia Assignment program  Goals: Develop a program suitable to the needs of instructors and students and enriches Wikipedia with quality articles. Scale up the number of instructors who participate in Wikipedia Academic Assignment Programs in Israel. Develop new volunteering opportunities to Wikipedians and other volunteers. The Situation Today: Wikipedia Assignment programs is one of the most popular projects around the world. Students contribute thousands if not more articles every year to different Wikipedias. In Israel only handful of volunteers lead Wikipedia Assignment programs in universities. The main reasons that this Program is limited are: Recruitment of new instructors require time and skills. Today there are no written materials about the Program and the work plan of creating the assignments is not clear. The instructors who currently participates in WMILs’ Wikipedia Assignment Programs either had previous editing experience or wish to expand the knowledge in Wikipedia about a particular subject (eg. feminist scholars). The importance of allocating resources for the development of materials and persuasion of instructors is even greater given that many professors are suspicious towards Wikipedia: a significant effort is required in order to change their attitude towards Wikipedia - from “an unreliable source” to a tool for cultivating learning by also enriching Wikipedia. Difficulty to recruit volunteers for Wikipedia Assignment programs. Description of the need: Planning a model for Wikipedia Assignment program which includes a clear work plan, curriculum and assignments. The program should make sense for both student learning and for Wikipedia, and can be scaled up on a trial-and-error basis using information gathered in the process. The new model would be suited to instructors’ needs, easy to run and based on limited offline volunteers time. Planning Learning:
Designing
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Training edit
Table 3
Program (1) # of newly registered users (2) # of active editors involved (3) # of individuals involved (4a) # of new images/media added to Wikimedia articles/pages (4b) # of new images/media uploaded (optional) (5) # of articles added or improved on Wikimedia projects (6) Absolute value of bytes added to or deleted from Wikimedia projects Training 700 17 1000 100 n.a.
Table notes:
Meta-Objective: Improving the training infrastructure for Wikimedia initiatives
Development, implementation, and dissemination of training tools for promoting editing throughout Wikimedia projects edit
In 2016 we will continue to develop training tools and expand the Wikimedia Israel instruction materials array, in order to reach wider audiences. Training tools will be developed for both end users and for instructors, teachers and lecturers.
- Tools for the general public:
- Producing a video about the editing community members, meant help potential new editors to get to know them and integrate in the community.
- Writing a style guide for encyclopedic writing (encyclopedic significance, informative writing, use of sources, etc.)
- Note: these tools will also be used for activities with students and with teachers.
- Expanding the use of the educational courseware:
- 700 individual users will make use of the courseware during the year.
- The courseware will be integrated into at least 60% of the instructional activities of WMIL.
- At least 60 articles will be written or extended by independent users (who did not take part in any of the Chapter’s activities.)
- An effectiveness assessment of the courseware will be held during the second quarter.
- Expanding the use of the educational courseware:
- Tools for the school system and the academia:
- Creating a comprehensive binder with lesson plans, related tasks, evaluation metrics, and test cases from the educational system.
- Developing a feedback questionnaire for educational and academic partners to examine the degree of their satisfaction with the activity and products.
- 70% of lecturers and teachers to fill out the feedback questionnaire upon completion of the project.
Cultivating and professionalizing the Instructional Team edit
- Maintaining an ongoing contact between Instruction Coordinator and the team of volunteers.
- 6 instructional staff meetings during the year of which 4 face-to-face meetings and 2 online meetings. A 50% attendance of the instructional staff in each meeting.
- Bi-monthly email update of the Instructional Team, for update and dialog.
- 4 success stories of instructional team members to be publicized.
- Scheduling and implementing a training course in order to expand the instructional team:
- Recruiting 10 participants, with emphasis on gender, age, and geographic diversity, that has previous editing experience.
- At least 7 of the course participants to take part in the training projects during the second half of 2016.
International Cooperation edit
Increase international cooperation and exchange
- Publicizing educational instruction materials to the international educational community. Cultural adaptation and translation of at least 3 lesson plans for teachers.
- Ongoing publicizing, on international platforms, of the Chapter’s activities: 4 significant projects to be made public.
- The local community is to be informed of at least 4 activities that take place in other Chapters around the world and that are publicized in the foundation’s publications.
- WMIL will facilitate the participation of at least 4 representative of the Israeli Wikimedia communities in Wikimania 2016
Staff and contractors: upcoming year's annual plan edit
- 1. Please describe your organization's staffing plan or strategy here, or provide a link to your organization's staffing plan or organogram.
At present, WMIL employs 3.8 FTEs: an Executive Director (ED), a Community Coordinator, Activities Coordinator and Education & Instruction Coordinator. Starting August 2015, we are working with a fundraising consultancy firm that will help diversify WMIL financial resources.
- Responsibilities of Activities Coordinator: The role of Activities Coordinator splits to two parts: Finance and Administration and co-running with leading volunteers several programs such as Wikipedia Academy Conference, WLM and more She also the WMIL’s contact person to Wiktionary community. In 2016, the Hackathon will be also under her responsibility.
- Responsibilities of Education & Instruction Coordinator: The Education & Instruction Coordinator leads the WMIL education programs in school and universities with the volunteer instruction team. She builds up new plans and collaborations. As Instruction Coordinator, she develops and helps implement training tools and supports the volunteer instruction team.
- Responsibilities of Community Coordinator: The main role of the Community Coordinator is with the HEWP community. She is responsible for community support and communication and works closely with Wiki-Women group.
- The Executive Director is responsible for the management of the organization according to the strategic direction set by the Board of Directors. The ED’s duties are: plan and manage the human resource (volunteers and staff), finance and programs and in collaboration with the Board of Directors, develop a vision and strategic plan to guide the chapter forward. She also leads new partnerships and works closely on fundraising. In addition to the Chairperson, she acts as a spokesperson for the organization and for the Wikimedia Movement in Israel.
- 2. List of staff by department or function.
- You can use this table (or substitute your own list) to show us the number of FTEs (fulltime equivalents) for each department or function, where one person working at 100% time would be counted as 1.0. We need this information about the total number of staff (FTEs) you will have hired by the end of the current funding period, and staff you will have hired by the end of the proposed funding period.
Table 4
FTEs Department or function End of current funding period End of upcoming funding period Explanation of changes Executive Director 1 1 Activities Coordinator 1 0.85 In favor of Master's degree Community Coordinator 0.6 0.6 Education & Instruction Coordinator 1 1 Long-term contractors (Fundraising) 0.2 0.2 from 8/2015 Total (should equal the sum of the rows): 3.8 3.65
Table 4 notes or explanation of significant changes:
- 3. How much does your organization project to spend on staff during the current funding period, or in the twelve month period before your proposed grant will start (e.g. 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016), in currency requested and US dollars?
- Currency requested - 590,000
- US dollars - 149,936
- 4. How much does your organization expect to spend on staff during the proposed funding period (e.g. 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016), in currency requested and US dollars?
- Currency requested - 628,000
- US dollars - 159,593
Financials: upcoming year's annual plan edit
Detailed budget: upcoming year's annual plan edit
- Please link to your organization's detailed budget showing planned revenues and expenses for the upcoming funding period (e.g. 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016). This may be a document included on this Wiki (Meta) or a publicly available spreadsheet.
Revenues: upcoming year's annual plan edit
- 1. Does your organization plan to draw on its operating reserves during the upcoming funding period to support its expenses? If so, please provide the amount you intend to draw from your reserves here. This should not be included as revenue in the table below.
- By the end of the current funding period we estimate that the operating reserves will be 50,000 NIS = 12,706$. It will be used for funding the Hackathon, along with additional funds that are currently being raised.
- 2. Please use this table to list your organization's anticipated revenues (income, or the amount your organization is bringing in) by revenue source (where the revenue is coming from) in the upcoming funding period (e.g. 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016). Use the status column to show if this funding is already guaranteed, if you are in the process of requesting funding, or if you are planning to request funding at a later time. Please feel free to include in-kind donations and resources in this table, as applicable, but use the status column to show that they are in-kind resources.
Table 5
Anticipated revenues for the upcoming funding period Revenue source Currency requested US dollars Status (e.g. guaranteed, application) Donations from individuals 8,000 2,033 Estimated Sponsors 0 0 We focus on seeking for sponsors to 2016 Hackathon Funds 120,000 30,496 Estimated. In process Membership fees 1,500 381 Estimated WMF 834,000 211,944 In the process of requesting funding Partnerships 83,400 21,194 In process Total revenues (should equal the sum of the rows): 1,046,900 266,048 - In Kind 363,000 92,249 Estimated
Table 5 notes: If your organization has significant funding other than FDC funds, please note how those funds will be used.
Operating reserves: upcoming year's annual plan edit
Please note that there is a policy that places restrictions on how much FDC funding your organization can use to build its operating reserves. If you would like to use FDC funding to for your organization's reserves, you must note that here. You will not be able to decide to allocate FDC funding from this grant to your reserves at a later date.
- 1. How much does your organization plan to have in operating reserves by the end of the current funding period?
- As state before: By the end of the current funding period we estimate that the operating reserves will be 50,000 NIS = 12,706$. It will be used for funding the Hackathon, along with additional funds that are currently being raised.
- 2. How much does your organization plan to have in operating reserves by the end of the upcoming funding period?
- 3. If your organization plans to use FDC funding to increase your reserves in the upcoming funding period, how much FDC funding will your organization use to build reserves?
Expenses: upcoming year's annual plan edit
- 1. Expenses by program (excludes staff and operations).
- Program expenses are the costs associated specifically with your organization's programs. These costs do not include operating expenses or staff salaries, which will be described in separate tables. For example, program expenses may be the costs of an event, the costs of outreach materials specific to a program, budgets for microgrants and reimbursements, or technical costs associated with specific programs. The programs listed in this table should correspond to the programs you have listed in the programs section of this proposal form.
Table 6
Program Currency requested US dollars Community Support (Wikipedia) 64,600 16,417 Communities support (Wikimedia Initiatives) 10,000 2,541 Developing infrastructure to promote openly licensed materials 8,000 2,033 Collaboration for free content 43,000 10,928 Training 25,100 6,379 Free knowledge awareness 11,500 2,922 Global engagement 64,100 16,290 Communication and publicity 9,500 2,414 Total program expenses (should equal the sum of the rows) 235,800 59,924
Table 6 notes: If your organization has significant funding other than FDC funds for specific programs, please make a note of that here.
- 2. Total expenses. Please use this table to summarize your organization's total expenses overall.
- These are divided into three expenses categories: (1) staff expenses from Table 4 (including staff expenses for both staff working on programs and operations), (2) expenses for programs from Table 7 (does not include staff expenses or operations expenses), and (3) expenses for operations (does not include staff expenses or program expenses). Be sure to check the totals in this table to make sure they are consistent with the totals in the other tables you have submitted with this form. For example, your total program expenses excluding staff will be equal to the total in Table 7, while your total staff expenses will be equal to the total in Table 4 and your total expenses will be equal to the total in Table 1.
Table 7
Expense type Currency requested US dollars Program expenses (total from Table 7, excludes staff) 235,800 59,924 Operations (excludes staff and programs) 182,940 46,490 Upcoming staff total expenses (from Table 4) 628,000 159,593 Amount to be added to operating reserves (if applicable) 0 Total expenses (should equal the sum of the rows) 1,046,740 266,008
Table 7 notes:
Verification edit
Please enter "yes" or "no" for the verification below.
- The term “political or legislative activities” includes any activities relating to political campaigns or candidates (including the contribution of funds and the publication of position statements relating to political campaigns or candidates); voter registration activities; meetings with or submissions and petitions to government executives, ministers, officers or agencies on political or policy issues; and any other activities seeking government intervention or policy implementation (like “lobbying”), whether directed toward the government or the community or public at large. Grants for such activities (when permitted under U.S. law and IRS regulations) should be sought from the Wikimedia Foundation Project and Event Grants Program.
Yes
I verify that this proposal requests no funds from the Wikimedia Foundation for political or legislative activities Yes
Once this proposal is complete, please sign below with the usual four tildes.
Please do not make any changes to this proposal form after the proposal submission deadline for this round. If a change that is essential to an understanding of your organization's proposal is needed, please request the change on the discussion page of this form so it may be reviewed by FDC staff. Once submitted, complete and valid proposal forms submitted on time by eligible organizations will be considered unless an organization withdraws its application in writing or fails to remain eligible for the duration of the FDC process.