Learning and Evaluation/News/Learning Days for Wikimedia Conference 2017/Traditional Learning Days track

Engaging Volunteers Collab Exchange

Abstract

Many volunteers are motivated to join the Wikimedia Movement because of their connection to the mission of the movement rather than the particular skills they can bring to the movement. This presentation will present effective approaches for recruiting volunteers into leadership roles in the Wikimedia Movement. Additionally, the session will discuss strategies and best practices for supporting and appreciating volunteers.

Amount of time required

1 hr 15 min.

Specific learning objectives

Participants will learn basic ideas about how to recruit people in the Wikimedia Movement and turn them into leaders.
Participants will learn strategies for retaining skilled volunteers by providing mentoring, training, support, and appreciation.

Plan

Panel presentation about best practices and pitfalls about volunteer engagement (20 min)
Participants break into small groups to discuss and document examples, small groups facilitated by panel (40 min)
Participants come together to share examples of best practices (15 min)

Presenter roles

Sydney Poore, panel member/facilitates a small group
May Hashem, panel member/facilitates a small group
Addis Wang, panel member/facilitates a small group
Artur Khalatyan, panel member/facilitates a small group

Project Support Tools Rotation

Abstract

In this session, 4 presenters will be prepare a short interactive presentation on 4 different topics:

The do’s and don’ts of proposal writing OR How to write a strong grant proposal (Kacie)
Transitioning among grants programs (Winifred)
What is the Wikimedia Resource Center and how it can help you? (María)
How to craft strong grant metrics (Sati)

Participants will rotate from one topic table to the next after 15 minutes, and at the end, we will gather impressions and feedback from all participants involved.

Amount of time required

1 hour and 15 minutes

Specific learning objectives

Participants will learn basic guidelines in proposal writing.
Participants will learn where to find the resources they need.
Participants will have a general understanding of how to craft metrics.

Plan

Introduction (5 min)
Topic Rotations (15 min per topic = 60 min)
Conclusion (10 min)

Presenter roles

Kacie Harold, Do’s and Don’t’s of grants
Delphine Menard, Level up in grants programs
María Cruz, Wikimedia Resource Center
Sati Houston, Grant Metrics

Program Planning Collaboration Exchange

Abstract

How do you think about the impact your program has? And how do you measure it? When you're making programmatic decisions, it's really important to consider impact — and to avoid making the same mistakes others have already made when it comes to thinking about impact. In this session, we'll go over 5.5 mistakes one group has made when thinking about program impact, and what they've learned from them. With each point, we'll have an opportunity for participants to discuss in small groups whether these are also present in their programs, and share their learnings with the group. At the end of the sessions, participants should have a better understanding of best practices for groups in the Wikimedia universe to think about impact.

Amount of time required 1 hr

Specific learning objectives

Participants learn from the experiences of their colleagues, to avoid common mistakes in program planning.
Participants put their own program planning challenges in context, by learning from others who are experiences similar challenges.
Participants may lay some groundwork for solving common challenges together.

Plan

Participants will sit in tables with others who run similar programs in their regions (e.g., GLAM table, Education Program table, Editathons table, etc.). If you run more than one type of program, choose one! The goal is that you can all share about how your program is currently working and how you will plan that program for the future.
Everyone will reflect on what program impact means and why it's important.
Wiki Education Foundation will share mistakes they've made when thinking about the impact of their education program. With each mistake, they will share what they've learned from that mistake. A question on each topic will prompt small group discussions at the tables, with a presenter from each table sharing answers back.
Participants will have an opportunity to share other learnings they've had in thinking about program impact.

Presenter roles

LiAnna Davis, presenter

Winifred Olliff, facilitator

Outcomes

Slides from LiAnna Davis's presentation "The 5.5 biggest mistakes we've made when thinking about program impact — and what we’ve learned from them" at Wikimedia Conference 2017.

The following are transcriptions of the notes from each of the small group discussions. If I made a mistake in reading your penmanship, please correct it! :)

GLAM

Why is it important to think about impact?

Get funding
Report for funding
Show impact for organization (why should I work with us)
Show impact for movement
Diversity of impact — metrics, intangible, tangible, long term, short term
Compound impact — showing benefits to partners opens more doors and opportunities, organizations getting interested
To know what the point is — allows you to see the big picture

What is your program’s primary goal?

Bringing resources together
Primary goal of all projects is to help organizations to make unique contributions to Wikimedia projects, eg spread knowledge, unique books, scanned and made available)
Make existing information more accessible
Cultural change
Helping other organizations to contribute more easily in the future
Raise awareness of open knowledge

What is your theory of change for how you’re helping readers?

Provides unique, specialized, difficult to access information
1. Change the narrative of Africa, allows people to own their own narrative
2. Wikipedia is more written by experts of a subject
Adds more voices to Wikipedia, gives a more full picture of subjects, reduces bias, adds a diversity of perspectives
1. Makes Wikipedia more pretty with better pictures

How could you triple the number of your program participants?

Take credit for other people’s work
Help existing projects succeed — offer expertise
Organizations, staff, volunteers can run/participate
More partner organizations
Communicating basic information through personal contact
Documentation — introductory material, instructional material
Sector advocates within the organizations autonomously
Build capacity to run programs

What partnerships are you pursuing? Who do they help your primary goal?

1 on 1 relationship with curators of knowledge to get their content and knowledge
Network organizations (eg professional organizations who have access to people to build relationships)
Professional development orgs to grow the horde and help get content
Policy organizations to change policy, advocate

Photo contests

Why is it important to think about impact?

Impact is education.
Impact is change.
We need to make something bigger than a program itself.

What is your program’s primary goal?

To have all Wikipedia articles thoroughly illustrated, to have media files needed for that.

What is your theory of change for how you’re helping readers?

Encyclopedic reading can be enriched with photos.

How could you triple the number of your program participants?

Give participants passion about taking part
- Invite personally
- Make diverse prizes
- Explain the procedure

What partnerships are you pursuing? How do they help your primary goal?

Partnership with photography association so they involve their members with WLM
Office of antiquity — help with lists
Museum which gives space for events
Network content and content partners

Education Program Group 1

Why is it important to think about impact?

What is? A difference we make, on who, for what, how long, how much, and how?
Accountability
- Organization social impact for society
- Funds accountability in general
Think about why you are doing what you are doing and are you focused on the right things, achieve something and measure
You need people/participants (influencing people)

What is your program's primary goal?

Increasing number of women editors (Egypt), and increasing number of female biographies
Improving K-12 and academic student education for Nepali students, increase number of people participating in user group. Education is the platform to do this.
Spiral program that affects many things, harder to do if you just have one session. Possible to do more than just one goal
Susana: retention is the main goal, professors are interconnected, trained in system, training
CM, bylaws, more free knowledge to more people

What is your theory of change for how you're helping readers?

More quality content ->Content hard to understand. Working to improve content by not thinking about readers.
In education programs, high school students can write less complex
Some projects have a feedback box for editors
A difference between consuming knowledge vs teaching how to read WP properly. Evaluating digital literacy.
How to create knowledge
Not everyone speaks English and want to have information in your language

How could you triple the number of your program participants?

Differs based on starting size
Equipment, students don't have laptops, lack of technology and internet. Kiwix for network
Partnership mentorship?

What partnerships are you pursuing? How do they help your primary goal?

Funding can direct what kind of partnerships you do
Ministry of Education
- Increase salary for editing Wikipedia
- Serbia, Israel
Include WP in training seminar
Partnership with collab design for kids, approaching students from tech aspect and Wikipedia as new technology
Universities
Gifted students in wikicamp which targets young people and helps them improve

Education Program Group 2

Why is it important to think about impact?

Because we receive funding from the public
- Accountability to donors, spend on the right thing, in the right way
Prioritization of unlimited projects/proposals
- Allocation of resources
Expand the impact of smaller projects
Pilot experiment

What is your program's primary goal?

Quality vs quantity
Goals depend on the program
Quality wise, get the academics into editing Wikipedia
Incentives (extra points, certificates/awards)
Meetings/meetups (physical, online)
Mentoring, introduction of new members
Number of students has to be manageable
Critical thinking (individual level)
Editathons create better readers

How could you triple the number of program participants?

encourage participants to bring their friends with them in a program

What partnerships are you pursuing? How do they help your primary goal?

Currently we are interested in partnering with other organizations who share the value of open culture so that we can engage more related orgs with us and share their resources.
Relationships with experts -- they can evaluate the quality
Wiki <-> Academia

Editathons

How could you triple the number of your program participants?

Monetary incentives for contents, but might only bring people for the contest.
- Relates to the need for recognition.
Meetups instead of editathon.
- Editathon is strange in translation

What is your theory of change for who you’re helping readers?

Readers are evangelists of the projects, of the value/reliability of information

What partnerships are you pursuing? How do they help your primary goal?

GLAM (eg National Academy of Science), lists of people, sources
- Take time and energy to establish boundaries
Wikimedia partnerships
Because primary focus is content, pursue content partnerships
Exposure due to the partner promotion

Making it count

Slides on Commons
Handouts on Commons
Abstract

Wikimedia Programs are known to have brought the largest amounts of new editors in the past years, as well as the largest amounts of new content added to the Wikimedia Projects. This, powered by the movement tradition of replicating other successful programs has led to multiple implementations of these outreach initiatives. Since 2013, the Learning and Evaluation team at the Wikimedia Foundation has been collecting data on programs to better understand how they work towards movement goals. We now have two program reports that should help as a resource for community leaders that want to start a new program in their local context. How can you better use this data to design your own Wikimedia Program? What systems are in place to learn from others in the movement? In this session, we will look at successful programs globally and analyze why they work, looking at the logic behind them. We will work together to bring out a formula that could help participants think through the characteristics of their community, the problems they would like to solve and how to create programs that help solve them. We will look at existing program data and work in groups to pick a program with SMART targets, based on that information.

Amount of time required

80 minutes

Type of presentation

Workshop / Panel

Specific learning objectives

Participants will learn how to use data to design a program that works on a local level.
Participants will learn how to share back their experience to the wider movement.

Plan

Introduction: 4 minutes introduction with program showcase.
Step 1: Familiarize yourselves with your community scenario. (2 min sharing + 5 min activity)
Step 2: Define your challenge. (2 min sharing +5 min activity)
Step 3: Set goals and targets for those challenges. (5 min sharing + 10 min activity)
Step 4: Based on steps 1-3, choose one program (5 minutes sharing + 15 min activity)
Step 5: draft your program plan: what will you need to start? How can your community support you? (3 min sharing + 10 min activity)
Wrap up: 9 minutes to share reflections.

Presenter roles

Amanda Bittaker, facilitator
María Cruz, facilitator.
Community presenter 1, facilitates a small group

Budget and Budget Tracking

Budget and Budget tracking workshop slides on commons
Abstract

Budgeting and Budget Tracking: Is a key part of planning and effectively using resources. In this session, participants will understand the structure of a budget, and how to track against it. Participants will outline their own budget and then discuss strategies to address common budget challenges.

Amount of time required

75 minutes

Specific learning objectives

Participants understand how budgets tie program planning with resources
Participants understand the basic dimensions of a budget

Fiscal Period (Time)
Natural Accounts (Budget Line items)
Programs (or Projects)
+ narrative/descriptions

Participants understand how to record and track expenses against their budget within the dimensions that are appropriate to their needs
Facilitated discussion: participants share strategies of how they have addressed (or would address) some common budgeting challenges

How to deal with a situation where a program costs less than expected?
How to deal with a situation where a program costs more than expected?
What if I need to completely redesign my program in the middle of the budget period?

Plan Summary

Introduce the high-level purpose of budgeting and resource planning (5 min)
Explain key dimensions
Illustrate dimensions with a real example from a User Group or Chapter (10min)
Participants work in pairs (or independently) to draw on paper the essential dimensions of their own affiliates budget, or using an existing budget, identify their relevant dimen(15 min)
Participants partner with another individual or pair to share the budget they created and why (5 min) [REMOVED for sake of time]
Participants come together to share what they found most difficult about creating their budget and what questions they encountered(10 min)
Explain how to tracking expenses against the budget and organize your expense records(15 min)

Present an example from an affiliate on how to track actual expenses and keep records
(There will be a follow up session on tools)

Facilitated discussion on common challenges. (15 min)

Question to the participants: What have you done in these situations? What worked well? What didn’t work?

Roles

James: present on purpose of budgeting and resource planning (Plan #1)
James: Session Facilitator. Presents budget dimensions (Plan #2)
Nikola: presents their budget example (#2)
Romaine: Present on how to track expenses against a budget and provide a community example(#7)
TBD: Facilitates debrief on budget building exercise (#6) and facilitates discussion on how to address common budget challenges (#8)

Mapping GLAM Workflows and documentation

Abstract

Documentation of GLAM-Wiki projects, workflows and skill development live in disparate parts of the Wikimedia ecosystem. To help refine the model materials available for this documentation and to build awareness of different types of skills and workflows used in GLAM projects, we will be exploring how to understand common workflows and in small groups, learn about other’s approaches to GLAM projects. This new information will then be collected, and contribute to a larger documentation mapping and facilitation project by WMF, WMUK and WMSE.

Amount of time required

38 minutes

Specific learning objectives

Participants will learn the value of documentation for any stage of a program that they are coordinating. Participants will understand different approaches to GLAM projects and their development Participants will learn what standard practices exist for specific GLAM initiatives.

Plan

5 - 7 Explain workflow mapping and its value. Focus on the model from Stuart and how it facilitates access to documentation. This time is limited, so discussion needs to be limited. 10 - 15 minutes individual workflow - “Map a project that you have done multiple times. Try to add all the steps that you can think of in that project and note where you refer to documentation on Wiki” 15 minutes of group conversation Present your map to a small group of 2-4 -- As the person presents, asks questions about the workflows, and place sticky notes on the page where new steps are discovered or you have feedback with each other’s maps 3 - 5 minute wrap

Presenter roles

Alex Stinson
Stuart Prior?
Romaine?

Creating a safe and welcoming event

Abstract

As offline events become more popular and prevalent in the Wikimedia movement the topic of attendee and organizer safety has become an even more important one to think about and is generally required by grant agreements etc. No matter the size or location of the event some sort of planning and preparation can go a long way to ensuring that the event is welcoming and safe with minimal stress for the organizers themselves.

Amount of time

37 minutes

Specific learning objectives

Understand the expectations for attendee safety at events
Have a general understanding of basic steps and how to find more support and resources

Plan

10 minutes - Intro to event safety- slides, whiteboard
20 minutes - Group session - note board - Presenters roam
7 minutes - Wrap up with group (Presenters report back)

Presenter roles

James Alexander
Sydney Poore

Traditional Tools Rotation

A lot of Wikimedia tools are very useful for running, tracking, and evaluating programs. There are tools to make uploading media easier, hearing from participants easier, and tracking and showcasing what you’ve done more easily as well. In this rotation, different tables will showcase key tools program leaders have found useful. Participants spend 5 minutes learning about a tool before rotating to a different table to learn about a new tool. Tables will include:

how to upload media with PattyPan and GLAMpipe
program management with the Program and Events Dashboard
how to find resources with the Wikimedia Resource Center
how to track viewing and editing statistics with PetScan
how to build a survey with the Survey Support Desk
how to find any public data in the MediaWiki databases with Quarry handout on Commons
how to submit bugs and track tasks with Phabricator

Amount of time required

45 minutes

Specific learning objectives

Learn the following about at least 4 tools:

What the tool is and what it does
Which situations the tool is most useful for
Where to find more information about the tool

Plan

Explain how the session works and the tables (5 min)
Participants rotate around tables (5 minutes each table, 2 mintues of rotation) (40 min)
Wrap up (2 min)

Presenter roles

Amanda Bittaker, introduces session
Alex Stinson leads media upload table
LiAnna Davis leads PE Dashboard table
Maria leads Wikimedia Resource Center table
Community participant leads PetScan table
Edward leads Survey table
Amanda leads Quarry table
Erica leads Phabricator table (TLDR flyer)

Project Planning Workshop

Audience: Wikimedia affiliates who want to start a new project
Session Format: Workshop
Length: 60 min
Room setting: U-Shape
Description: Based on Jessie Wild’s presentation at Wikimedia Conference 2014:

This workshop is intended to be the third in a row in the capacity building track, after a session on creating strategies for Wikimedia affiliates and a session on creating annual plans based on organizational strategies. It follows up on similar presentations at previous Wikimedia Conferences and Wikimanias (“Making Ideas into Action”), bringing strategic ideas down to concrete projects.

We will share some basic theoretical principles of collaborative project creation and development. We will then offer an activity for participants to apply this knowledge to concrete ideas they bring to the workshop.

Participants will work in pairs (or groups of four to five), and fill out a worksheet (possibly a project charter), where they will describe a few initial tasks to complete. The worksheet is intended to be the planning document for this project.

Desired Outcome: Participants will leave with a clear sense of how to work through ideas and create sustainable projects.
Mid-term impact: More elaborated grant proposals by WMF affiliates
Speakers: Kacie Harold, Nikola Kalchev

Making decision Together: Tools for community listening

A presentation about community listening tools and decision making.

A handout to learn about various tools to help with decisionmaking and listening to communities

Abstract

Listening to community voices in a balanced way is key to making decisions that are collaborative and legitimate, an important value of the movement. There are many tools we use: surveys, consultations, community wish lists, mailing lists, and many others. These tools are each unique and are not just about getting input, but also are also a way to gather insights about needs, challenges, or opportunities of communities. In this session, participants will need to work through a challenge and figure out which tool would work best and try to figure out how to best design that tool based on specific requirements.

Amount of time required

45 minutes

Specific learning objectives

Participants will learn how to pick a certain tool
Participants will learn available resources for each tool

Plan

Introduce the topic (15 minutes)
Participants break into small groups, read problem statements and fill out a worksheet (20 minutes)
Present back to group (10 minutes)

Facilitator roles

Edward Galvez, Facilitator

Storytelling session and poster mixer

Abstract

Storytelling is a skill that not everybody is born with, but anybody can learn. With a structured approach, we walk participants through key concepts in storytelling practice, using the ABCD framework. Participants apply this to a specific project they want to communicate, and leave with a clear idea of key messages they need to develop in their communications plan. In this workshop, we will also review the posters submitted to apply the ABCD and see what is good about the poster, and what could use more work.

Amount of time required

60 minutes

Specific learning objectives

Participants will learn basic concepts and practices in storytelling.
Participants will draft first key messages they want to share about a project they want to communicate.
Participants will apply the ABCD framework to posters.

Presenters

María Cruz, facilitator