Grants:Project/WM BO/Leamos Wikipedia en Bolivia

This project is funded by a Project Grant

proposal

people

timeline & progress

finances

midpoint report

final report

statusselected

Project Grants

Leamos Wikipedia en Bolivia

summaryWe want for teachers to be able to use Wikipedia openly in the classroom to foster critical reading on line.

targetWikipedia in Spanish

amount30000

grantee• Caleidoscopic• Alhen

contact• Caleidoscopic olga.lidigmail.com• wikimedistasgmail.com

organization• Wikimedistas de Bolivia

this project needs...

volunteer

advisor

created on15:11, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Friendly space expectations

Project idea

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

What problem are you trying to solve by doing this project? This problem should be small enough that you expect it to be completely or mostly resolved by the end of this project. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

The learning process in Bolivia took a sudden turn and went online because of the pandemic, just as in almost any other country in the world. However, unlike most of them, Bolivia’s education system stopped altogether. Since the second wave is still hitting our country, there is a great need for teachers to apply new teaching techniques to the digital environment.

Wide internet access in Bolivia is still a very recent phenomenon, and it mostly takes place via mobile phones. Forced and fast migration to remote education presents important challenges both to students and teachers, who have to develop different skills needed for the teaching-learning process in the digital environment.Essential activities such as the development of critical reading skills in the research process online becomes key and the development of these skills should be done in parallel to the national curriculum. This process is reflected in additional costs and time for teachers who find themselves developing these skills by themselves as self-taught people.

The relationshp between the cost of internet access and the family income in Bolivia can result in the widening of the digital gap. Paired with the lack of reliable and organized information aligned with curricular needs in Bolivia even in cooperative spaces such as Wikipedia . is a challenge to fulfill the right to education. This is even more prevalent in rural settings and among indigenous peoples of Bolivia.

We believe that it’s evident we need to establish bridges between the communities with a wider experience in the use of digital tools and the education community in Bolivia. This way we can reduce the time it takes education actors to become familiar and comfortable in digital environments and to collaboratively develop the skills contained in UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy framework (MIL) in its 3 components: access, assessment, and creation of information and media content. 

What is your solution to this problem?

For the problem you identified in the previous section, briefly describe your how you would like to address this problem. We recognize that there are many ways to solve a problem. We’d like to understand why you chose this particular solution, and why you think it is worth pursuing. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

As part of a set of solutions to address this issue we propose the implementation of a evolved version of the Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom program(5) in Bolivia so we can increase the positive impact achieved among the community of Bolivian high school teachers engaged in the 2020 pilot.

The Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom program led by the Wikimedia Foundation Education team in three countries including Bolivia during 2020 developed and adapted materials and methodology to integrate Wikipedia and the MIL framework. This program provided teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to use Wikipedia as a pedagogical tool to foster critical reading skills, to raise awareness about knowledge gaps, and to start their journey as Wikipedians with a high sense of responsibility and collaboration. The program contains 3 modules which are aligned with the MIL framework components and makes direct connections between Wikipedia practices and teaching methodologies. Each module includes a Teacher’s Guide with practical activities, reflection questions, and two training sessions. Three members of the Wikimedistas de Bolivia user group have served as local coordinators for the initiative and have gained the experience needed to deliver this training program by working closely with the Wikimedia Foundation Education team.

The evaluation stage that took place during December 2020 has shown us the wide and positive acceptance and satisfaction about the contents, methodology, and coordination team from the perspective of the participating teachers. Initially the program had 600 applicants from which we chose 100 to start this pilot cohort, so we are very encouraged to develop new versions of the program in 2021 to engage more teachers all over the country.

According to the experience we have acquired in the 2020 pilot (in which members of the Wikimedistas de Bolivia user group were directly involved as local coordinators) we propose two cycles of application of the program. We also propose to align more intentionally with the pillars (areas of focus) of the Bolivian education system:

• Decolonisation,
• Intra- and inter-culturalism along with plurilingualism,
• Productivity
• Community education.

General program improvements

Improving material resources:

• Printed educational resources
• Expansion of training sessions with a focus on editing skills
• Translation of resources to 3 original languages of Bolivia
• Adaptation of educational booklets created by Wikimedia Argentina

Supporting community building:

• Managing a WhatsApp group chat (requested by the teachers in the pilot)
• Funding the connectivity costs of at least 10 teachers in each cohort/stage
• Funding childcare cost for at least 10 teachers in each cohort/stage

• Improvinge the communication strategy to engage the active participation ofwith at leastss 30 teachers by cycle

Improving educational content on Wikimedia projectsresources:

• More emphasis in promoting content creation in local languages
• Using sister projects such as Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (according to teachers’ needs and interests)
• Fostering the exchange and use of free multimedia local resources.

Project goals

What are your goals for this project? Your goals should describe the top two or three benefits that will come out of your project. These should be benefits to the Wikimedia projects or Wikimedia communities. They should not be benefits to you individually. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

The objectives of the project are the following:

• To improve teachers’ understanding of how to use Wikipedia (and other Wikimedia projects) as a pedagogical tool to foster media and information literacy skills.  

• Develop open educational resources according to the context to incorporate the use of Wikipedia in the classroom.
• Develop a community of teachers as an active part of Wikimedistas de Bolivia.

By the end of this project, the participating teachers will have a better understanding of how to use Wikipedia (and other Wikimedia projects) as a pedagogical tool to foster media and information literacy skills. The participating teachers will be able to implement Wikipedia into their daily planning to foster critical reading of Wikipedia and to get a sense of ownership and responsibility towards the projects. This will in turn be the first step to integrate them into our local Wikimedia community as they take their first steps as Wikipedia editors. Moreover, we will be contributing to support key actors in our education sector as they encounter another year of uncertainty and challenges.

Additionally the project is aligned with:

ODS alignment

4th.Guarantee inclusive and equitable quality education, and promote permanent learning opportunities for all.

Wikimedia Strategy:

Directions:

• For 2030 Wikimedia will have become an essential part of the open knowledge environment, so people sharing our vision can easily join the movement.
• Knowledge as a service: We believe that by implementing this program, we will foster the use of Wikipedia openly. By doing so, we will help teachers, and their circles to become aware of how knowledge is created, shared, and developed. It will provide the target population with tools to read critically and, in the long run, be able to create texts about their own community, city, and country.
• Equity of knowledge: We understand that the cognitive surplus in different parts of the world, can be freely used to reduce the knowledge gap in our country. The Reading Wikipedia project is a golden opportunity to help change the image that Wikipedia is unreliable, and in turn, become a source for reading, learning, and teaching.

Recommendations

Our project is following the Strategy Recommendations:

• Provide for Safety and Inclusion
• Invest in Skills and Leadership Development

• Evaluate, Iterate, and Adapt

Risk assessment

(An extended dc about considerations con be readed here)

Risk	Description	Probability	Actions to minimize the risk
Little attendance due to connectivity problems and internet coverage	Bolivian society has access to the Internet, there's a 10.407.690 of conecctions, the 91, % 91.99% of all Internet connections are established through mobile access technologies according to the local authority in telecomunications. Even so, the quality of the connection is not always stable, especially in the more rural areas of the country.	Moderate	The program is developed with offline material that include digital text and printed booklets. The project also contemplates support in resources to provide Internet access to the participants, whenever necessary.
Little availability and time of teachers to attend synchronous classes	Education in Bolivia continues to be virtual due to the covid situation, although there is a possibility that, similar to other Latin American countries, a return to a mixed face-to-face system will take place.	Moderate-low	All sessions will be recorded for later viewing by teachers. We will also keep the program flexible and adapt it to the availability of teachers when necessary.
Number of initial inscriptions	Wikimedistas de Bolivia's education program is in the process of growing.	Moderate-low	The group of applicants for the pilot project will be invited, about 550 applicants, and will be accompanied by an intensive communication campaign with allied entities and publications in online workspaces for teachers. Wikimedistas de Bolivia is also part of a regional cooperation network, mostly with Spanish-speaking Latin American communities. During the project we will work with and incorporate the support and accompaniment of our allies when necessary.
According to the training program to educators’ needs	Learning needs are very diverse depending on the department in Bolivia.	Low	Conduct an initial need assessment with the course participants, to design a pedagogical proposal according to their needs..

Project impact

How will you know if you have met your goals?

For each of your goals, we’d like you to answer the following questions:

1. During your project, what will you do to achieve this goal? (These are your outputs.)
2. Once your project is over, how will it continue to positively impact the Wikimedia community or projects? (These are your outcomes.)

For each of your answers, think about how you will capture this information. Will you capture it with a survey? With a story? Will you measure it with a number? Remember, if you plan to measure a number, you will need to set a numeric target in your proposal (i.e. 45 people, 10 articles, 100 scanned documents). Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

Goal 1: To improve teachers’ understanding of how to use Wikipedia (and other Wikimedia projects) as a pedagogical tool to foster media and information literacy skills.

• Develop a new 6-month training proposal. To this end, we will carry out an initial assessment with the educational community to learn about their learning needs and expectations.
• Conduct 14 training sessions (divided in 2 groups) and provide personalized support for participating teachers to critically navigate Wikipedia and develop editing skills.
• Generate 6 mentoring sessions (divided in 2 groups) to accompany the learning process.
• Conduct two assessment surveys to evaluate the needs and results of the program.

Goal 2: Develop open educational resources according to the context to incorporate the use of Wikipedia in the classroom.

• Design teacher’s guides available in digital and printed format such as adapt the booklets developed by Wikimedia Argentina.
• Tree materials will be translated into Aymara, Quechua and Guarani and we expect to distribute at least 100 copies around the country.

• As a part of the final assignement of the training, accompany the elaboration of 40 final works of classroom activities as open educational resources ready to be used and implemented in Bolivian classrooms, to be developed by the participating teachers.

Goal 3:  Develop a community of teachers as an active part of Wikimedistas de Bolivia.

• • Invite six teachers who graduated from the pilot version of the project as mentors for the new version, so that they can develop skills to lead the program in future versions.
  • Invite participating teachers to participate in projects and activities of Wikimedistas de Bolivia during 2021.

Outcomes:

• Based on the previous experience with the pilot, we have seen that this approach encourages and empowers teachers to become actively involved in the Wikimedia projects. Teachers participating from all over Bolivia will result in a greater contribution of our knowledge to the projects, and it will help sustain and grow the community of our local user group.

• Likewise, the participating teachers will be able to use Wikipedia as a way to show how knowledge is built based on references, thus fostering critical reading during the development of their day to day .
• Moreover, the impact that these teachers will have on their students over the year will result in more young people being guided to value Wikipedia and use it with responsibility and actively.

Do you have any goals around participation or content?

Are any of your goals related to increasing participation within the Wikimedia movement, or increasing/improving the content on Wikimedia projects? If so, we ask that you look through these three metrics, and include any that are relevant to your project. Please set a numeric target against the metrics, if applicable.

Participation:

• At least 600 teachers interested in the program and 200 accepted. We expect that about 50% will be women.
• At least 100 participants attending the program.
• At least 40 participants completing the program.

Diversity

• At least 10 teachers from rural areas of Bolivia.
• At least 5 bilingual teachers in Bolivian local languages
• Participants from at least 7 of the nine bolivian departments

New editors:

• 60 new editors

Community

• Create 1 consultation and support group for course participants (100) in a social network.
• At least 2 new teachers from the pilot version (2020) as part of the organization team for this year project
• At least 10 teachers capable to integrate a new version of the program as instructors

Content

• A Wikimedia education community with at least 40 creative models uploaded in Wikimedia Commons to work with Wikipedia

• At least 40 new images in Wikimedia Commons from around the country

Activities

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing? What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?

We have anoher datails about the plan here.

Before the implementation

• Partnership
• Research
• Needs assessment
• Design and localization of educational resources (teachers guide, slides)

During implementation, Group 1 and Group 2

• Revision of education resources
• Social media group to promove the colective construction of knowledge
• 14 Training Sessions
• 6 Mentoring Sessions

Activities and assignments assessment

• Teachers engagement
• Graduation

Post implementation

• Evaluation methods (survey and interview)
• With the results, we plan to invite the Ministry of Education and local Educational Communities to benefit from the materials, the learning path and the experience gathered from this project. For the first year, it may requiere some guidance that can be provided by the Wikimedistas de Bolivia community. The positive results will encourage the adoption of the program by school directors and parents' associations as well.

Budget

How you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. (You can create a table later if needed.) Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!

A extended doc here

• Organization Team: 13000
• Conections Team: 2890
• Graphic work and training material:4260
• participants diversity support: 8350
• Contingency:1000
• TOTAL AMOUNT: 30000 USD
  

Community engagement

How will you let others in your community know about your project? Why are you targeting a specific audience? How will you engage the community you’re aiming to serve at various points during your project? Community input and participation helps make projects successful.

Following the model developed during the pilot, we will be providing updates and presentations to the Wikimedistas de Bolivia community members as the project develops. For that we will use our Telegram channels, contacts list, social media, and . We will also be inviting members of the community to participate in different functions (guest speakers, moderators, etc.) to foster integration.

We are part of the many Telegram groups that have been created by teachers all over Bolivia. Also, we have an agreement with the Bolivian Free Software Community to join efforts to provide teachers with the necessary tools to teach online.

For teacher outreach we will be conducting a campaign on social media, contacting school principals, and reaching out to traditional media outlets in the country. We will also reach out to our new network of teachers who particiapted in the pilot to spread the word.

Get involved

Participants

Please use this section to tell us more about who is working on this project. For each member of the team, please describe any project-related skills, experience, or other background you have that might help contribute to making this idea a success.

• Alhen, educator, translator, and free knowledge advocate. He's been a Wikipedia user since 2004. He is now a checkuser, admin and also cofounder of Wikimedistas de Bolivia WUG. She is an admin on Wiktionary, Wikisource and other projects. He's project coordinator since 2009. He proposed Bolivia to be part of the Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom successfully, and wants to enhance the education program further. Coordinator of the program Leamos Wikipedia 2020 in Bolivia. He is also been a teacher for 13 years and has a degree in education. He is been part of digital litteracy as well.
• Caleidoscopic, architect, she is a free knowledge advocate as a Wikimedia projects user. She is also part of the local OpenStreetMap community, Geochicas and Wikimujeres. She is fully devoted to reduce the gender gap as well as the knowledge gap. She participated as a mentor and trainer in different projects with the Wikimedistas de Bolivia Community. Cofounder of Wikimedistas de Bolivia WUG. Coordinator of the program Leamos Wikipedia 2020 in Bolivia.
• Nahomy is a developer, user, translator, contributor and free software activist, member of the free software community in Bolivia and Wikimedistas de Bolivia. These communities promote collaborative knowledge and free technologies. Mapper in Openstreetmap and member of geochicas, a project dedicated to create the world's largest free map and mentor in different projects to promote the presence of women in technology. Coordinator of the program Leamos Wikipedia 2020in Bolivia, a project to encourage the use of Wikipedia in classes for teachers and students and introduce them to the communities and practices behind Wikipedia.
• Carlillasa is a wikipedian since 2015 to Wikimedia Commons and WIkipedia. She writes mostly about culture and literature. She participated as a mentor and trainer in different projects with the Wikimedistas de Bolivia Community. She is also an book editor and accomplished musician.
• Edward wong IV Project manager for more than 7 years in knowledge management of different topics: development, gender and technologies, which allowed her to know municipalities throughout Bolivia and to know the regulations related to risk management, gender-based violence and municipalities. Member of Wikimedistas de Bolivia since 2018.
• Naira Abal Master's Degree in Cultural Communication Studies from the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar of Ecuador, with a specialization in Cultural Policies. Freelance journalist and editor in national media.Freelance journalist on cultural issues, transparency and Open Government, digital communication experience as Digital Platforms Manager. Member of Wikimedistas de Bolivia since 2017.
• Guille, part of the Wikimedia Translators Team, he is part of Wikimedistas de Bolivia since 2019. He is a lawyer and free knowledge advocate.

Community notification

You are responsible for notifying relevant communities of your proposal, so that they can help you! Depending on your project, notification may be most appropriate on a Village Pump, talk page, mailing list, etc.--> Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions. Need notification tips?

• http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-bo Lista de distribución de Wikimedistas de Bolivia
• http://wlm.wikimedia.org.bo Página oficial de Wikimedistas de Bolivia

Endorsements

Do you think this project should be selected for a Project Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project below! (Other constructive feedback is welcome on the discussion page).

•  Support Es importante despertar interés en los países de Latinoamérica, en donde por la falta de masificación de internet, las personas desconocen el potencial de Wikipedia. Laura Fiorucci (talk) 01:04, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support I know Caleidoscopic from my times as Strategy Liaison. She is a commited member of our movement. Alhen is a very veteran editor in Spanish wikipedia and also very commited. They are a guarantee of success and alignement with our values, and besides, I believe that their experience can be useful for many other communities. I want to know how they do this and which are their conclussions. So, I can only support them and their project, so I can learn more about it.--TaronjaSatsuma (talk) 10:49, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support This project supporting teachers and students learning through Wikipedia. Tiputini (talk) 11:26, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support Conozco las capacidades de Olga y los desafíos tan grandes que enfrentan. Iniciativas como estas son necesarias tras los acontecimientos que vivimos el año pasado. Hay una gran oportunidad para aplicar Wikimedia en la educación -- Sahaquiel9102 (talk) 14:58, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support Per comments above, Caleidoscopic and her team are more than capable to take this project to a good end. Oscar_. (talk) 16:36, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support Una oportunidad crucial para la expansión de la misión de Wikimedia en Bolivia --ProtoplasmaKid (talk) 18:35, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support Comparto los comentarios de los apoyos anteriores, el proyecto es fundamental para hacer crecer la comunidad Wikimedia en Bolivia y quienes lo liderarán están a la altura de las circuntancias para obtener resultados exitosos. Pablísima (talk) 16:04, 13 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support Bolivia es un país estratégico en América Latina donde existe un impulso con proyectos más sociales e inclusivos. Es fundamenta el desarrollo de proyectos por parte del movimiento Wikimedia y muy acertado el enfoque en educación. Mi admiración además por el criterio y el impulso Olga que lidera el proyecto. Mboix (talk) 08:42, 17 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support Conozco a Olga y el grupo de Wikimedia en Bolivia desde 2014. El proyecto que presentan es la continuación de un piloto que llevaron a cabo con éxito en 2020, justamente durante un año muy desafiante y donde no sólo pudieron sortear las dificultades sino fortalecerse. Además es fundamental el crecimiento de Wikimedistas de Bolivia para construir el movimiento del futuro que queremos.Todo mi apoyo.NitalaPansera (talk) 19:47, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support I am Peruvian and living in the Andes I understand the challenges of rural education as the context is similar in Peru. Part of my life interests is to research and promote an effective way to transfer wisdom from one generation into another, or from one sector of society to another. I understand what this project is about and will be probably a step further in understanding policies and practices in knowledge mobilization in Latin America. I will be very interested to know about the learning outcomes of this experiencie and I trust the project team will do their best in the benefit of others. Cbrescia (talk) 18:07, 21 February 2021 (UTC)
•  Strong support I’m very happy to endorse this grant proposal! The Education team at the Wikimedia Foundation worked with Wikimedistas de Bolivia (as well as affiliates from Morocco and the Philippines) to pilot the Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom program in 2020, with Erlan, Noemi, and Olga working with the team as local coordinators. At all times, they demonstrated commitment, creativity, and a clear vision of how this program benefits both their local Wikimedia community and the education sector in their country. During the pilot, Erlan, Noemi, and Olga worked collaboratively with the team to conduct needs assessment and evaluation activities with Bolivian teachers, to contextualize teaching resources and training sessions to better respond to the Bolivian context, to deliver engaging online training sessions, to manage online discussions and provide support to over 50 active teachers participating in the pilot, and they also connected with local press and allies to make the experience richer. I believe the second iteration they propose (with an even more localized response to their context) can be carried out successfully and it will continue their positive relationship and influence with their local education sector - all while growing the Wikimedia community in Bolivia and strengthening the user group's capacity. MGuadalupe (WMF) (talk) 15:21, 23 February 2021 (UTC)