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User:MCruz (WMF)/Sandbox/Newsletter/2017/4/13/Draft

< User:MCruz (WMF)‎ | Sandbox‎ | Newsletter‎ | 2017/4/13
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Have just a topic in mind? Suggest on the corresponding section. Thanks!

Frontpage edit

Topic 1 edit

  • Title: Bringing New Voices to the "Wikimedia 2030" discussion
  • Opening text (35 words): The Movement Strategy discussion is adding new voices outside of the Wikimedia movement (experts, partners, thought leaders, readers, and donor across the globe) making the process as inclusive as possible. We want to learn from *everyone* to draft the best routemap for our movement's future.
  • Intro text (goes before images):

The Wikimedia strategy process has been exploring new directions for the movement looking ahead towards 2030. While all the affiliates and community at large have been actively engaging in the conversation, we have also added efforts seeking to engage new voices from outside of our movement to enrich the overall strategy discussion. But, who are these "new voices"? With this term, we are referring to a wide variety of people outside of our movement, yet very relevant to our mission - readers, donors, experts in related fields, leaders of other social impact movements, academics, and partners. Overall, regular people across the globe that have an outsider lens, providing a valuable perspective and insights.

  • Images (3):
  • Descriptive text (250-300 words max): Over the past 6 months, we have carried out over 96 interviews with experts in Africa, Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, conducted in collaboration with third party design research partners in Brazil and Indonesia, survey and desk research in USA, Russia, Japan, Spain, France, Germany, and the UK. We've also have organized workshops & salons in India, Mexico, Nigeria, USA, Germany, and Belgium with partners and experts. And even more exciting, many Wikimedia Chapters and User Groups (including Chile, Cote d’Ivoire, Poland, Egypt, and others) have organized their own meetups, workshops, and salons to discuss with local experts and partners the future of our movement

All of the new voices are speaking to us, and teaching us an incredible amount of insights and findings that are currently being integrated in the discussion. One of the things we learned is that there’s a tradeoff between credibility and inclusivity. As far as our knowledge ecosystem goes, we now know that, movements are built on emotion and human connection, which raised the question: what motivates people to contribute? Another interesting finding is that knowledge sharing is highly social, which prompts our movement to think how do we adapt for the younger generations? These findings offer interesting insights in the current and future cycles of the strategy process, so we hope Wikimedians involved in the conversation find them informative. We cannot wait to hear more thoughts and discussion from our movement as Wikimania approaches!


  • Further reading (links):
  • Meta: Discuss the challenges posed by the research from New Voices

Meta: New Voices Synthesis report Meta: Summary of Key Opportunities & Findings: Indonesia & Brazil Meta: Conversations with experts and partners

Topic 2 edit

  • Title:
  • Opening text (35 words):
  • Intro text (goes before images):
  • Images (3):
  • Descriptive text (250-300 words max):
  • Further reading (links):

Stay tuned edit

Blogs edit

  • Blog 1: Writing Wikipedia articles teaches information literacy skills, study finds
  • Descriptive text (70-80 words): As educators worldwide grapple with how to teach information literacy in the digital age, Wikipedia has emerged as one answer to the post-truth era. New research results confirm that writing Wikipedia articles as a class assignment can be a key part of teaching students critical information literacy skills. Today, the Wiki Education Foundation (Wiki Ed) is releasing the results from the most comprehensive study ever undertaken to evaluate student learning outcomes from Wikipedia assignments.
  • Learn More


Suggest:

  • Blog 2: What we learned by making both newcomers and experienced participants feel connected and engaged at the Vienna Hackathon
  • Descriptive text (70-80 words): At the Wikimedia Hackathon last month, we wanted to create a warm, welcoming environment for newcomers—while also making it really easy for both new and experienced participants to learn from each other and work on their technical projects.

The mentoring program started with an introductory session on the first day, where mentors introduced themselves and pitched project ideas. This posts highlights a few things we did to make both newcomers and experienced developers feel connected and engaged before, during, and after the event.

Calendar edit

A Program in the Spotlight edit

  • Title: Iberoconf 2017: How to shape Iberocoop as a space for learning
  • Tagline: On June 10 through 12, Iberoconf 2017 was organized in Buenos Aires City, and it was a space of encounter, meeting and sharing for local affiliates in the Iberoamerican region.
  • Images / media: (3 media files to illustrate your story)
  • Descriptive text: (250 - 300 words)

The event was set up to be a space for learning and strategic planning, as a way to better leverage the network’s impact in the movement. At Iberoconf 2017, we designed a meeting which main goal was to acquire relevant knowledge and skills through practice, and applying knowledge together to generate more impact at the regional level.

We carried out this goal through the following shared lessons

Involving all participants, from the beginning, in the organization of the conference helps to define goals in a more strategic way.

Wikimedia organizations were more than just participants in the conference, playing an active role as counterparts. Through virtual and in-person meetups, we agreed on the state of the network until 2017. Further, we defined the roles and outcomes of the regional meetup in a participatory way, by means of a survey. This allowed us to create a program that was relevant for the needs and demands of the participating organizations.

We designed participatory learning spaces to promote the construction of a support and cooperation network that is stronger and more professionalized.

We avoided session formats like lectures and one-sided presentations. We promoted hands-on workshops, where working in groups could guarantee a similar learning outcome.

We created broad and flexible debate spaces, some created on the spot during the event, to guarantee concrete outcomes.

We organized a structured conference, with flexible slots in its debate spaces. These spaces defined their content according to the needs and wishes expressed by members of the network; openness and coordination were key to make this happen. As a result, we managed to achieve concrete outcomes, especially in relation to Iberocoop’s stance in the movement strategy for 2030.

We made the event into a meeting space to empower the local community and invite new participants to join.

Engaging the local community in international events allows for them to have a better understanding of the movement they belong to. The community played a key part in the organization of the event, and they were involved as mentors of the meeting to incorporate newcomers.

This practice in conference design allowed us to focus in what makes us unique and understand how we are stronger together, so we can best support affiliates in the network in the years to come.

  • Further Reading: (2 - 3 links)

Leave your mark on Meta edit

IdeaLab edit

  • Improve Wiktionary's coverage of women honoured in scientific names (and encourage new editors)
  • Descriptive text (30-45 words): English Wiktionary doesn't include biographies or entries for individuals, so the scope for adding female biographies is limited. However it does include scientific names. Creating and improving these eponymous scientific names would both improve Wiktionary's coverage and also play a small role in acknowledging the contribution of women in the biological sciences.
  • File:Mary Kingsley West African Studies.jpg
  • Learn More
  • Bot to search for and recommend infobox and wikidata citations
  • Descriptive text (30-45 words): Often infoboxes and wikidata facts have information without sources cited. It may be possible to make a bot that will search for sources and propose that they be added on the talk page.
  • File:Findyoursources.jpg
  • Learn More

Learning Pattern Library edit

  • Wikipedia & Medicine: Practical Details for Educators
  • Matching newcomers to Wikimedia projects and activities: nurturing happy, passionate editors:)
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