[Foundation-l] Public Outreach: Report and Newsletter (05/08)

Tue Jun 10 00:33:45 UTC 2008

On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 10:43 AM, Frank Schulenburg
<frank.schulenburg at gmail.com> wrote:
> Public Outreach: Report and Newsletter (05/08)
>
> Status: 30 May 2008
> Prepared by: Frank Schulenburg
>
>
> Content:
>
> 1. ENCOURAGING UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS
>   * Survey Generation 50plus
>   * Workshops for senior citizen internet tutors
>   * Lecture at the course "Manager for virtual learning projects
>     in seniors' education in Europe"
>   * Online course "Wikipedia in internet cafés for older people"
>   * Workshops in Africa supported by Namibian ambassador
>   * UCT and UWC declared interest to stage Wikipedia workshops at
>     Capetown, South Africa
>
> 2. WIKIPEDIA ACADEMY SERIES
>   * Third German Wikipedia Academy in Berlin
>
> 3. EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
>   * Outlook: Production of Wikipedia video tutorials
>
> 4. PARTNERSHIPS
>   * Partnership with ZAWiW (Centre for General Scientific Education)
>
> 5. GRANTS AND FUNDING
>   * Wikimedia Deutschland: New budget for international outreach
>     activities
>
> 6. UPCOMING
>   * Lecture at the University of Hildesheim (06/2008)
>   * Workshop at the 13th Annual Conference of the Society for
>     Media in Science, Danube University of Krems (09/2008)
>
> Contact
>
>
> ----------
>
>
> 1. UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS
>
> SURVEY GENERATION 50PLUS
>
> A survey conducted among older German Wikipedians in March 2008 treats
> the question of how to encourage
> senior citizens of the 50-plus age group to contribute. The
> participants answered to the following questions:
>
> * How much time do you spend on reading Wikipedia articles / editing
> Wikipedia / contributing to discussions per day?
> * What ist your motivation to contribute to Wikipedia?
> * What are the specific problems older people have to deal with when
> contributing to Wikipedia?
> * What keeps older people from contributing to Wikipedia?
> * How do you rate the findability and comprehensibility of Wikipedia's
> help pages?
> * Which measures fit best to help older people to start contributing
> to Wikipedia?
> * Have you ever motivated other older people to contribute to Wikipedia?
> * Would you be willing to give Wikipedia introductions to other older
> people (e.g. workshops, lectures)
> * How do you rate the Wikimedia Foundation's efforts to encourage
> contributions from older people?
>
> The survey is part of the Wikimedia Foundation's strategy to encourage
> contributions from targeted
> underrepresented groups.
>
> Summary of the results:
>
> It is not so much technical barriers what keeps older people from
> contributing, but a lack of self-confidence, lack of personal contact
> persons and an atmoshere of conflict and stress. Even if some
> usability problems exist (e.g. templates, infoboxes and tables are too
> difficult to handle), these problems are not age-specific.
>
> What distinguishes senior citizens from younger people is the size of
> their "biographical backpack". Many of them are used to hierarchical
> structures they experienced during their working life. As Wikipedia's
> internal structures and work flows are subject to frequent changes,
> outreach material for senior citizens should list a number of good
> arguments why openness is important for a lively web project like
> Wikipedia.
>
> Outreach material should also give reasonable answers to the question
> "Why should I sacrifice my time by contributing to Wikipedia?"
> Generativity as well as the possibility to learn by teaching others
> are important motivational factors for senior citizens.
>
> Many participants of the survey are willing to help. This is a big
> opportunity: older Wikipedians are much more convincing for people of
> their age and may give them more self-confidence ("If he/she succeeded
> to contribute at his/her age - why shouldn't I be able to do the
> same?").
>
> Senior citizens are an auspicious target group - not only because of
> their bigger time budget but also due to their knowledge and
> experiences. Outreach activities should refer to existing structures
> ("Wiki-adoption"), concentrate on measures that are most likely to
> satisfy the needs of older people (printed material) and try to
> achieve sustainability by encouraging volunteerism.
>
>
> WORKSHOPS FOR SENIOR CITIZEN INTERNET TUTORS
>
> On March 17 and 18 I held a lecture and two Wikipedia workshops for
> senior citizen internet tutors in Bad Urach, Germany. Senior citizen
> internet tutors are older people with an above-average understanding
> of computer issues who teach internet skills to people of their age.
> Around 60 participants from various organisations active in the field
> of adult education attended the workshops.
>
>
> LECTURE AT THE COURSE "MANAGER FOR VIRTUAL LEARNING PROJECTS IN
> SENIORS' EDUCATION IN EUROPE"
>
> On April 24 I held a lecture at the course "Manager for virtual
> learning projects in seniors' education in Europe", an introductory
> course of the european Grundtvig lifelong learning programme. The
> Grundtvig programme seeks to respond to the challenges raised by the
> necessity to update knowledge and to provide adults with pathways to
> improve their know-how and competences, as they progress through life
> so that they can adapt to changes in the labour market and society.
>
> The workshop was intended for those who wish to apply the new
> information and communication media in seniors' education. The
> participants belonged to an important target group as they act as
> multipliers for information about new media in their respective
> countries.
>
>
> ONLINE COURSE "WIKIPEDIA IN INTERNET CAFÉS FOR OLDER PEOPLE"
>
> An online course entitled "Wikipedia in internet cafés for older
> people" has been developed by de:User:Lyzzy, Christian Carls of the
> "Forum Seniorenarbeit NRW" and me [1]. The course is intended for
> volunteers in internet cafés for older people who are willing to stage
> Wikipedia workshops on their own.
>
> The course will start on 9 June 2008 and will be funded in parts by
> the German Wikimedia Chapter. During the first weeks we will teach the
> participants the basics of how to edit Wikipedia articles. In a second
> phase we will develop a concept for Wikipedia courses for senior
> citizens. After six weeks the participants should be able to act as
> Wikipedia evangelists and motivate other people of their age to
> contribute to Wikipedia.
>
> A map [2] drawn by commons:User:Lencer illustrates the internet use of
> people between 55 and 74 years of age in Europe. If the course
> succeeds, its concept can be transferred to other European countries
> with an above-average internet usage rate among people of the 50-plus
> age group.
>
>
> WORKSHOPS IN AFRICA SUPPORTED BY NAMIBIAN AMBASSADOR
>
> On 14 March I met the Namibian ambassador at Berlin. We talked about
> the Foundation's plans to stage more Wikipedia startup workshops in
> Africa and he showed great interest in the opportunity to document
> African history and culture in the African-language Wikipedias. The
> ambassador will write letters of recommendation to both the Namibian
> government and the University of Namibia in Windhoek to support our
> goals and activities. Furthermore he invited me to attend the next
> regular meeting of the African ambassadors at Berlin to present our
> plans to a bigger number of representatives of African countries.
>
>
> UCT AND UWC DECLARED INTEREST TO STAGE WIKIPEDIA WORKSHOPS AT CAPETOWN
>
> The University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of the Western
> Cape (UWC) declared their interest to stage Wikipedia workshops in
> 2008. I'm in contact with a representative of the Multilingual
> Education Programme (MEP) at UCT and with the Dean of the Faculty of
> Education at UWC and will develop a programme for the events within
> the next month.
>
>
> -----
>
>
> 2. WIKIPEDIA ACADEMY SERIES
>
> THIRD GERMAN WIKIPEDIA ACADEMY IN BERLIN
>
> Next month the third German Wikipedia Academy [3] will take place at
> Berlin. The event is organised by Wikimedia Deutschland in partnership
> with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (the
> formerly Prussian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1700 by the German
> polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz).
>
> Under the motto "Mathematics. Knowledge. Wikipedia" the event will be
> official part of the German "Year of Mathematics", an annual event
> organized by the German Ministry for Education and Research that
> started in 2000 and focussing on a different discipline each year.
>
> The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research will support the
> event with funds.
>
>
> -----
>
>
> 3. NEW EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL
>
> OUTLOOK: PRODUCTION OF WIKIPEDIA VIDEO TUTORIALS
>
> Video tutorials make learning much easier than printed material or
> online help pages. We will try to use this effect by producing two
> initial videos demonstrating the basics of Wikipedia editing.
>
> On 28 April I met some professionals of a film production company
> which has a track record of developing short films and online videos
> (amongst their customers is Greenpeace). They submitted a quote for
> the production of two videos, 3-4 minutes each. As the board of
> Wikimedia Deutschland agreed to take over the costs, we will begin
> with the pre-production within the next weeks.
>
>
> -----
>
>
> 4. PARTNERSHIPS
>
> PARTNERSHIP WITH ZAWIW
>
> The Wikimedia Foundation and the ZAWiW will collaborate in the
> development of learning material suitable to encourage contributions
> to Wikipedia from senior citizens.
>
> The Zentrum für Allgemeine Wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung (ZAWiW,
> Centre for General Scientific Education) [4] is a centre of learning
> specialised in the development of innovative education programs for
> seniors. Located in Ulm, Germany, the ZAWiW was founded by the
> University of Ulm in 1994. It was a reaction on the increasing request
> for general multidisciplinary education for adults of any age,
> especially in the "third age".
>
> Among the objectives ZAWiW has been
> * qualifying seniors for new tasks and activities in society, economy
> and science
> * encouraging self-directed learning supported by new information and
> communication technologies
> * showing the usefulness and improving the use of new communication
> technologies for seniors and organisations of senior education
>
> At the European level ZAWiW coordinates education programs like
> "eLearning in Later Life" (eLiLL), SeniorLearning and ICT4T.
>
>
> -----
>
>
> 5. GRANTS AND FUNDING
>
> WIKIMEDIA DEUTSCHLAND: NEW BUDGET FOR INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
>
> On 15 March a board meeting of Wikimedia Deutschland took place at
> Berlin. The German board decided to increase its budget for
> international outreach activities in 2008 as part of its commitment
> for the global promotion of free knowledge. Amongst other things the
> money will allow the Wikimedia Foundation to support its chapters with
> printed versions of the brochure "Das kleine Wikipedia-Einmaleins"
> ("Wikipedia basics", an introduction for beginners) [5]. A Swedish
> version of the brochure is in preparation.
>
>
> -----
>
>
> 6. UPCOMING
>
> LECTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HILDESHEIM (06/2008)
>
> A Wikipedia lecture for senior citizens will take place on 10 June
> 2008 at the University of Hildesheim, Germany. Around 80 participants
> of the 50-plus age group will attend.
>
>
> WORKSHOP AT THE 13TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR MEDIA IN
> SCIENCE (09/2008)
>
> Under the motto "Open Trends in Higher Education: Imperatives and
> Challenges" the 13th Annual Conference of the Society for Media in
> Science will take place at the Danube University Krems, Austria from
> September, 16-18 2008. The conference is directed towards researchers,
> lecturers, and persons in decision making positions who are involved
> in technologically supported learning and are interested in recent
> developments in theory and practice.
>
> Dr. Klaus Wannemacher, consultant at the Higher Education Information
> System (the Higher Education Information System (HIS) supports German
> institutions of higher education and their administrations as well as
> higher education policy-makers in their efforts to fulfil their tasks
> effectively) and me will participate at the pre-conference with a
> workshop entitled "Wikipedia in University Teaching - sharing
> knowledge being (too) easy?". Topics will be the increasing plagiarism
> practiced by students copying and pasting Wikipedia articles into
> their own works and the opportunities to integrate Wikipedia in
> academic teaching (ie. encouraging students to write Wikipedia
> articles as part of University courses). The outcome of the workshop
> shall be published as a brochure for University staff members.
>
>
> -----
>
>
> CONTACT
>
> Frank Schulenburg
> Public Outreach Coordinator
> Wikimedia Foundation Inc.
>
> Phone: +49 551 2726447
> Cell: +49 172 5635243
> Skype: fschulenburg
> E-mail: fschulenburg[at]wikimedia.org
>
>
> -----
>
>
> Weblinks and notes:
>
> [1] http://www.forum-seniorenarbeit.de/index.phtml?sNavID=373.120&mNavID=373.117&&ffsm=1&ffmod=tx&object=tx%7C373.2201.1&La=1&FID=373.2201.1
> [2] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Use_of_Internet_in_European_Union_2007_-_age_between_55_and_74_years_.png
> [3] Programme (in German): http://www.wikipedia-academy.de/2008/programm.php
> [4] http://www.uni-ulm.de/uni/fak/zawiw/startseite/en
> [5] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Einmaleins.pdf (5.4 MB)

Also, in the USA, Wikipedia Takes Manhattan April 4
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Takes_Manhattan),
and Wikipedia Takes Nashville May 24
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Takes_Nashville)

Thanks,
Pharos