[Wikiversity-l] Introducing newcomers to the Wikiversity

[Cormac Lawler]

On 10/25/06, Morley Chalmers <morley at morleychalmers.com> wrote:

<snip>

>
> I'm not in the least knowledgeable on the workings of the Wikipedia, but I
> suspect there's a strong likelihood some individuals over there have become
> known as skilled in particular fields, and as responsible editors. I suspect
> something along this line will build up at the Wikiversity as well.
>
> It's inevitable over time certain individuals will accumulate merit and
> trust. In its deeper meaning this is what a teacher (or for that matter
> guru) really means. Someone who is trusted to give reliable instruction.
> It's institutions which hand out the titles. Which is where ego, personal
> prestige and rivalry then enters in. Inevitably.
>
> I agree with the concept the Wikiversity should start from scratch, that it
> shouldn't restrict or control who teaches or gives instruction. Let the
> merit accumulate. A marketplace solution.
>
> Having said that, it's also inevitable, over time, there will be a need for
> a thumbnail identification of individuals with merit. Don't know what or how
> that might unfold, but this too is inevitable.


All Wikimedia projects work (so far) without such a set-in-stone
identification, and I think there is a certain amount of brilliance in
not allowing it to happen. In other words: ok, you're an expert (or,
better, "have proven expertise"), but you need to prove that through
your actions here, and be prepared to work with others in
collaboration - just as they need to be likewise prepared to work with
you. This encouraging of equal participation is such a positive factor
in building a healthy community, I think.

In my talks with the KDE developer people (who want to transfer and
develop their entire set of training materials in/to Wikiversity),
they suggested they might want to have some way of having a
differential level of login for people who were learning and others
who are helping others learn. However, I don't personally regard this
as "inevitable" - I think we need to discuss this to see if it is
desirable for what we're building.

<snip>

>
> Overall, a repository of learning materials, while worthy and useful, is
> only half the equation. By having active online learning as Cormaggio
> envisions above there will inevitably be cross fertilization from the online
> learning back to the course materials themselves. That's exactly the pattern
> in conventional learning institutions. One feeds the other.

Exactly. :-) This is why I'm *very* happy that we went further in the
proposal than simply the collaborative building of free educational
materials, and carved a space for the actual *use* of these materials.

>
> In my mind online learning as Cormaggio describes is very doable, even
> inevitable. Exactly how to do it remains for discussions such as this one.


Yes, and I think that it may be quite some time before we genuinely
find out what is really best - my PhD is going to be about
Wikiversity, and if we have really built a solid resource by that
stage - 3 years time - I think we will have done very well. :-)
However, I also think we need to be realistic about what is "doable"
in a wiki context - I think we also need to be critical of "wiki" and
see its limitations as well as its possibilities.

<snip>

> I have the feedback from one "instructor" (a course on the Third Reich)
> saying he/she's very well pleased with how it's going.
>
> For the purpose of my current Wikiversity Newcomers page expansion it's my
> intention to survey other "course" leaders and discover how they're doing
> it, how well it's going and from that provide pointers to other would-be
> "leaders" on how it can be done. This is down the road a bit but was/is part
> of my original vision for a proper newcomers page.
>
> I also plan a similar section for would-be learners as well. In other words,
> learn from the participants both whether and how it works.
>

This is really great, Morley. Your surveying of course facilitators is
exactly what we should be doing - hopefully feeding into worksheets on
how to add materials/courses to Wikiversity, what's worked in the past
etc. The welcome newcomers page should have links to tutorials and
activities for all aspects of our work and for all types of people who
would be interested in using Wikiversity, ie "what is wikiversity?",
"editing wikis", "adding content", "adding metadata" (down the road),
"self-studying", "collaborative learning" etc. The more we can
encourage participation, and the more feedback systems we can
incorporate, the better we will find out exactly how useful we are to
the newcomer - which should really be our "holy grail".

Thanks again,

Cormac