TL;DR Let’s collect feedback about membership criteria and refocus on the
Collab’s goals. There is a need for clarity internally and externally :)
Dear Collab members,
Based on yesterday’s conversation on the Collab call, and on the growing
experience that we (the Collab and the Education Team) are having, it seems
like it is time to move to the next stage in the Collab’s evolution. We all
appreciate how the dedicated services the Collab selflessly offer to the
Movement, and its the education goals in particular, are valuable and
indeed bring a highly specialized focus to key aspects of its growth.
As the group decided in its in-person meeting in March, the Collab has three
key focus areas
<https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/Wikipedia_Education_Collaborative/Goals>
:
-
Dashboard implementation
-
Mentoring
-
Comms support + Resources
These areas may change over time, as the movement and its needs progress,
but are representative of the current stage of the movement’s activities.
As we all know, participation in the Collab is completely voluntary, and
the time each member dedicates to it is even more valuable because of that.
As the Collab’s specialized service to the Movement evolves, it becomes
somewhat natural to make the framework for its work more explicit, and
having open conversations around the expectations we have for it also
become necessary.
We would therefore like to propose continuing this conversation we started
this month. Participation is welcome on this list, *on-wiki*
<https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Education/Wikipedia_Education_Collaborative/Goals>,
or privately through direct email. We also want to make sure that other
stakeholders in the movement can join in the conversation (our list and
wikis are public and open, and some affiliates are already giving direct
feedback to the Education Team). We expect the outcome to be a frank and
constructive conversation that will update the membership criteria, and
clarify for everyone (including non-Collab members) what the Collab is and
does. We would like this conversation to happen over the months of December
and January.
Our team sees a need for robust conversations around education that are not
limited to the Collab spaces (our mailing list, virtual meetings, and
in-person meetings). Considering the specific work of the Collab, it
doesn’t make sense for Collab conversations to take the place of
discussions on the Education list, for example. For starters, the Education
Team intends to dedicate more of our efforts to general education spaces,
not just the Collab spaces. We appreciate Collab members who have helped in
these areas (like on Facebook, Twitter, Education-l, and the Newsletter).
We believe in a multi-pronged approach to making the Collab and the general
education spaces in the Movement productive and meaningful. Ideas welcome :)
I look forward to this important conversation!
Best regards,
Vahid.
--
Vahid Masrour
Community Capacity Manager, Wikipedia Education Program
vmasrour(a)wikimedia.org
https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education