I too agree that it is a good idea to go back to the monthly format but as
Shani has pointed out, we are volunteers: a theme is fine for a
professional journal, not for educators volunteering their time to share
practices across wikis and continents. I was actually looking forward to
writing about the work we are doing at school this year - I am quite sure
the simple but value-adding tasks I have assigned have never been done
before in an education setting - but if the theme is not related I won't be
writing of course (if thematic newsletters are the way we will be working
from now on)
Looking forward to hearing from other educators, have a great weekend :)
Mina (Saintfevrier)
On Dec 16, 2016 7:25 PM, "Jackie Koerner" <jackie.koerner(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Hi Friends,
I agree with not limiting by theme or area of education. So much can
inform and inspire other areas of education. Many higher education
conferences I plan and participate in in the US removed themes because a
theme limited creativity and showcasing strong work.
A monthly newsletter can be challenging in the creation process as well as
the consumption. With so many other publications professionals are reading
and other demands on time, maybe have smaller "abstract" entries on the
newsletter and then a "read more" option (similar to the Blog section on
the example you sent)? I could see how this would make sure key points are
getting across to a larger portion of the population.
Finally, what is the plan to monitor response like from the community
about readership and what they find valuable? Is there a plan to regularly
include some newsletter pieces where others outside of education would see
(like included in Wikimedia blog posts)? Some educators are doing really
incredible work and I think other Wikipedians should know. 🙂
Thanks, Nichole, for taking this on. I know we all have our comments but
we appreciate you getting the information together to share.
Jackie
--
Jackie Koerner, Ph.D.
Researcher & Visiting Scholar
jackiekoerner.com
On Dec 16, 2016, at 10:46 AM, Vojtěch Dostál <vojtech.dostal(a)wikimedia.cz>
wrote:
Hi all! I understand why thematic issues could be attractive (putting
together similar initiatives from all over the world and thus putting them
into context). However I agree with Shani that it would be too restricting
for people who just want to spread the word about their news.
If we want to group similar initiatives based on topic, lets introduce
some sort of hashtagging into the newsletter. Then we can group it across
different issues.
I don't mind going back to monthy issues but only if there is a plan to
ensure a sufficient number of contributions. Active contact with education
leaders and seeking possible topics might be some of the ways to achieve
this.
Cheers
Vojta
Dne 16. 12. 2016 16:18 napsal uživatel "Shani" <shani.even(a)gmail.com>om>:
Hi Nichole,
I support getting back to a monthly newsletter is great - a lot is
happening worldwide and a quarterly newspaper means is dense and too
restricting.
I do *not* support the idea of limiting the articles to only 4, nor the
idea of working only around one selected theme.
We are a volunteer-based movement, not a professional education journal.
Volunteers should be able to share their news from around the world
whenever *they* want to and as things happen. They should not be limited by
number of submissions or a theme. In other words, we should make it easier
on them, not harder.
That said, I believe your idea of thematic news could be incorporated in a
less restrictive way. One way of going about it is having a featured spot
in the newspaper, dedicated to thematic headlines or anything else the
community / editors think should be featured there.
But, that's just me. :) I would love to hear what other members of this
group think about it.
Cheers,
Shani.
On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 6:07 AM, Nichole Saad <nsaad(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Dear WEP community,
I know we've been introduced before, but let me reintroduce myself and
some exciting new things I'll be working with you on. I'm Nichole, the new
addition to the education team, and I'll be working on communications and
as the regional focal point for Asia.
I've been working on a plan to improve communication about the education
program, including thematic elements, and along with Tighe and Vahid have
concluded that the best place to start is with the newsletter. I know some
of you were volunteering to produce the newsletter before, and I would love
to hear from you if you have worked on this or are interested in starting.
We've already got some great submissions in the Newsroom. Thanks to
everyone who submitted their stories--The December Newsletter will go out
by the end of the month :)
Now for news about news!
While we've currently been producing quarterly newsletters, I'm proposing
to go back to monthly newsletters but smaller in scale with only 4 features
per newsletter (the learning quarterly
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Evaluation/Newsletter/2016/3/10>offers
a good example). Each issue would be thematic, with a preceding community
conversation around the theme taking place on Twitter, Facebook, the
mailing list, and on the Wiki and synthesized as one of the features for
the newsletter. The other features will be submissions from the community
on project highlights or op-eds relevant to the theme.
I would really like to get this off the ground for January, and that will
require your cooperation! How can you get involved?
1. Submit your ideas for newsletter themes. Submissions needed by 12/24
on the Newsroom page, under the heading "Theme Ideas"
To get the ball rolling here are a few general ideas:
- Teacher Training/Professional Development
- K-12
- Higher Education
- Politics in Wikipedia Education Projects
- Regional themes
- Themes on specific Wiki projects
2. Once the theme is announced participate in the conversation!
3. Volunteer to help produce the newsletter. We're going to need a team
to help with:
- content curating
- revising the newsletter pages on the wiki
- formatting and publishing the monthly newsletters
- distribution/promotion on various channels
Any questions can be directed to me nsaad(a)wikimedia.org.
I'm looking forward to working closely with you all!
best regards,
Nichole
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