Whether or not there are fees, I think the root of John's proposal is interesting and novel and worth pursuing.
There have been a lot of one-off Wikipedia workshops. There's never been (that I know of) an extended Wikipedia course. Putting together a course plan and class materials of that level of detail to fill out a (say) 10-session course would be really valuable for the whole Wikimedia community, something to build on and incorporate into the on-wiki help and tutorial material we have.
I think an honorarium for the instructor who leads such an effort would be appropriate.
Cheers, Sage
2011/6/6 John Broughton johnbroughton@comcast.net:
James - It would be great if the chapter were to offer classes in how to edit Wikipedia. The chapter could charge a small fee (say, $50 for a ten-week session, with one class per week), and pay the instructor part of that (more an honorarium than real wages, if the fee is low and the class size is restricted, particularly if the chapter has to pay for the room). Given how many people in the DC area have an interest in what is and could be on Wikipedia, I don't think we'd lack for students. The chapter gets publicity from this; the instructor puts the material on the en.wikipedia.org website (to encourage similar efforts elsewhere); Wikipedia gets more editors. And (in the best of worlds) we could even pay for someone to make a set of videos of the classes, to be posted on the web for free viewing. Plus we could offer the same course to institutions like the Smithsonian, to further expand our reach. -- John ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Hare" messedrocker@gmail.com To: wikimedia-dc@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Monday, June 6, 2011 7:49:14 AM Subject: [Wikimedia-DC] What programs would you like to see in 2012?
Hello, community!
As the treasurer of our (pending) Wikimedia chapter, I have begun preparing the budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. While next year we have the Wikimania 2012 conference (and we are all excited for that!), we can also plan other programs and events as a chapter. Not everything has to be processed through the corporate infrastructure, of course, but if your idea involves spending a lot of money, let me know and I'll see what I can do to make it work. Conversely, if you have ideas about fundraising, I would also like to hear them. This is your opportunity to do something awesome in the D.C. community!
Sincerely, James Hare
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