On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 12:04 AM, Asaf Bartov <
abartov@wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hello, everyone.
>
> I would like your input on an idea we at the Wikimedia Foundation have been
> exploring as one possible model of outreach activity in South Africa: a
> two-day "train the trainer" event in Pretoria for (mostly campus) librarians
> from South Africa, to enable them to go back to their respective
> institutions and communities and deliver two-hour and one-day talk and
> workshops on Wikipedia. The training event would be funded by a grant from
> the Wikimedia Foundation.
>
> More details: the participants are to be carefully selected for good
> existing computer literacy and relevant skills (but a Wikipedia background
> won't be required), and the training event would include a balance of
> "theory" (free knowledge, free licenses, NPOV), background ("How does
> Wikipedia get written?"), user training (navigation, categories, Commons,
> talk pages, portals, WikiProjects, ...), and basic editor training (user
> accounts, basic markup, where to get help, how to interact on talk pages).
> Ideally, the trainee-trainers would be able to deliver a two-hour
> "introduction to Wikipedia" or "How to Make the Most of Wikipedia" module,
> and/or a one-day "Introduction to Editing on Wikipedia" workshop, in their
> respective communities, as opportunity and conditions permit.
>
> This specifically seeks to address a "bootstrapping" difficulty, i.e. the
> short supply of Wikipedians available to deliver that sort of training. No
> attempt will be made to make these trainers pose as veteran Wikipedians; the
> focus is clearly to be along the lines of "Wikipedia is tremendously useful,
> and we can share some useful information about it that would let you use it
> more effectively and explore it further on your own".
>
> We are looking into partnering with a Pretoria-based non-profit named ITOCA
> -- Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa -- which specializes
> in conducting training events for librarians, teachers, and IT personnel in
> sub-Saharan Africa. (Ms. Blessing Chataira of ITOCA is subscribed to this
> list.) ITOCA can handle the logistics of holding this event -- recruiting
> and selecting participants, booking and providing accommodations and
> refreshments for the training event, preparing physical materials,
> collecting feedback and providing follow-up with participants in their
> respective communities after the event, etc. What ITOCA certainly cannot do
> is _prepare and deliver_ such training. That would certainly require a
> veteran Wikipedian!
>
> I would therefore ask if any of you might be interested in working with the
> WMF on designing the curriculum for such an event, and/or in delivering such
> training, once a curriculum is available. The Wikimedia Foundation would
> gladly cover travel expenses (i.e. Wikipedians outside Gauteng can certainly
> help!) and provide a "per diem" budget for meals and incidentals.
>
> I welcome feedback about the idea, whether or not you're able to help out.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Asaf
> --
> Asaf Bartov
> Wikimedia Foundation
>
>