I found the tutorials helpful; our local computer folks usually say "you don't know what you don't know" and it is true, I have learned new things by running through the tutorial. Also, I think that the number of new Sand boxes is a good reflection of use. ~~~~
On Nov 24, 12:48 am, mackiwg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Günther > > Many thanks for this detailed response -- this is good stuff which > will help us refine the Wikimaster concept. > > I apologise for the delayed response - For selfish reasons I took a > day's vacation leave to ride my motorcycle ..;-). We are now moving in > to the wet season here in Vancouver - so yesterday was probably the > last day I would have the opportunity to take my bike out before next > summer .;-(. > > You've highlighted two very significant omissions in our draft > Wikimaster concept: > > 1) WikiEducator is first and foremost about community - i.e. > contributing to education as a social good - the skills are secondary. > We must find way's in the Wikimaster concept to recognise and > encourage community contributions and participation driven by personal > motiviation. Therefore we should build in community participation > projects into the outputs section > 2) That there are multiple pathways to acquiring skills other than > formal tutorials. WikiEducator's that aquire these skills through a > learn-by-doing approach also have the right to claim recognition for > the various levels of mastery. These can easily be validated by > analysing the my contributions link of a user. > > We'll make these adjustments to the draft concept. Appreciate the > feedback. This demonstrates the power of a community approach. > > Thanks. > Wayne > > On Nov 21, 7:30 am, "Günther Osswald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > > Hi Wayne, hi all, > > > some ideas: > > > Question 1: Yes, I think this typology of skills for participation in > > WikiEd is reasonable. > > > Question 2: Yes, we should. But we should consider these thoughts: > > For me, the wiki way is learning by doing. While I practice > > developing content or participate in discussions, I learn how to do > > this or to improve my skills. That means, for me active participation > > is the focus of my interest, and learning editing skills is only a by- > > product. I had to learn already too much in my life, and if someone > > comes to me and tells me I have to learn this or that, I easily get > > aversions. And I'm afraid there are more teachers who feel the same > > like me. That does not mean I'm unwilling to acquire new skills, it's > > the other way round! In fact since I bought my first good computer > > December last year, my computer skills have expanded enormously (in my > > view). But I used only my internal motivation. > > > The alternative for me would be to stimulate the internal motivation > > of the wiki newbies by asking them about their dreams. Which content > > would you like to see on the Internet? Let's say there is a sports > > teacher who would like to hand out the rules of volleyball to his > > students. He should start with this, typing it on his user page. But > > then, he'll want to create an own page for this, so he has to learn to > > create a new page and to link it well in WikiEd. And therefore he has > > to investigate the content structure in WikiEd, and doing this, he'll > > discover pages where he likes the layout. He says wow, I also want to > > have illustrations like photos or drawings! So he is motivated to > > learn how to do this and then he'll start imitating the corresponding > > procedures. > > And because he wants it to learn, he'll learn it, either by doing the > > corresponding tutorial or by simply puzzling around until he has got > > it. You understand what I mean? I, personally, I confess that until > > now I've not done even one of the tutorials. I prefer to learn by > > trial and error. And in school including university studies, what took > > about 19 years of my precious life, I learned a lot and passed > > millions of exams, but I estimate that only about 20% of what I > > learned I can recall actively. So, f. ex. if someone creates once a > > link to another wiki page, he'll probably have forgotten how to do > > this in less than a month. Continuing practice is the only way to > > acquire skills in a sustainable way. > > > So my proposal: Let quantity and quality of contributions to WikiEd be > > the only measure to earn "community kudos". And there, I would > > differentiate between content development, participation in community > > tasks like discussions or giving feedback, and technical development. > > > If we give kudos for editing skills, we have to call them like that, > > f. ex. MediaWikiEditingArtisan. This also demonstrates the fact that > > these skills are applicable in MediaWiki wikis. These technical skills > > are not sufficient to define a good WikiEducator. > > But I would be in favor of acknowledging progress in wiki editing > > skills, because it will be a certain motivation to learn for those, > > who can be motivated by attaining titles or certificates. > > > But on the longer run I still think we need a system of financial > > remuneration for authors. If stakeholders in education departments of > > governments of CoL member countries get the evidence, that WikiEd > > really works, they will be able to get funds for paying authors. This > > should be our aim. As long as we don't have the possibility to pay the > > authors, we will get only those who can afford to work without > > payment. And in so called developing countries, this will be much less > > than in industrialized nations. > > > So once again my formula in short words: > > 1. Yes, we should give titles for MediaWiki editing skills like > > "MediaWikiEditingArtisan", and get all other MediaWiki wikis to use > > the same system. > > 2. Yes, we should give "community kudos" for participation in > > discussions and decision taking processes as well as content > > development. The measure for this should be quantity and quality of > > contributions. The titles could be called "WikiEducatorKudo bronze", > > "WikiEducatorKudo silver" etc. > > 3. We have to clearly separate these two. > > > Question 3: > > 1. For the editing skills: How if we use the web-of-trust model? A > > user who wants to demonstrate his MediaWiki editing progress puts the > > corresponding label on his user page. He like that announces to the > > community: Look, I'm able to do all what is required for this level. > > And if no one objects, he is permitted to use this title. > > 2. For community kudos: I think it should be the task of the WikiEd > > board to honor the work of an active user. > > > Greetings from frosty Bavaria, > > > Günther- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
