I definitely have the ability to present the material. I'd have to find a day when I'm actually in the country, and schedule time to prepare. If it's feasible to do this over a weekend, that would be great, but I realize that it might be harder to find participants. Please, everyone, work the peer pressure! I'm eager to get involved, but I need a prod sometimes.
David On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 12:04 AM, Asaf Bartov <[email protected]> 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > WikimediaZA mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza > -- David Richfield [[:en:User:Slashme]] +27718539985 _______________________________________________ WikimediaZA mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza
