Grants:Project/Rapid/Shani Evenstein/UNESCO's Mobile Learning Week

Expose the global Open Educational Resources (OERs) community to the magic of Wikidata.
Increase awareness regarding using Wikidata as an OER and as a learning platform.
Involve educators and policy makers in understanding the importance of using Wikidata and experimenting with it in educational settings.
Create a network of interested educators and policy makers interested in collaborating with our community (Wikimedia / Wikidata / Wikipedia & Education User Group).
Entice new collaborations around Wikidata & Education.

Project Plan

Activities

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of the event you're attending and why is it important that you attend?

I have been invited to be a speaker at a special panel on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Frontier Technologies for OER’ to be held at UNESCO Headquarters on 5 March 2019, as part of UNESCO’s Mobile Learning Week 2019, which will focus on ‘Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development’. The panel on "AI and Frontier Technologies for OER" will examine how AI and frontier technologies can "revolutionize OER to ensure the maximum impact for the creation of inclusive Knowledge Societies" (as described in the invitation).

As an educator and lecturer at Tel Aviv University, focusing on the intersection between technology, education and Openness, and a track-record of opening the first for-credit academic courses in the world to focus on Wikipedia & Wikidata, a PhD researcher focusing on Wikidata as a learning platform, and the chairperson of the Wikipedia & Education User Group, I'm in a unique position to reach out to other educators from the global OER community. This conference is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness regarding the importance of Wikidata, first as an OER (which most don't know exist), and then as an unparalleled learning platform that has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with data, teach and learn. This is also yet another chance to deepen our movement's collaboration with UNESCO and get more recognition for our global contribution to knowledge as service and knowledge equity, as we share similar goals.

2. Will you be presenting at the event?

I will be one of 5 speakers in a special panel called "Artificial Intelligence and Frontier Technologies for OER". Each will have time to present (I was told between 15-20 min) and then we will all engage in an open discussion with the audience. This panel (called "workshop", thought it is not a workshop as understood in our movement) is part of the UNESCO Global Conference on AI, which is the theme of this year's Mobile Learning Week.

3. What kind of outreach activity do you plan to do?

I will give a presentation, answer questions, reach out to individuals that I meet and have potential to collaborate with us (network), and participate in the Wikimedia table that will be available throughout the conference. I will also strengthen connections with other Wikimedians attending this conference, from Wikimedia France and Wikimedia Sweden, as well as the new WMF Education team.

4. How will you let other participants know about your outreach activity?

Internally, I've already posted about my upcoming participation on this panel, and engaged the community in sending examples from a variety of countries and contexts, so my presentation will be as diverse and inclusive as it could be. Externally, my name and title will appear in the conference program, as will my contact info. I will also share my contact info with interested parties.

5. Do you have a specific networking plan? (e.g. specific people, organizations, groups you would like to develop partnerships with)

The global OER community has been identified by the Wikipedia & Education User Group as a target community for fostering collaborations. This panel participation was made possible due to my participation in the "Open Education Leadership Summit" organized by the Open Education Consortium last December, where I've met the organizer of this panel. In the coming conference, I hope to deepen these relationships with UNESCO and will continue to develop relationships with other relevant individuals and organizations working in this international ecosystem. I am positive that my presentation in this panel will be a stepping stone in raising awareness regarding the use of both Wikipedia & Wikidata (and other sister projects) as OERs and as learning tools. Although Wikipedia & Wikidata are probably the biggest OERs in the world, they are not perceived as such by the OER community, which is something I'm striving to change, step by step. This conference would be a step in the right direction.

6. What is your plan to follow-up with new contacts?

These things are impossible to plan, but I am expecting that I will be connecting with various individual and organizations that might show interest. After the conference (or at times during), I will help connect them with relevant individuals or affiliates in our movement (considering their physical location in the world), and invite them to become active participate in the global network facilitated by the Wikipedia & Education User Group.

Impact

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets as applicable:

Number of presentation attendees: Unknown at the moment. Anyone hearing my presentation would be considered a pure gain.
Number of new potential partners: Unknown at the moment. It is impossible to know these things in advance and anyone doing outreach enough time will confirm that building partnerships and fostering relationships don't happen over night and take time, perseverance and long-terms vision (which I humbly offer that I possess).
Number of outreach activity participants: Attendance in 4 out of 5 days of the conference. I will not be attending the last day of the conference, which is not considered a main day of the conference, but something similar to post-conference learning days. I have a small baby to get back to, which I am leaving in a very short notice only due to the importance of this invitation to participate.
Number of new editors: This is not a goal in this conference.
Number of of articles created or improved: This is not a goal in this conference.

Resources

What resources do you have? Include in-kind donations or additional funding.

I do not have funding for this conference, as I did not know I will be going till the very last minute (when I finally got the official invite). I am hoping that due to the importance of the invitation and the opportunities it holds, the WMF will approve this grant request.

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

I request funding for the entire journey, which includes:

Flight: 831$
Hotel (4 nights): 450 euros
Food: a budget of 50 euros per day * 5 days = 250 euros
Travel & misc: 100 euros.

Total: 1738 $ (which are 6315 NIS).

Endorsements

Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!

I strongly endorse! WikiTatik (talk) 07:23, 21 February 2019 (UTC)
Strong support. The Wikipedia & Education User Group‎ has recently been created, and this event is an opportunity to present the group to potential partners and eventually start partnerships to scale up group activities. The proponent is --obviously-- the "right person at the right spot" for this event. --Joalpe (talk) 18:17, 21 February 2019 (UTC)
I strongly support Shani in this endeavour, as a co-board member of the W&E UG. She'll be an excellent representative of our movement there and moreover, I think this participation will likewise be beneficial to our movement. --FiliP ██ 22:08, 21 February 2019 (UTC)
This is an excellent chance to build awareness for the value of Wiki Data in Education at a high level workshop. NSaad (WMF) (talk) 08:34, 25 February 2019 (UTC)