Grants talk:IdeaLab/Taking the Common(s) Route

Comments from SGill (WMF)

Hi @Shypoetess: Thanks a lot for creating this idea. I have a couple of questions for you:

• You have mentioned English and Hindi Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons as projects about which you will be creating awareness. Which project is going to be your primary focus? (From the title, I am assuming it's Commons)
• If it's Wikimedia Commons, then how do you intend to increase viewership and usage of Wikimedia Commons? How do you plan to keep them engaged with Commons after the lectures?
• Have you identified some colleges where you will be implementing this? What kind of support can the colleges provide?

--SGill (WMF) (talk) 11:55, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

Hi @SGill (WMF): Thanks for appreciating my idea. Here are the answers to your questions:

• My Primary focus will definitely be Commons.
• As per my experience, students in general are neither aware of WikiCommons nor copyright laws. They use a lot of images for their assignments, reports and other academic works. Most of these images are downloaded from internet or copied from books regardless of the copyright status. I wish to introduce them to WikiCommons so that they learn the right way of doing their academic works. This would lead to increased viewership and usage of Wikimedia Commons.
• As for the continual engagement part, they are already using various search engines to look for images. We just provide them the one place with no copyright issues attached. I don't think switching would be that difficult. Also, during these endeavours they create many new images too. Motivating them to share them on commons would help in turning them into contributors. While sharing images on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram gives a social delight contributing to commons would be an academic delight.
• Yes. There are a few colleges in Karnal and Panipat region of Haryana that I'm in talks with. They can provide the venue and audience for the lectures. Some can provide computer labs for demonstrations too. We're still working out the details.

Hope I was able to afford more clarity on my idea. If there are still some questions, please feel free to ask. --Shypoetess (talk) 17:44, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

Next steps to develop your idea

Thanks for submitting your idea, Taking the Common(s) Route, for the New Readers Inspire Campaign. In order to help develop your idea further, we want to ask you to respond to the following questions here on the discussion page. Please refer to this document, which contains examples and resources to help you answer these questions:

1. Describe one or two versions of this idea that are smaller than your initial one.

2. List three assumptions about your project and why you think those assumptions are true (see the document for some examples).

3. List three skills or resources you don’t have, that you need for this project to succeed.

4. How can you determine if your project is successful?

Please contact me on my talk page if you have any questions. I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 21:58, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Next Step Response

Hi @I JethroBT (WMF): Thanks for contacting me. Here are the answers to your questions:

Describe one or two versions of this idea that are smaller than your initial one.

In a smaller version we can try the idea with the students of only one college. The program will have the following three steps:

Step I: Existing local Wikipedia Editors will be invited to deliver a lecture to the students of Dyal Singh College, Karnal, introducing them to WikiCommons and what they can do with it.

Step II: A live demonstration of various tools used for WikiCommons will be held for the students to acquaint them with the technical aspects.

Step III: A Photo walk will be organized to put the knowledge gained by the students to work and motivate them to contribute.

List three assumptions about your project and why you think those assumptions are true.

Assumption I: The Colleges will allow us to hold lectures and live demonstrations.

Reason: I have talked to the authorities of some College and they all have agreed to provide the necessary infrastructure required as long as there are no financial liabilities.

Assumption II: The students will be interested in attending the lectures and live demonstrations.

Reason: Since 2015, I conduct a State level Wildlife Photography Competition annually and a lot of students participate with good quality photographs. I’ve talked to them and they are all willing to attend theses lectures and live demonstrations.

Assumption III: There will be an increase in both awareness and contributions WikiCommons after this programme.

Reason: While the college students use as well as create photographs a lot yet the awareness about WikiCommons is almost negligible in this region. This program will not only create awareness but also give them a place to share their work.

List three skills or resources you don’t have, that you need for this project to succeed.

• As this would be my first Wikipedia event I would need an advisor to guide me through the organization of the events.
• Wikipedian volunteer with oration and photography skills for delivering lectures, live demonstrations and Photo walk.
• Financial help for the organization of the events.

How can you determine if your project is successful?

For assessing the outcome of the program we will ask the participants to fill out a feedback form after every event. This will help us get us a clear data about new users created, new contributors created and number of contributions by them.

Hope I was able to afford more clarity on my idea. If there are still some questions, please feel free to ask.

Rapid Grant applications due March 15th

Thanks for starting your idea with the New Readers Inspire Campaign. I'm Chris Schilling (User:I JethroBT (WMF)), a community organizer supporting the campaign.

If you think you may need funding for your idea, Rapid Grants are available for ideas submitted during this campaign. Grant applications for ideas related to new readers are due by March 15th, 2018 (23:59 GMT). You can convert your idea into a Rapid Grant proposal by clicking on the Expand into a Rapid Grant button at the bottom of your idea page. Please review the guidelines and criteria before starting your grant application. If you need help completing your grant application, please contact me at cschillingwikimedia.org.

While applications for Rapid Grants can normally be submitted at any time, we have implemented a deadline for ideas on this specific topic. The reason for this deadline is because we plan to develop specific criteria later in 2018 for grant applications related to new readers and awareness-building activities. The applicants and project plans we receive from you in the coming weeks will help us define these guidelines and set expectations for future work in inviting people to use Wikimedia projects generally.

Also, if you do not need funding but would like to discuss other questions or needs for your idea (such as on-wiki volunteers or advising), please feel free to contact me on my talk page or at cschillingwikimedia.org, and we can discuss your needs over e-mail or schedule a time to have a conversation about your needs over Skype / Hangouts / IRC. Thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) 15:47, 21 February 2018 (UTC)

Resources for your education project

Hi Shypoetess, and thank you for your submission to the New Readers Inspire Campaign! I’m excited to learn more about your ideas and help support you moving forward. Allow me to introduce myself and my team:

My name is Nichole Saad, and I’m an education program manager on the Education Team at the Wikimedia Foundation. You can read more about me on Wiki. In short, I’m an education specialist who has worked in about 20 schools in 7 countries, and supported education development projects for governments and UN agencies. Now, I support people like you to carry out education activities in the Wikimedia movement that help students achieve valuable 21st century skills while building awareness for the movement and adding content to Wikimedia projects, especially on local language Wikis.

I wanted to share some resources that might be helpful for you while you are planning your rapid grant proposals, and also offer you office hours time where we can have a conversation about your project ideas and how you can plan for success. Please find below the linked resources, and a link to a Doodle where you can select the time that works best for you. I will follow up with at least two time slot offerings, and you can feel free to join the call that works best for you.

Warm regards,

Nichole 19:26, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

Doodle Link:

https://doodle.com/poll/5stnqgb8vrtn8rzr

Useful resources:

Background reading on shared goals in education and the Wikimedia Movement:

https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/04/27/mobile-learning-week/

https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/01/23/education-survey-report/

Program management tool

https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/

Where you can find examples:

https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/News

https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/Case_Studies

Hello NSaad (WMF), Thank you for showing interest in my idea. I shall definitely go through the links that you have provided and get back to you by 14th. --WARM Regards, Shypoetess (talk) 19:20, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

Inspire Campaign Rapid Grant applications due today

This is a final reminder that the deadline for Rapid Grant applications for ideas submitted for the New Readers Inspire Campaign are due today (March 15th 2018) by 23:59 GMT. IF you think you need funding for you idea, please review the following instructions:

If you haven't drafted your Rapid Grant proposal: Click on the Expand into a Rapid Grant button at the bottom of your idea page and fully respond to all the questions. Once you've answered the questions and are ready for your proposal to be formally reviewed, submit your draft proposal and change the status=draft to status=proposed in the {{Probox}} template.

If you've already drafted your Rapid Grant proposal: Be sure to fully respond to all questions regarding your activities, measures of impact, and budget, and then change the status=draft to status=proposed in the {{Probox}} template.

If you're not sure you know how to change the status of your proposal or aren't sure if you've changed it properly, please contact me at cschillingwikimedia.org or on my talk page and I can make the changes for you. Thanks, User:I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 15:54, 15 March 2018 (UTC)