Learning and Evaluation/News/Learning Days for Wikimania Montreal/Wednesday

Campaigning for New Editors

Abstract

To keep Wikipedia alive it is crucial to have more editors. We will present two approaches to achieve that:

The #1lib1ref campaign targets librarians and combines offline and online work. The campaign and the result will be presented.
Wikimedia Deutschland just finished the 3rd online banner campaign on German Wikipedia to raise awareness for editing among readers and convince them to start editing. The campaigns, the results, the learnings and the available material will be presented.

After the presentation should be enough time for questions and a discussion and idea exchange.

Specific learning objectives
how to reach out to new editors - exchange of ideas and experiences

Plan

Presenters
Alex Stinson (WMF), Jan Apel, Verena Lindner, Elisabeth Mandl (WMDE)

Session format
lecture

Slide deck: on Google Drive

Clarifying your Theory of Change with Logic Models

Abstract: Logic Models are a very valuable tool for the planning of our program activities and for developing appropriate evaluation strategies. Based on the distinction between the ‘outputs’ and the ‘outcomes’ of our work, they can be used to carefully think through the links between what we are doing and what we want to change by this. In this session we will overview the concepts of outputs, outcomes and impact, practice to set up a simple logic model, and discuss how this tool can be used to frame your evaluation and shared to promote program learning.

Amount of Time Required

45 minutes

Specific learning objectives:

Participants learn of basic logic model terms like outputs, outcomes, impact.
Participants get first ideas how to train and use logic models in their planning and evaluation work

Materials:

[1]Aug 9, 2017 Presentation Deck

[2] Further reading

Collaborative notes in etherpad: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/LD_Logic_Models

Presenters:

Jaime Anstee + TBD

Facilitation Skills

Abstract

Facilitation is a set of practices and a role that concerns itself with assisting (usually goal-oriented) conversations run smoothly and productively. It is distinct from leading or controlling the conversation. Facilitation relies on fairly well-understood principles in human psychology and sociology, and when done well, can transform dysfunctional conversations or situations into healthy and constructive ones. In this workshop, I will present the importance of good facilitation, and teach some basic facilitation techniques. The participants will get to practice the techniques in small groups.

Amount of time required

4 hours

Specific learning objectives

Participants learn the importance of facilitation.
Participants learn specific facilitation techniques.
Participants practice facilitation, as facilitators, observers, and role-playing personae.

Plan

Introduce the concept of facilitation (10 min)
Present some facilitation techniques (20 min)
Practice facilitation in groups and share back (10 minutes)
Present some facilitation techniques (20 min)
Practice facilitation in groups and share back (10 minutes)
Present some facilitation techniques (15 min)
Practice facilitation in groups and share back (10 minutes)
Go-around for feedback (5 minutes)

Presenter roles

Asaf Bartov, co-presenter and facilitator of group exercises
Edward Galvez, co-presenter and facilitator of group exercises

Designing Wikimedia Programs and Events

Part 1

45 minutes

After learning about logic models, we will reflect on the programs that we run. This session will start the conversation around thinking about impact. This session will also ave program leaders think about their own programs and identify their theory of change.

Plan

In thematic groups (or as a large group, depending on number of people and timing), program leaders will share the following with their group:

What do you do?
Who do you reach?
What do you create?
What does this change?

As we think about designing programs for impact, we will also ask program leaders to share any key metrics they use to evaluate their outcomes. As time permits, some of this discussion or sharing may happen in part 2.

Part 2

60 minutes

Abstract

Following part one, this session will continue to look at program design in small thematic groups. Suggested groups may include people who focus on GLAM, Education Programs, or editathons. If you do more than one type of activity, choose one group for the session. Each small group will discuss different aspects of program design that include

Theory of change
Measuring impact

Learning objectives

Participants will learn from colleagues’ experience and insights in focused conversation in small groups

Participants will be able to share challenges and problem solve with their peers.

Participants will have a better understanding of how to focus on and measure the impact of their programs.

Plan

After breaking into small thematic groups, the community co-leads will introduce different aspects of program design with the following discussion points:

Why is it important to think about impact?
What is your program’s primary goal?
How could you triple the number of participants in your program?
What is your theory of change for how you’re helping readers?
What are you measuring? How can you measure outcomes?
How do your report impact to funders? How could you do better reporting
What partnerships are you pursuing? How do they help your primary goal?
What mistakes have you made when thinking about program impact? What have you learned from them?

These prompts come from a similar session that was led during the Learning Days at Wikimedia Conference 2017.

How to plan a pilot project

Audience: Anyone who has a new idea, but wants to run a small scale experiment to test it out.
Session Format: Workshop
Collaborative notes in etherpad: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Pilot_planning
Length: 60 min
Room setting: U-Shape
Description

Have you ever started a project, and then realized it was larger and more complicated than you thought? Have you ever had an idea for a new project, but wished you could test it out beforehand? Have you ever wished you could know the future, to know that your new project will succeed?

Then you might be interesting in running a pilot project. A pilot project is a way for you to test an idea, at a small scale. It offers you greater control over your project, allowing you to easily correct mistakes when they happen; it allows you to more easily see the direct consequence of an action or decision. And most importantly, it allows you to work out all the major and minor details of the project, before you use up all your volunteer, partner, staff time and resources. Lastly, while a pilot project won't predict the future, its low-risk way to see if your idea can work at a larger scale.

Desired Outcome: Participants will leave with a clear sense of how to work through ideas and create sustainable projects.
Mid-term impact: Larger projects will be built on the result of smaller-scale pilots and the results of those pilots.
Speakers: Sati Houston
Notes: Etherpad of notes from the presentation

Lightning Talks

Short presentations about community development and programs in the Wikimedia movement.

Time	Presenter	Topic
14:45 - 14:50	Winifred Olliff	Introduction to Lightning Talks
14:50 - 14:55	Gabrielle Reed	Art + feminism satellite edit-a-thons , spinning off the mother ship in Boston
14:55 - 15:00	Tanweer Morshed	Enriching historical content on Wikipedia through GLAM
15:00 - 15:05	Daria Cybulska	Life after WIRs - what are the long term effects of Wikimedian in Residence projects
15:05 - 15:10	Shang Kuan	An epic fail and a success in communication
15:10 - 15:15	Joe Sutherland	Training Modules
15:15 - 15:20	Gabriel Thullen	Presenting Wikipedia to first-time users
15:20 - 15:25	Tom Hogarth	Distance in Australia what it means
15:25 - 15:30	Gereon Kalkuhl	An easy method to school inexperienced Wikipedians. How to school newbies easily.
15:35 - 15:40	Giuseppe Profiti	Volunteer training experiences at Wikimedia Italy
15:40 - 15:45	Mykola Kozlenko	Onboarding board members

Evaluation Plans and Making it Count

Abstract

Wikimedia Programs are known to have brought the largest amounts of new editors in the past years, as well as the largest amounts of new content added to the Wikimedia Projects. This, powered by the movement tradition of replicating other successful programs has led to multiple implementations of these outreach initiatives. Since 2013, the Learning and Evaluation team at the Wikimedia Foundation has been collecting data on programs to better understand how they work towards movement goals. We now have two program reports that should help as a resource for community leaders that want to start a new program in their local context. How can you better use this data to design your own Wikimedia Program? What systems are in place to learn from others in the movement? In this session, we will look at successful programs globally and analyze why they work, looking at the logic behind them. We will work together to bring out a formula that could help participants think through the characteristics of their community, the problems they would like to solve and how to create programs that help solve them. We will look at existing program data and work in groups to pick a program with SMART targets, based on that information.

Amount of time required

120 minutes

Type of presentation

Workshop / Panel

Collaborative notes in etherpad: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/LD_Evaluation_Plans

Specific learning objectives

Participants will learn how to use data to design a program that works on a local level.
Participants will learn how to share back their experience to the wider movement.

Plan

Introduction: 4 minutes introduction with program showcase.
Step 1: Familiarize yourselves with your community scenario and define your challenge.
Step 2: How to set goals and targets to address your challenges.
Step 3: Understanding program data and shared learning. Applying this to individual context.

Break.

Workshop: break in groups to work on Education and GLAM programs.
- GLAM handout
Wrap up: 9 minutes to share reflections.

Presenter roles

María Cruz, presenter.
Nichole Saad, facilitator.
Tighe Flanagan, facilitator.
Alex Stinson, facilitator.

Tools Rotation

A lot of Wikimedia tools are very useful for running, tracking, and evaluating programs. There are tools to make uploading media easier, hearing from participants easier, and tracking and showcasing what you’ve done more easily as well. In this rotation, different tables will showcase key tools program leaders have found useful. Participants spend 5 minutes learning about a tool before rotating to a different table to learn about a new tool. Tables will include:

how to upload media with PattyPan and GLAMpipe
program management with the Program and Events Dashboard
how to find resources with the Wikimedia Resource Center
how to track viewing and editing statistics with PetScan
how to build a survey with the Survey Support Desk
how to find any public data in the MediaWiki databases with Quarry handout on Commons
how to submit bugs and track tasks with Phabricator

Amount of time required

45 minutes

Specific learning objectives

Learn the following about at least 4 tools:

What the tool is and what it does
Which situations the tool is most useful for
Where to find more information about the tool

Plan

Explain how the session works and the tables (5 min)
Participants rotate around tables (5 minutes each table, 2 mintues of rotation) (40 min)
Wrap up (2 min)

Presenter roles

Amanda Bittaker, introduces session
Alex Stinson leads media upload table
LiAnna Davis leads PE Dashboard table
Maria leads Wikimedia Resource Center table
Community participant leads PetScan table
Edward leads Survey table
Amanda leads Quarry table
Erica leads Phabricator table (TLDR flyer)

Qualtrics/Surveys

[Please create your session description here. Thank you!]

Grants Metrics

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Legal Questions & Issues

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Budget Planning & Tracking

[Please create your session description here. Thank you!]

Community Health: Tips & Tools

Notes: Etherpad / Meta-Wiki

This session will look at tools, processes, and techniques that Wikimedia communities have used, developed, and maintained to build stronger and healthier relationships between contributors. In this roundtable-style session, we as a group will discuss and critique existing resources, share success stories from participant experiences, and come up with ideas and best practices to take back to their communities. The goal here is to share what works in certain communities and to make suggestions on how they might be better developed going forward.

Opening discussion: What is a healthy community? (10 mins)

Is it a purely a numbers game (e.g. how many active contributors?)
What are some other metrics to measure community health?
What parts of community health are really hard to measure?

Existing tools (5 mins)

Here Joe and Patrick talk about some of the existing tools and strategies for improving community health.

Workshop: Sharing what works (30 mins)

Here participants will break into smaller groups and will be asked to think about the Wikimedia community they work most closely with. Identify one thing your community does well to encourage community health

What does it accomplish?
How can it be duplicated in other places?

Conclusion (15 mins)

We share what works, and talk about how we can help implement our good things after the conference.