User:DMccurdy (WMF)/Sandbox/WikimaniaLD2018Report
Participation and Feedback[edit]
In another successful round of Learning Days at Wikimania, 33 community members and 18 Foundation staff members congregated in Cape Town, South Africa to learn, share, and collaborate with Wikimedians from all corners of the globe.
Based on feedback from previous iterations of Learning Days, we decided to pilot a new approach by consolidating sessions into longer workshops for two cohorts. Each morning consisted of a workshop block for both new and experienced Wikimedians. Instead of having to meticulously choose which sessions were right for them, attendees were grouped based on their experience level with Wikimedia projects. This new cohort model was well-received and allowed the two groups to spend a total of 5 hours together over the two days so that they could network and learn together. Session evaluations demonstrate some of the unique value this new model offers:
“I really liked the concept of introducing new organizers to the movement broadly.” - A New Organizer cohort member
“I liked how the attendees shared their best practices and strategies for getting community feedback, and how they already had so much to share about what they’re doing!” - An Experienced Organizer cohort member
In addition to the new and experienced organizer cohorts, all Learning Days participants were invited to to attend afternoon sessions with something for everyone, such as Storytelling for Projects, Measuring and Evaluating Diversity and Equity, or Lighting Talks, a popular Learning Days tradition.
By looking at session attendance, we can get a glimpse of what community members wanted to learn most from their Learning Days experience. The sessions with the most attendees on Wednesday included the New Organizers - Opening Workshop, GLAM Programs and Partnerships, Demystifying Grants, and Lightning Talks. Popular sessions for Day Two included morning workshops for both experienced and new organizers, Lightning Talks - Round 2, and Volunteer Recruitment and Engagement. We did find that attendance was much lower on Thursday, likely due to the number of other preconference offerings that Foundation staff and some community members were committed to. Nevertheless, we had a great group of people continue the learning on day 2 and even had some new folks join in on the fun. For a full breakdown of session attendance, check out the table below.
| Wednesday Attendance | Thursday Attendance | ||
| Session Name | Count of participants | Session Name | Count of participants |
| Welcome and Orientation - Day 1 | 51 | Welcome and Orientation - Day 2 | 31 |
| New Organizers - Opening Workshop | 39 | New Organizers - Morning Workshop | 21 |
| Experienced Organizers - Opening Workshop | 23 | Experienced Organizers - Morning Workshop | 24 |
| GLAM Programs and Partnerships | 35 | Volunteer Recruitment and Engagement Panel | 17 |
| Measuring and Evaluating Diversity and Equity | 15 | Lightning Talks - Round 2 | 20 |
| Demystifying Grants | 26 | Program Planning & Making Metrics Count | 12 |
| Storytelling for Projects | 12 | Planning for Learning | 9 |
| Lightning Talks - Round 1 | 25 | New Organizers - Closing Workshop | 4 |
| Structured Data and Wiki Partnerships | 15 | Experienced Organizers - Closing Workshop | 15 |
| Day 1 Closing Session | 28 | Day 2 Closing Session | 16 |
As always, collecting feedback from sessions is an essential part of measuring the success of Learning Days, and helps us learn how we can make Learning Days even better next round. This time, we experimented with offering a digital version of our feedback form, to make it easier for attendees to offer feedback.
The digital feedback forms ask participants the same questions as in previous editions of Learning Days: what they liked best in a session, what could use improvement, and how they will use what they learned in their own work with Wikimedia projects. The table below shows the amount of feedback we received from attendees on both days.
| Learning Day | Percentage of total attendees | Change from previous Learning Days |
| Wednesday | 65% | -7 percentage points |
| Thursday | 42% | -23 percentage points |
We learned that using digital feedback forms does reduce the amount of time needed for data entry and analysis, however, this time around, it came at a cost of fewer responses overall. Especially on Day 2, we only got feedback from 42% of participants, compared to the previous Learning Days where we received feedback from 65% of participants by using a paper form. In the future, we plan to utilize both the paper and the digital form, and will require workshop leaders to set aside 5 minutes at the end of each session to collect feedback.
We analyzed the feedback about what participants like most and what they would like to see next time and below are the most common themes across all sessions:
| Things People Liked Best | Suggestions For Next Time |
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It’s also important to analyze participant intentions to apply knowledge and skills back in their local context. We ask participants, “What is something you will do differently in the next 30 days based on what you learned in this workshop?” Below are examples of how attendees plan to apply what they learned in their own work with Wikimedia projects:
“I will try to think how my community can implement community capacity mapping.”
“Structuring our user group with different roles. Applying some sort of governance and understanding more about policy. Connecting with experienced groups in the aspects lacking in ours. Reviewing our vision.”
“Evaluate where our to-dos are as a community.”
“To have a meeting with active users in my hometown and to map what we are lacking and how to execute program accordingly.”
“I'll implement some of the newly acquired 'tools' in my 'toolbox' at the planned conference I'm organizing in early August.”
“Holding others accountable for active listening in nice ways (acknowledging when someone might need the space when they were cut-off mid-thought and bring conversation back to them).”
“To try a photowalk with my community.”
“Re-examine my grant proposal.”
“I will try to adapt my lightning talk on Saturday.”
“Create structured Wikidata descriptions of images, uploaded to Commons.”
“Applying the learnings on my next Education workshop with high school students.”
“I will try new approach in engaging the volunteers”
Lightning Talks[edit]
As with each iteration of Learning Days, we invite community members to share their experience with Wikimedia projects in a series of 5-minute presentations. Presenters share stories of their work in the Wikimedia world, and how the lessons they learned can be used by other community members in their endeavors. The Lightning Talks are always one of the most popular sessions at Learning Days, and offers a glimpse into the variety of viewpoints and experiences across the global Wikimedia Movement. To view some of these Lightning Talks, check out the category on Commons, or our YouTube channel.