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Learnings

This page is created to share lessons from the Brazil Program, in an effort to improve effectiveness of program. Other programs should use these learnings to benefit from the lessons learned, and yet they should note that some lessons are relevant only to this particular time and location.

School Selection

Aspect	Method/Observations	Learnings	Recommendations
Administration Leadership	We did not work closely with any directors at universities	The professors we worked with said that working with administrations of universities would help give us more publicity if we wanted to recruit more	Use administration of universities to publicize & legitimize program Begin constructing ways of working to recruit collaboratively
Location of school	We targeted schools in Two areas (Rio & Sao Paulo) due to: Critical mass of Wikipedians. This way, we could have a more fully functioning ecosystem of ambassadors Ease of WMF Contractor to visit. Both these areas We had one school that held classes in Marilla – about a 3 hour drive out of Sao Paulo	Ambassadors are crucial, and unless you have some in the area, it is hard to support the course It is hard for the WMF contractor to support a professor who is not within easy reach	Concentrate the focus of the courses in areas with ambassador options
Rank of school	We loosely targeted schools that were well-ranked	*While the rank of the school does not appear to be associated with the schools success, the quality of the students in the course is important	*Continue to look at the “rank” or prestige of the school as one indicator of the quality of the students. Note that this should not be the top requirement
Instrastructure	We didn’t think about this beforehand, but it is a requirement to have computer labs and times available fro the students	Not all campuses have consistent access to computer labs, and not all DEPARTMENTS have access to computer labs.	We should ensure the professor and campus ambassadors know beforehand that they need access to computer labs and work with their schools to get them

Professor Selection

Aspect	Method/Observations	Learnings	Recommendations
Professor characteristics	We targeted faculty who were passionate about open access	We found the top professor characteristics were: boldness: i.e., not afraid of Wikipedia or trying something new invested: i.e., devoted time to the project (see "Availability" below) Passionate about new models of education Quick and Internet Savvy	Work with professors who self-identify as wanting to be involved with the project, not just who look good on paper. One way to do this is through an open-call.
Availability	Given the goal above of recruiting top professors who were passionate about access, we observed that in fact, many of our professors were too busy, and we saw some with very tight schedules or teaching	When professors do not have the time to engage in the project fully, they have a hard time prioritizing the project in their class time, and do not fully leverage the campus ambassadors available to them.	Try to get a feel for how much time a professor will have during the semester; we should avoid over-investing time in recruiting professors who do not proactively respond with interest.
Planning	We did not have a tight training to really communicate with professors what was expected of them	The professors were never walked through the expectations of them during this semester. Moreover, they did not have the chance to really sit down and dig into the details of their coursework and how Wikipedia could augment that on the literal level.	Work with professors on the development of the project before the semester. This is essential in good project planning. Having the professors think about how the project should look before applying to the program could be an excellent way of going about this.

Course Selection

Aspect	Method/Observations	Learnings	Recommendations
Course design	We had one course with multiple professors and the rest had just one faculty member	The course with multiple professors had a harder time justifying time spent on Wikipedia.	Ask about the structure of the course before the semester to understand the dynamics that may be involved
Course planning	We had a brief training before the semester to help plan out the semester, but this was not done. We experienced a lot of changes in the courses during the semester	Professors are often very uncertain about the disciplines and how many classes they are going to teach before the semester starts, having limited information to plan in advance	Proactively ask the professors to plan out the semester (via the open call) Have a more focused and professional training event
Computer Skills	We did not preference courses based on the anticipated tech-savviness of the students.	We did not experience any issues with students being unable to operate online	None
Year/level of students	We did not target classes based on their level. We have had undergraduate, graduate, and PhD level courses	TBD	TBD

Campus Ambassadors

Aspect	Observations	Learnings	Recommendations
Wikipedians vs. non-Wikipedians	We targeted 50% of our volunteers to be Wikipidians. We actually ended up with a higher percentage of x%	Having Wikipedians was critical to the success of the project – they are able to answer questions and are committed to the success of the broader project Having Non-Wikipedians also provided a breath of fresh commitment and innovative ideas.	We should continue to strive for at least a 50% of ambassadors being Wikipedians, and we should definitely be open to new editors becoming campus ambassadors
Recruitment	We did some online recruitment for editors and Wikimedians, but did not do much targeting outside of that.	We were able to attract the minimum number of ambassadors necessary, but there wasn’t a lot of extra interest. For the non-Wikipedians, they came on their own accord and wanted to learn a LOT!	Continue formal, on-Wikipedia recruitment efforts, but also try to do more expansive effort to plug people in who previously were not a part of the known community, for example through a banner on Wikipedia or through professors and/or university programs. (See Recrutamento de embaizadores)
Campus Ambassador training	We had combined training with professors, which did not offer much specializing for the CAs	The CAs knew mostly about Wikipedia, but they were not prepared to know how to interact with their professors. They needed more support in understanding their roles and responsibilities, and also knowing when they should ask for help (e.g., when there was no computer lab available or the school was on strike)	Conduct concentrated CA training (See Ambassador Training Foster communication amongst the different ambassadors - determine based on end of semester survey for ambassadors
Online Ambassador training	We had some half-hearted IRC attempts at talking to the Online Ambassadors, but no formal training and certainly not collective communication	The OAs were unclear about their purpose, WMF was unclear about how to leverage them, and the professors were unclear what their purpose was	Conduct concentrated, online OA training (See Online Ambassador training) Develop plan for how to incorporate the OAs

Communication

Aspect	Observations	Learnings	Recommendations
With Ambassadors	We essentially only communicated with ambassadors via the Embaizadores talk page	We were able to get in contact with the CAs pretty well via this way, but not everyone. It did not become a space to share ideas or recommendations, and it was not very useful in designing how to target next steps or execute plans	Create a mailing list that is more active on this regard Create a more obvious workspace on meta that the ambassadors can use if needed
With Students	Some ambassadors had mailing lists of students, some had Moodle, and some had solely the professors.	It was difficult to get the students to do things like fill out surveys. This could be due to the difficulty of getting into contact, or it could be from the lack of emphasis by the professors.	Establish with the professors from the onset what the best way to collaborate with the students is
With professors	We would call and email professors	Some professors were slow in responding to emails, so ability to pick up the phone and call is very important.	Establish with professors their preferred method of contact Set the boundaries for approximately how often communication will be expected to occur
With Brazil education team and SF team	We had regular check-ins and bi-weekly full team meanings

Resources

Aspect	Observations	Learnings	Recommendations
Campus Ambassador to student ratio	TBD	TBD	TBD

Motivation

Aspect	Observations	Learnings	Recommendations
Motivating CAs	CAs have to be constantly motivated to continue putting equal or more amount of effort in the program.	To motivate and encourage CAs we can create hierarchy. For example CA level –I & II. To become CA level – II, the applicant should have at least: stipulated amount of edits Or developed at least 5 stub articles into full fledged articles.	CAs can be motivated by creating levels.
Motivating students	It is essential to constantly exemplify and praise good work done by all students to encourage them to continue editing.	We can motivate these students by: celebrating their success sending wiki love sharing their articles with the class/ community/ faculty/media.	Constantly appraise and aplaud the students to motivate them to continue editing and doing brilliant work on wiki.
Motivating faculty	Faculty needs motivation to be constantly involved in the education program and continue putting extra amount of efforts.	It’s necessary to recongnise the professors who have been contributing actively in the IEP and let their Directors know what amazing work they have been doing. We can get the professors some media coverage for eg. get some interviews scheduled with the journalists and encourage them to continue with their amazing work.	Appraise and aplaud the faculty for them to be constantly motivated.