Grants talk:IEG/Mbazzi Village writes Wikipedia/Midpoint

Feedback

Hi Paul,

Thank you for submitting your midpoint report! I can see how much time and effort you've put into your project so far, and it is great to hear that the Mbazzi Wikipedia center is up and running as a first accomplishment - thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia thus far :) After reviewing your report, I'm posting some more feedback and questions here:

Information still needed to approve this report

1. We will need you to update the table on your finances page to track how much has actually been spent so far, before we can send the second set of funding to you. In that "Actual funds spent" column on that table, please write the amount of money that has been paid so far to the trainer and the guard.

2. How often are the trainer and the guard actually at the Mbazzi Village center? I am looking at a page showing recently changed pages on Luganda Wikipedia, and it seems like many days no edits are made to Luganda Wikipedia (and on other days, there is at most 1 person editing - I'm not sure what your trainer's username is, maybe some days those edits are only their own?). I'm wondering if you think the original plan to staff the center with a full-time trainer still makes sense, since there appears to be a small number of active contributors so far. Looking at the articles that have been written so far, it also seems like more training for new editors in how to use wikimarkup could be useful. Do you feel that your trainer has all of the knowledge they need to train new contributors? Curious to hear your thoughts!

3. It looks like you did not fill in the section about what is working well in your report yet. It is ok if you don't choose to create a learning pattern, but it would be good to add a few sentences in that section about what you think has been the most successful in your project so far :)

Some more general questions and suggestions

1. Your plan to focus on a few contributors who make the biggest impact in the future makes a lot of sense to me. How do you think you will identify those contributors?

2. Of the 76 people who have been trained, do you know how many people actually contributed something to an article? If you haven't already been using this dashboard to help you track the growth of Luganda Wikipedia, I'd suggest having a look. It may be useful to see if the articles and community are growing over time as much as you hope they will. It seems you still have a ways to go in order to meet your goal of 100 new editors and 120 new articles, so focusing energy on the groups that you've learned are more likely to edit than others seems important, and I'm glad you are considering it.

3. Widening the scope of articles you're encouraging makes a lot of good sense to me - looking forward to hearing in your final report how that works out!

4. About the request for a Project Assistant: I am not yet convinced that adding another person to the team is really what is needed in order to increase the impact. Can you help me understand what a project assistant would do that would result in more active editors and more articles created in this center? If you prioritized your own time and efforts to concentrate on the things that are having the most impact so far, leaving aside some other activities (that may be less impactful, or that you simply don't have the energy to work on right now) might that help too? What kinds of things is the trainer focusing their time teaching, and could they perhaps take on some more impactful work helping as a project assistant instead? You would be welcome to repurpose some of your current budget for staffing to other types of staff instead as you are learning what is most useful after these past 6 months. If you want to talk about this more via email or on Skype, I am happy to discuss there too!

5. I'm pinging User:Jan_Ainali_(WMSE) about 2 particular issues you've mentioned in your report, because I think he and WMSE may be interested in following up: "two training meetings with trainers (Wikipedia ambassadors) were not enough. We should have concentrated on the core team to realize impact later on" and "breakdown of computers." Thank you for raising these challenges - I'd suggest that you and Jan have more conversation about them if you have not already.

6. In terms of your ideas for starting more activities with students at local universities, please let me introduce you to my colleague Tighe, who may have some suggestions or materials that could be useful for you if you decide to move forward with this (Tighe supports Wikipedia Education Program leaders in Africa and the Arab World).

Paul, I am looking forward to your responses so that we can accept this midpoint report and move forward with the rest of your project.

Best wishes,

Siko (WMF) (talk) 00:16, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Responses from Paul

Grants talk:IEG/Mbazzi Village writes Wikipedia/Midpoint < Grants talk:IEG‎ | Mbazzi Village writes Wikipedia Feedback Hi Paul, Thank you for submitting your midpoint report! I can see how much time and effort you've put into your project so far, and it is great to hear that the Mbazzi Wikipedia center is up and running as a first accomplishment - thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia thus far :) After reviewing your report, I'm posting some more feedback and questions here: Information still needed to approve this report

1. We will need you to update the table on your finances page to track how much has actually been spent so far, before we can send the second set of funding to you. In that "Actual funds spent" column on that table, please write the amount of money that has been paid so far to the trainer and the guard.

Response: Update done at finances page

2. How often are the trainer and the guard actually at the Mbazzi Village center? I am looking at a page showing recently changed pages on Luganda Wikipedia, and it seems like many days no edits are made to Luganda Wikipedia (and on other days, there is at most 1 person editing - I'm not sure what your trainer's username is, maybe some days those edits are only their own?). I'm wondering if you think the original plan to staff the center with a full-time trainer still makes sense, since there appears to be a small number of active contributors so far. Looking at the articles that have been written so far, it also seems like more training for new editors in how to use wikimarkup could be useful. Do you feel that your trainer has all of the knowledge they need to train new contributors? Curious to hear your thoughts.

RESPONSE: The trainer comes three days in the week, usually in the evenings when the farmers have finished their farm work. Employing a full time trainer would be more expensive at the start. At the beginning, it was important for the farmers to upgrade their computer skills. Before uploading articles, it was important for them to master MS WORD. So the trainer concentrated on improving their hands-on knowledge in using computers. Then, once in a while, an article could be uploaded as a demonstration. The The trainer has adequate knowledgein computer. He learnt how to write and post articles onto wikipedia from the wikipedia ambassadors. Training more editors is a good idea. It should not be a one time training, there should be continuous monitoring to check on the progress made and to build interest. It is not as simple as it appears. This is a new thing even for the graduates. For the guard, he is on duty at night, and he is accommodated at the centre. Thus he sleeps in the morning. He is kept busy at the centre.

3. It looks like you did not fill in the section about what is working well in your report yet. It is ok if you don't choose to create a learning pattern, but it would be good to add a few sentences in that section about what you think has been the most successful in your project so far :)

RESPONSE: a. Starting to work on a very big project but in a very humble style. This is like a new discovery that will lead to great changes in peoples lives. When we expand it, there will be incredible impact. b. Villagers pioneering in contributing knowledge to the world! Indeed, anybody can be useful in this game of knowledge sharing. You do not need to be a graduate to share knowledge.

Some more general questions and suggestions 1. Your plan to focus on a few contributors who make the biggest impact in the future makes a lot of sense to me. How do you think you will identify those contributors? It is a process. As we spread the Luganda wikipedia, people are excited.It sounds like news to them. Others have too much knowledge to share but did not know how to share it globally. Others need assistance to translate these articles. Those that are convinced about this mission swing into action. But we need to concentrate on the universities where we have been. That is a big source of knowledge. Coordination can be easier when we have a good number of graduates involved. 2. Of the 76 people who have been trained, do you know how many people actually contributed something to an article? If you haven't already been using this dashboard to help you track the growth of Luganda Wikipedia, I'd suggest having a look. It may be useful to see if the articles and community are growing over time as much as you hope they will. It seems you still have a ways to go in order to meet your goal of 100 new editors and 120 new articles, so focusing energy on the groups that you've learned are more likely to edit than others seems important, and I'm glad you are considering it.

I have not been using the dashboard to track contributors. Often times, I call those who were trained to give me updates. But so far, when I look at the articles generated since February 2014, nearly all of them come from this Project. That is very reassuring!! We shall reach our goal of 120 articles. We need to toil harder to make 100 editors. I personally need to reserve more time for this. It is like marketing. Training editors or looking for them is like looking for clients. People need to be convinced. I have to make them see beyond the invisible. Sometimes,they have to invest their personal resources like finances to access internet. I am growing my marketing skills through Wikipedia Voluntarism of knowledge sharing. 3. Widening the scope of articles you're encouraging makes a lot of good sense to me - looking forward to hearing in your final report how that works out! We want to encourage people to write about what interests them. Knowledge is abundant in various fields. We need to exploit many avenues so that people can start using the Luganda wikipedia.We need to popularize the Luganda wikipedia. 4. About the request for a Project Assistant: I am not yet convinced that adding another person to the team is really what is needed in order to increase the impact. Can you help me understand what a project assistant would do that would result in more active editors and more articles created in this center? If you prioritized your own time and efforts to concentrate on the things that are having the most impact so far, leaving aside some other activities (that may be less impactful, or that you simply don't have the energy to work on right now) might that help too? What kinds of things is the trainer focusing their time teaching, and could they perhaps take on some more impactful work helping as a project assistant instead? You would be welcome to repurpose some of your current budget for staffing to other types of staff instead as you are learning what is most useful after these past 6 months. If you want to talk about this more via email or on Skype, I am happy to discuss there too! The Project assistant will coordinate all activities beyond Mbazzi Centre. There is need to revisit all the centres where training was done. There is need for follow up. We also need to bring others on board. We could target those who are already upbeat about the Luganda wikipedia. I think we need to engage The Buganda Kingdom, the custodians of the Luganda language and the tertiary institutions. This project grows everyday. Although we need to concentrate on a few editors, even the few need monitoring. They could be spread all over.

5. I'm pinging User:Jan_Ainali_(WMSE) about 2 particular issues you've mentioned in your report, because I think he and WMSE may be interested in following up: "two training meetings with trainers (Wikipedia ambassadors) were not enough. We should have concentrated on the core team to realize impact later on" and "breakdown of computers." Thank you for raising these challenges - I'd suggest that you and Jan have more conversation about them if you have not already.

RESPONSE: Here, computers break down because of the various users, usually learners. Servicing them is expensive. You may need to take the technician to the centre or to carry the computers to the technician. In some cases, gadgets like the chromebook are rather unfamiliar and repair work is priced highly. About the core team, from my experience in the first six months, some core members can be identified. We need to have the universities more actively because they can access internet fairly. Others are limited by internet access like Joyce Kawooya in Masaka(Joyce has uploaded some wonderful articles on sustainable agricultural development).

6. In terms of your ideas for starting more activities with students at local universities, please let me introduce you to my colleague Tighe, who may have some suggestions or materials that could be useful for you if you decide to move forward with this (Tighe supports Wikipedia Education Program leaders in Africa and the Arab World).

RESPONSE: I am yet to actively engage Tighe. I hope to get in touch soon for a sharing.

Paul, I am looking forward to your responses so that we can accept this midpoint report and move forward with the rest of your project. Best wishes, Siko (WMF)

Report accepted

Hi Paul,

Thanks for updating your report with the financial and other information needed to complete it. I am now accepting your report. We look forward to seeing if you'll be able to establish a core group of editors as the project progresses and you make adjustments to your strategy, consider expanding to new topics for articles, etc. We are not, however, investing additional funds for a Project Coordinator in this IEGrant - we encourage you to continue focusing on demonstrating success in Mbazzi before you consider expansion elsewhere in Uganda.

Best wishes, Siko (WMF) (talk) 18:25, 9 September 2014 (UTC)