Grants talk:IEG/Wikitherapy/Midpoint
Feedback on Midpoint Report[edit]
Dear Saintfevrier,
Thank you for submitting this midpoint report! I am close to accepting this report, once the following changes have been made:
- Please complete your Budget table in the Finances tab by filling out both the "Project Management/Training" and the "Total" rows in both the "Actual funds spent" and "Difference" columns.
- Please answer the question in the Finances section of your Midpoint Report tab.
- Once you've done both those things, please email me to let me know they are complete.
In addition, here are further comments on your report:
Thank you Marti, please see my replies in-line:)
- Congratulations on making it halfway through your project and successfully supporting two people to become active editors in Wiktionary and Wikiquote. This is an important accomplishment for your project, meeting one of your main targets.
- Thanks!
- Among your active editors, I'm curious if you know how often editing happens outside of the context of your twice-weekly meetings. Have any of your participants, particularly Dimitris and Evangleia becoming self-motivated enough to edit on their own time?
- My two active editors work primarily outside of our meetings, especially ever since we started dedicating time exclusively to the team project about a month and a half ago. Dimitris is very motivated, Evangelia I would say moderately. I do believe that Evangelia will pick up momentum soon as she has finished with middle school: she's very diligent in her responsibilities however she finds it difficult to maintain frequent contributions to Wikiquote while preparing for her final exams (she happens also to be a student at the school where I teach). We'll have to wait and see how active she will be after mid-June.
- That's great! Thanks for clarifying!
- My two active editors work primarily outside of our meetings, especially ever since we started dedicating time exclusively to the team project about a month and a half ago. Dimitris is very motivated, Evangelia I would say moderately. I do believe that Evangelia will pick up momentum soon as she has finished with middle school: she's very diligent in her responsibilities however she finds it difficult to maintain frequent contributions to Wikiquote while preparing for her final exams (she happens also to be a student at the school where I teach). We'll have to wait and see how active she will be after mid-June.
- What further thoughts do you have about the dip in your participation levels over time, from the initial 10 participants to the current 4? Beyond reasons within the lives of the participants, do you have ideas about anything in the program design that might have contributed? Is there anything you might try differently to get more robust participation in the latter half of your IEG timeline?
- Very good question. After speaking with the participants and consulting with the Day Center staff I have pinpointed another reason: lack of equipment. In specific, there are two participants who are positive and eager to contribute but they do not have a computer at home, and there are not enough laptops to go around in our sessions. So the interim solution is to hold several of our upcoming sessions at the municipal library, which is nearby and has several fully equipped workstations. At a different level, with the staff we are exploring ways of obtaining funding for the purchase of a couple of laptops that could be used by the participants at home.
- Sounds good. I'm looking forward to hearing how this changes things when you submit your Final Report!
- Very good question. After speaking with the participants and consulting with the Day Center staff I have pinpointed another reason: lack of equipment. In specific, there are two participants who are positive and eager to contribute but they do not have a computer at home, and there are not enough laptops to go around in our sessions. So the interim solution is to hold several of our upcoming sessions at the municipal library, which is nearby and has several fully equipped workstations. At a different level, with the staff we are exploring ways of obtaining funding for the purchase of a couple of laptops that could be used by the participants at home.
- In addition to linking to your outputs in your narrative, as you've done, please call out your media links, social networking links and created materials in separate, exhaustive lists/galleries that can serve as a reference library for your project. When creating your gallery of materials you've created (i.e. your slide deck, mini-guides, etc)., please clearly label the portion of those materials that make up the "Wikitherapy toolkit" named in your measures of success.
- Will do. I've explained the difficulties I've encountered in doing this in an e-mail I sent this morning, hope we can work out a solution:). Also, our Facebook account may be very active but our Twitter account is dormant and I would like to work on making it more active in the remaining IEG timeline
- Got it. This request is primarily relevant to your Final Report, when you'll have a finished suite of resources to showcase.
- While on the subject of media links... Congratulations on hitting your targets so far!
- Thanks!
- Will do. I've explained the difficulties I've encountered in doing this in an e-mail I sent this morning, hope we can work out a solution:). Also, our Facebook account may be very active but our Twitter account is dormant and I would like to work on making it more active in the remaining IEG timeline
- In your Outcomes section, you say that, "The impact of this project lies more in the meaning-making aspect of Wikipedia; this has been successful beyond expectations." Please expand on what you mean here. As you've noted, the ratio of hours of your time invested to outcome in terms of number of volunteer editors and edits is very small. So, say more about where you do see the impact of this project?
- Will do:)
- In your measures of success, you noted that you wanted to help meet your participants sense of purpose and a source of self-confidence. Do you feel you have succeeded? As you suggested in your proposal, has there been an assessment by the collaborating Daycare Center staff? What were the results?
- My personal outlook is that it has helped them greatly, and the feedback I am getting from the staff indicates the same impression. An assessment has not yet been carried out... I will request one, with the belief it will most likely be performed in time for the final report.
- A staff assessment would be an awesome addition to your Final Report. I hope it's possible to get one!
- My personal outlook is that it has helped them greatly, and the feedback I am getting from the staff indicates the same impression. An assessment has not yet been carried out... I will request one, with the belief it will most likely be performed in time for the final report.
- From your stories in our check-ins, it is clear that the relationships you've built in this project have been a rich and meaningful part of your experience. Because of the small, intimate nature of your project, it's very heart-warming to see the photos of your close-knit group. Thanks for including them! I'd love to see more!
- Thanks again! Yes, we are a very close-knit team and the Wikitherapy concept has worked wonders for myself as well! I miss them when we occasionally have to cancel a session, and I definitely intend to continue our Wikitherapy even after the IEG has been completed. You should be expecting loads of photos after our event: we will start working out the practical details in our next session, as our team article has now reached a satisfactory level of maturity. I will post a time, place and date soon as we have it all figured out, and confirmed by the venues:)
I have reviewed your blog post and want to suggest that we set up time via Hangout to talk about how to prepare the post for publication.
Thanks for all your work on this project, Saintfevrier!
Best regards, --Marti (WMF) (talk) 20:00, 12 May 2016 (UTC)
Midpoint Report accepted[edit]
Dear Saintfevrier,
Thank you for completing your Finances table and section, as requested. I'm accepting this report!
Janice will be in touch soon!
Warm regards,
--Marti (WMF) (talk) 20:36, 24 May 2016 (UTC)
- Thanks Marti! --Saintfevrier (talk) 20:52, 24 May 2016 (UTC)