Movement Strategy/Recommendations/Iteration 3/Community input/Invest in Skills Development

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Community input

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Community input

Principles

Glossary

On-wiki know-how, technical skills, project management… Wikimedians across the world have all shared a pressing need to learn all kinds of skills, both from each other and from the outside, and both about the Wikimedia projects themselves and about how to successfully promote them. The general feeling is that skills development should be more widely accessible, and more consistently supported by the Movement, so as to create a strong network of peer-learning and skills recognition.

Inclusion: skills development should

  • Be adapted to local context
  • Be equitable for all languages

Online skills to grow Wikimedia Projects (contribution to WP and sister projects)

Online capacity building:

  • Improve platforms User Experience so they require less skills to begin contributing (both for editorial or technical contribution, see User Experience and Barriers).
  • Build a global, multilingual platform to learn about how to contribute to Wikimedia projects (including tutorials, how-tos, MOOCs, access to mentors...)[1] [and/or].
  • Include tutorials and help directly inside the wiki’s interface.[2]

Offline capacity building:

  • Support digital literacy as the first step towards our projects.[3]
  • Entertain recruiting, training, mentoring and peer-learning at the local level (affiliates and regional groups,[4] city-level groups, university clubs, wiki-clubs, wiki camps…).[5]
  • Have training directed towards young people and under-represented communities.[6]
  • Grow local/regional events for peer-learning (conferences, hackathons…).[7]
  • Develop train the trainer programs,[8] both for Wikimedians and GLAM staff.[9]

Offline skills to grow Wikimedia Affiliates (administration/legal, project management, etc.)

  • We need more peer-learning among affiliates to share the best methods for: awareness raising, project management, reporting, partnerships, volunteer recruitment, etc.[10] Esp. for emerging communities.
    • Regional cooperation / mentorship for skills development.[11]
    • Better knowledge management to allow autonomous learning and transparency.[12]
    • Skills development needs investment in staff,[13] and hence in capacity building about organization and staff management, as well as support for groups’ structuration and stability.
  • We also need to bring skills from the outside, by hiring specialist trainers or partnering with other community-based based organizations or NGOs (for skills like public speaking, project and volunteers management, etc.).[14]

Skills recognition

The Movement should create a system of certificates or open badges:[15]

  • Skills would include both Wikimedian-specific skills and other types of skills.
  • Certificates could be delivered to volunteers (eg. to give them legitimacy when working with partners,[16] to value their capacities in their career) but also to Wikimedia staff and partners staff, so as to create a global official standard

Footnotes

  1. ↑ “Build a platform for capacity building and skill training”, Levant Strategy Salon, August 2019.
  2. ↑ “Online community should be trained with clear, up-to-date help pages, guided tutorials and gamification”, Iberocoop Telegram Channel, May 2019.
  3. ↑ “Support digital literacy for specific populations (women, elder people, emerging countries)”, France Strategy Salon, June 2019.
  4. ↑ “Affiliates and regional entities should be the base of Capacity Building, with a sharing culture”, Catalan Strategy Salon, September 2019.
  5. ↑ “new members and volunteers can be included through [...] Wiki Camps and Clubs.”, GLAM Macedonia User Group, July 2019.
  6. ↑ “the young population should be undoubtedly among the most important target groups [...] there is also a need for deeper collaboration with marginalized social groups”, GLAM Macedonia User Group, July 2019.
  7. ↑ “Organize hackathons/workshops where volunteers or staff can help developers acquire new skills on new/current technologies”, Cameroon Strategy Salon, August 2019.
  8. ↑ “Set up a core of trainers for each Wikimedia project”, Benin Strategy Salon, August 2019.
  9. ↑ “Need to "train trainers" (facilitation skills are distinct from Wiki-specific skills)”, Spanish Community, July 2019.
  10. ↑ “One of the capacities we need is how to build strong partnerships”, Odia Wikimedians User Group, April 2019 ; “Organizers should be closely supported so we have a robust mentoring system to build new leaders/organizers's capacity”, Wikipedia & Education User Group, September 2019.
  11. ↑ “Set up mentorship programs for both new members in communities and for new affiliates”, ESEAP Strategy Summit, June 2019.
  12. ↑ Cameroon Strategy Salon, June 2019.
  13. ↑ “It is necessary to think about the possibility of remunerating activities, such as training in Wikipedia and the administration activities of a civil association”, Venezuela Strategy Salon, July 2019 ; “We need a minimum of paid staff in local communities”, Côte d’Ivoire, July 2019.
  14. ↑ Cameroon Strategy Salon, June 2019 ; Levant Strategy Salon, August 2019 ; Wikimedia & Education Youth Salon, September 2019.
  15. ↑ “Capacity Building should include recognition systems (like open badges, certifications...) in order to motivate people, reward their efforts, and offer them legitimacy.” Odia Wikimedia User Group, April 2019.
  16. ↑ “Create a training program delivering a “Wikimedia projects trainer” certification because it would give volunteers credibility in the eyes of GLAMs”, Francophone Community, July 2019.
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