2014 Activity Plan/EduWiki
- Description
We will run a one-day EduWiki Conference 2014 raising awareness of the educational possibilities of Wikipedia and sister projects, and developing Wikimedia UK's academic engagement. In light of the fact that Wikimania 2014 will be attracting potential delegates away from the EduWiki conference, this year's event will take the form of a symposium bringing together all those in the Education sector who have benefited directly from WMUK support over the years.
EduWiki Conference 2012 and EduWiki Conference 2013 were great successes and we feel that the outcomes (not to mention the spin-offs) have demonstrated the importance of such high-profile events.
- Budget responsibility
Daria Cybulska and Toni Sant
- Amount
£10,000.
- Budget details
TBC
- Timetable for activities
- Q1: Preparation for the event: from February 2014 up till the date of the conference
- Q1-3: Capacity building events: from February - September 2014 (through University & Education Outreach programme)
- Q4: EduWiki event date: October/November 2014 in Scotland (Edinburgh?)
- Success Criteria
We are perceived as the go-to organisation by UK GLAM, educational, and other organisations who need support or advice for the release of Open Content:
- Institutional representatives attend and some present at the conference (existing partners and interested organisations) - contributing to the total repetitional score, target 80 (corresponding to about 8 institutions)
Legislative and institutional changes favour the release of Open Content:
- Projects run by institutions present - 4 institutions present go on to run their own WMUK-supported project within 12 months (civi - contacts)
- There is follow-up that offers development throughout the University and Scholarly Societies community and builds links with Wikimedia UK.
We have a thriving community of WMUK volunteers:
- New signups + existing volunteers attend - Raising the annual average number of delegates for one-day at the conference as follows: 2012: 35 / 2013: 45 /2014: 60. 10 students attend (civi)
WMUK volunteers are highly diverse:
- Rising percentage of women editors & students attending EduWiki - From women representing <20% (2013) to 30% (2014). (civi - event)
A thriving set of other Wikimedia communities:
- International representatives attend - 15 (civi - event)
Operationally, we want to make sure that the following things take place:
- We will make the best of previous capacity building opportunities, such as Education-related events supported by WMUK during Q1 - Q3
- We will have 60 - 80 delegates, representing various groups as mentioned above
- Attendees value conference and provide good feedback.
- Conference content is stimulating and appropriate, providing continuity from EduWiki Conference 2012 and EduWiki Conference 2013 (from feedback)
- Half the new institutions present go on to run a project with WMUK in 2015 (c. 4).
Toni Sant has also identified more specific desired long-term outcomes for EduWiki, aligning it with the overall rational of WMUK's University and Education Outreach activities. These could be treated as pointers when creating the content for the conference:
- stronger engagement in higher education institutions towards more university tutors assigning the editing of Wikipedia articles and/or contributing to other Wikimedia projects for assessment (course credit).
- broader reach across the education sector (lifelong learning as well as school children, along with higher education) towards better understanding of Wikimedia’s projects and direct engagement with content sharing.
- better awareness, especially among senior managers in the education sector about the appropriate use of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in education.
- enabling UK-based academic researchers to develop a UK-based network with others working on Wikimedia-related academic research, as well as ensuring more participation in the existing WikiSym community.
- Risks
- Low attendance (especially if pre-conference expectation are inflated)
- Lack of stimulating content (particularly if key speakers are attracted to Wikimania instead)
- Lack of focus.