Brazil Program/Education program/Learning/Brazil Pilot 1/Ambassador Feedback

Introduction

I have no doubt [the education program is good for the Lusophone community]. The quality of the articles produced by students is higher than the average of articles generated by other beginners who have not had previous training. It is essential that the WMF will continue to invest in the consolidation and expansion of this program, helping to increase penetration and acceptance of Wikipedia in academia.

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Campus Ambassador response (Ambassador survey, July 2012)

The data represented here is from a survey administered to all the ambassadors of the courses in which Wikipedia was an optional assignment. We had 5 Campus Ambassadors (CAs) and 4 Online Ambassadors (OAs) complete the survey. This represents 5/6 of the CAs and 4/8 of the OAs. All the responses were completed online via a Google form sent via email.

Suggestions on improving the program

#1: Better planning

Carefully design the program before the semester so that professors may be able to more carefully incorporate the activities into their classroom.
With professors: Have ambassadors and professors meet before the course to plan out how to insert WP activities
With each other: Coach ambassadors on how they might interact with students throughout the semester

#2: Conduct ambassador training

Training for the ambassadors was almost nonexistent, and there were several who were unfamiliar with wiki concepts
Coaching ambassadors on how to deal with students and professors is important for the improvement of the project
Online ambassadors in particular need to have more in-depth training to better understand their responsibilities and functions

#3: Improve communication

Start communication between the different constituents (ambassadors and professors) earlier (see Planning above)
Pull together students, ambassadors, and professors to share experiences at the end of the semester
Focus communication on email and on-wiki
Reach out to ambassadors individually whenever possible

#4: Improve logistics

Schedule ambassadors based primarily on their time and location availability
More clear tracking of logistics, for example notifying universities of what is needed for the classes in terms of infrastructure (e.g., computer labs for ambassador days)

The experience as an ambassador

Overwhelmingly, the ambassadors felt that they did not have a lot of coordination and organization. The other factor was class space.

Most of the ambassadors saw the program as Good.
All of the ambassadors who answered the survey indicated they want to continue to participate next semester.
Online Ambassadors had a significantly worse experience
- Online ambassadors indicated they need more training to be better utilized
- OA are less likely to recommend the program to their friends.
Rates for recommending to a friend are very low, particularly for online ambassadors

1/3 of ambassadors had bad or frustrating experiences	All ambassadors wish to return next semester, but more training is needed	Ambassadors are mixed in whether or not they will recommend their friends to the program

Overall impression of experience	PT written Feedback	Google Translate EN feedback
Muito boa	Considero uma boa experiência. A interação com os alunos foi boa, conseguimos criar uma boa relação, o que garantiu que eles conseguissem retomar o contato com facilidade conforme dúvidas e observações surgiam.	I think a good experience. The interaction with students was good, managed to create a good relationship, which ensured that they could regain contact with ease as questions and comments arose.
Boa	A experiência foi um pouco confusa no começo. Creio que como projeto ainda está no começo, faltou certa organização junto ao docente. Mas esse problema é facilmente corrigível e serviu como lição para os próximos semestres.	The experience was a bit confusing at first. I believe that as the project is still in the beginning, lacked some organization with the teacher. But this problem is easily correctable and served as a lesson for the next semester.
Boa	"Me envolver com o projeto foi excelente, mas tivemos algumas dificuldades para coordenar as aulas com os alunos, devido ao restrito espaço em aula. Por não termos tido o espaço de aula para trabalhar com os alunos, acredito que as coisas tenham ficado um pouco ""no ar"" para alguns deles. Outros inclusive perderam interesse no decorrer do semestre. Não conseguimos fazer com que o projeto fosse bem sucedido, mas foi útil para ajudar na formação de sua consistência."	I was involved with the project was excellent but we had some difficulties to coordinate classes with students due to limited classroom space. Why we did not have classroom space to work with students, I believe that things have gotten a bit "" on air "" for some of them. Others also lost interest in the course of the semester. We can not make the project was successful, but it was useful to help in forming consistency.
Boa	Foi muito interessante, pois além de editar na wiki por algum tempo. A curiosidade sobre como editar ajudou a fortificar a enciclopédia. Apesar de não participar ativamente em alguns períodos,ele ajudou a conhecer um novo mundo.	It was very interesting, as well as edit the wiki for some time. Curiosity about editing helped fortify the encyclopedia. Although not actively participating in some periods, he helped introduce a new world.
Boa	Caí meio de para-quedas no projeto, afinal não sou editor a muito tempo. Contribuí com o curso de electromagnetismo e estou satisfeito com os resultados, mesmo se há coisas a aprimorar.	Fall through to parachute in the project, after all I am editor for a long time. Contributed to the electromagnetism course and I am pleased with the results, even if there are things to improve
Boa	Apesar de minha contribuição ter sido mínima em virtude do horário das aulas e pela quantidade de alunos participantes achei que no próximo semestre com mais alunos e embaixadores será melhor.	Although my contribution has been minimal because of the schedule of classes and the number of students participants thought that next semester with more students and ambassadors will be better.
Ruim	"Acho que as coisas poderiam ser um pouco melhor planejadas / organizadas. Fui colocado também como embaixador de campus, sendo que resido muito longe do local de atuação. Não consegui ajudar efetivamente muito e espero que nos próximos projetos a dinâmica seja melhorada para que todos possam participar de uma maneira mais efetiva."	"I think things might be a little better planned / organized. I was also placed as an ambassador of campus, where I live too far from the site of action. I could not really help much and I hope that the momentum in the next projects is improved so everyone can participate more effectively."
Ruim	Pouca participação	little participation
Frustrante

Communication

The communication interface between students, teachers and ambassadors is not well defined. We should encourage more use of mailing lists and discussion pages. Motivating students is paramount, and if we can not do this effectively (and online), there is a problem

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Online Ambassador response (Ambassador survey, July 2012)

The communication channels appear to be fragmented and not as effective as they could be. Five of the eight written feedback responses indicated the need to improve communication.

In general, the online ambassadors have less positive communication with the program than Campus Ambassadors. In addition to communication channels themselves, feedback indicates the need to improve the communication between the ambassadors as well.

Data

The worst experiences in communication were with the classrooms (students and professors)	Personal, individual communication seems to work best for the ambassadors	Online ambassadors had worse communication experiences overall

n=9	n=9 (except two blanks)	n=4 (except one blank)

Learning points

Personal Interaction works best: Top scores went to communication via personal talk pages, personal email, and Skype.
Conversations outside of wiki or email could be further pursued: Many did not use Skype, Facebook, Telephone, or Instant Messaging during the pilot. Of those who did use them, results were mostly positive
Email lists were not effectively used: If this format will be expanded into the future (which it appears to be), we should check-in at a few points during the semester to make sure it is being utilized clearly.
On-wiki communication must be improved: Perhaps minimizing the amount of discussions occurring on the course page or the broader discussion forum. Or, we could try to initiate a better conversation tracking system (i.e., Teahouse technology).
Use forums easy to follow: IRC was found difficult to use and also difficult to follow historically.
Communication frequency needs to be improved: Online and campus ambassadors need to communicate more. Encouraging this from the onset of the semester is a good way to geo about this.

Internal notes on survey

Eliminate one of the "Facebook" rows in "Avaliando os canais de comunicação" question (listed twice)
Extend "Grau de satisfação com sua interação com os envolvidos com o Projeto Wikipédia na Universidade" scale to 11pts.
Add question on if it was worth their time as a volunteer
Add a specific question on whether or not they think the program is worth continued education support