Free Knowledge Africa Strategic Plan Report For Skills And Leadership Development

Free Knowledge Africa created this strategy report, including the findings of a study on how to implement the Wikimedia movement's strategy recommendation: Investing in Skills and Leadership and at student-led Wikimedia communities in African Universities.

A complete report on the allocation of funds and activities for this research project, supported by the Wikimedia Foundation's Movement Strategy quick grant initiative, may be read here.

Introduction

Following a broad consultation in 2017, the first phase of the Movement Strategy process produced a Strategic Direction to guide the Wikimedia movement towards becoming the essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge by 2030.

Recommendations were drafted in the second phase to help guide us towards our strategic direction and strive for Knowledge Equity and Knowledge as a Service. After multiple iterations and consultations with communities, the final ten recommendations and principles were published in May 2020, thus concluding the second phase of the process. One of these recommendations was Investing in Skills and Leadership.

We are currently in the implementation phase of the Movement Strategy, and this document focuses on implementing the aforementioned recommendation at the community level. Investing in Skills and Leadership is central to this vision; the essence of any community's capacity-building of human capital cannot be overemphasised.

This research aims to add to the body of knowledge regarding this recommendation and to provide a framework for its implementation, particularly in student-led Wikimedia Communities in African Universities. The scope of this recommendation is indeed broad, and this research seeks to concentrate on the Wikimedia student communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, we encourage research on this proposal to be conducted in the various communities to provide a wider range of information and to emphasise the differences and similarities between the various communities concerning this recommendation.

Through interviews and surveys, this work illustrates the perspectives and opinions of community team members and leaders from different communities about these proposals. The introduction and context for the recommendation in focus are followed by an explanation of the research's scope. The technique and choice of methodology are then discussed, and the outcomes are later examined. This analysis establishes a conclusion and provides recommendations based on the findings.

Background

The lack of necessary skills and leadership abilities has been a factor in underrepresented communities' lack of engagement and participation in the Wikimedia movement. There is a need to provide the human resource with the required skills to remain relevant for the movement since the Wikimedia movement continues to grow over time and often adds new sister projects. Building human resource capability and investing in human capital is essential for the movement because none of these recommendations can be carried out without the help of the movement's human resources. Due to a lack of necessary abilities, student-led African Wikimedia communities have been excluded from numerous movement activities, such as decision-making.

If not addressed, the consequences of this deficiency will cause many communities in the movement to already exist but be dormant and redundant. To address this anomaly at the community level, Free Knowledge Africa plans to identify the most effective capacity-building strategy for its team and community members, effectively equip the community with the necessary leadership abilities and skills, and assist them in continuing this trend of also training recruits and current community members. This would also be helpful to exist student-led African Wikimedia communities and those that would be established in the future. We think that this strategy will significantly improve the movement's sustainability in Africa.

Capacity-building is the improvement in an individual's or organisation's capability to produce, perform or deploy. It is also the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organisations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing world. A vital ingredient in capacity-building is the transformation that is generated and sustained over time from within.

According to the glossary prepared during the Wikimedia Movement Strategy process, Capacity building (or capacity development) is the process by which individuals and organisations obtain, improve, and retain the skills, knowledge, tools, equipment and other resources needed to do their activities competently or to a greater capacity (larger scale, larger audience, larger impact, etc.) In our Movement, there are efforts to build capacity, especially in the context of emerging communities. Conferences like WikiIndaba play a role for the African-based communities to learn new skills and exchange knowledge. Local communities host edit-a-thons, workshops, and photography events to build capacity in their communities.

Wikimedia Fan Clubs

Wikimedia Fan Clubs in Nigerian Universities were set up with the support of Wikimedia User Group Nigeria. The clubs are a hub for undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff to contribute to Wikimedia and its related projects. This club is based on the campus and run by the students with coordination from Wikimedia User Group Nigeria (WUGN). The club promotes Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia, Yoruba Wikipedia, Simple Wikipedia, and Commons especially) among the students through the execution of projects, meet-ups, edit-a-thons, and hack-a-thons to expose the students to the movement.

The club hosts regular edit-a-thons, weekly workshops, photography events, and more that cater to and attract students, librarians, staff and other people on campus. We aim to reach and generate interest in members of the university who may not utilise and contribute to Wikimedia resources and to as well as create a community to support those who are currently involved with Wikipedia.

The success of this club will primarily be to raise young Wikimedians across the diversity of disciplines and cultures in the University community. It will help students know and contribute more to other Wikimedia projects besides Wikipedia.

There are currently seven clubs in Nigerian higher institutions:

Wiki Club, Lagos State University (LASU)
Wikimedia Hub, Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ)
Wikimedia Fan Club, University of Ibadan (UI)
Wikimedia Fan Club, Adekunle Ajasin University
Wikimedia Fan Club, Kwara State University
Wikimedia Fan Club, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
Wikimedia Fan Club, University of Ilorin

University Students Wikimedians

University Students Wikimedians is a user group of Wikimedia editors dedicated to promoting Wikimedia projects by involving mostly Secondary, College, and University Students in Tanzania. We also help, encourage and educate Swahili-speaking users and communities on the importance of open source, knowledge sharing, and other educational initiatives through our training and events, which the group organises. The group is open to membership by interested individuals with shared interests.

In 2019, the program was initiated as an experimental project in the Alfagems Secondary School in Morogoro: where the main aim was to learn and understand what would be the main interests of students and they would love the program to lead. The experimental program was driven from 2019 to May 2022, when the project was moved officially from experimental into full operations, where the target was moved from secondary students to Colleges and Universities.

Some of the group activities include:

To conduct Wikipedia weekly and monthly meetups and grow a community of students from Tanzania
To establish Wikipedia clubs in different educational institutions.
Organising Wikipedia edit-a-thons for students in Tanzania

Its objectives are:

To promote Wikimedia projects
To promote editing of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in Swahili and other languages.
To engage and encourage more students to become contributors to the Wikimedia projects.
To organise in-person events for local community Wikipedians/Wikimedians by providing them with resources needed to enhance their skills and ability to develop the Wikimedia project.

Ashesi Wiki Club

Ashesi Wiki Club is a student-led community at Ashesi University in Ghana. It seeks to promote African content through activities such as creating Wikipedia articles, photography, filming and other open-source projects. It also seeks to strengthen the credibility of Wikipedia as an open source by editing existing articles.

Problem Statement

A large number of Wikimedians in African Universities lack the necessary skills to take an active part in the Wikimedia movement activities. The insufficient capacity-building programs at the community level have hindered the ability of student Wikimedians. Lack of resources, time restraints, and restricted access to facilities and tools are other problems limiting their ability to develop their talents. Free Knowledge Africa is familiar with these challenges and difficulties as a community of African Wikimedians who joined the Wikimedian movement while in the University and played leadership roles in the student-led communities.

Free Knowledge Africa leaders were able to improve their skills and knowledge in Wikimedia and open source projects by actively engaging in capacity-building activities such as workshops and conferences (WikiIndaba, Wikimania, Creative Commons Global Summit etc.) and were able to initiate new wiki projects that are bridging knowledge gaps and empowering the continent in the area of cultural heritage, sports, travel and tourism. Even though the community has several members, there are only a handful of skilled community members to execute projects. If this pattern continues, many Wikimedians from African communities will be unable to participate in movement activities. These communities will be excluded from different movement activities, including decision-making. To increase the skills and leadership capacity of student Wikimedians in Africa, it is necessary to identify the best and most effective training methodology for Free Knowledge Africa and student-led Wikimedia communities in Africa as a whole.

Research Questions

How does the Wikimedia community identify its needs?
What are the major challenges in contributing to the Wikimedia projects and activities?
How does the community onboard and train new members?
What is the leadership plan of the community? How are leaders selected/elected?

Research Objectives

The research aims to conduct a needs assessment and skills survey for student-led Wikimedia communities in African Universities. This will enable these communities to be sustainable and develop creative solutions to meet their needs.

Methodology

Primary and secondary data were used for this research work. Primary data was obtained from Wikimedia community leaders through surveys, interviews and discussions online. Secondary data was obtained through articles and books.

The sample frame consisted of student-led Wikimedia community leaders and Free Knowledge Africa team members. The sample size was represented by 23 community leaders from student-led Wikimedia communities and 5 Free Knowledge Africa team members. The convenience sampling method was used to select the Wikimedia community leaders, while purposive sampling was used to select the Free Knowledge team members.

Qualitative and quantitative data were obtained through interviews and questionnaires (surveys). Interviews were held with the selected community leaders. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysing the data. Bar charts and pie charts were used to visualise the data collected from the survey.

Findings

This section presents the results of the analyses and the discussion of the findings. These analyses and presentations are done in line with the study's research objectives.

Identifying the Community Needs

Through surveys, some communities can identify a talent and skills gap within the community. Through these surveys, the community can learn more pertinent details about the community, such as its demographics, member needs, and area of thematic interests. In some communities, these are usually from past events, with leaders brainstorming with current members via meetings and surveys.

Some student-led communities have leaders and general meetings, which occur regularly (sometimes monthly), where issues pertinent to the community are discussed, ideas are shared, solutions are proposed, and problems are solved.

Major Challenges of Contributing to Wikimedia Projects and Activities

From the online discussion, surveys and interviews, we discovered several challenges faced by student-led Wikimedia communities. Some of these challenges were identified and include high cost of internet, poor internet connectivity, limited understanding of how to contribute, poor support system (lack of mentorship), harassment on Wikimedia projects, and lack of good devices (phone, laptop, camera) to contribute to Wikimedia projects, erratic power supply, and limited funding.

Major Challenges of Contributing to Wikimedia Projects and Activities

The most prominent ones were the high cost of internet access, lack of funding, lack of mentorship and support, closely followed by poor internet, limited understanding of how to contribute, lack of mentorship and erratic power supply.

Some skills needed for communities to effectively contribute to Wikimedia projects were also identified, and these include Data collection and analysis, Event management, Project management and evaluation, Wikimedia tools, Fundraising, Social media management, Wikimedia tools, Advocacy, Partnership, Copyright and open licensing, GLAM, Open education resources.

Onboarding and Training New Members

Most of the members and leaders underwent some onboarding process when they joined the Wikimedia community at their University. However, there were some challenges with the onboarding process in communities where it existed. Some of them include Blocked IP addresses which frustrate the learning process and prevent the creation of new accounts, reverted edits, editing on mobile devices, creating time to train people amid a busy schedule as a student, lack of interest and poor understanding from the learners, and difficulties in keeping newcomers active, interested and committed.

The most popular method was when new members were recruited and trained at an orientation program, usually a workshop. They are trained on how to create and edit Wikipedia articles. An outreach dashboard is used to track their contributions. However, it was discovered that most of these onboarding and training programs are limited to editing and creating Wikipedia articles, uploading media files to Commons, and creating Wikidata items with little or no attention paid to other movement activities such as governance, funding, open licenses etc.

Most community leaders and members still preferred in-person training sessions over online training sessions. This is closely associated with the challenges faced in the region and being a student. There was an emphasis on organising conferences and workshops targeted at this group; this could further be strengthened by reserving slots for student-led communities at international and regional conferences such as Wikimania or Wiki Indaba.

Leadership Plan of the Communities

Leadership plays a fundamental role in every human society and community. Some of the roles of a community leader include:

Develop and communicate a personal vision.
Indicate how you will listen to people.
How will you take responsibility for your community?
Set goals.
How will you serve individuals in the group?
How will you serve the group as a whole?
Propose specific changes in how you will lead others.
How will you get the work done?
How will you recruit and prepare others to become leaders?

Most of the student-led Wikimedia community elect leaders, while sometimes, a list of criteria and requirements to be met before being appointed/nominated to a leadership role. In some cases, a committee is formed to carry out this process. Leadership in student-led Wikimedia communities have limitations because membership has a limited number of years (period of enrolment as a student). Leadership terms are always on a semester/session/annual basis, with most communities having an executive council led by a central figure such as a President. While some other communities have a decentralised leadership structure with all active members participating in decision-making. Sometimes these communities, because of the demographic makeup and African culture, do not know how much and how big a role they could play in the movement presently and in the coming decades. We believe leadership programs and training should be organised to assist student-led communities in growing and playing a part in the vision and mission of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Conclusion

The goal of the study was to decide on the most effective training and capacity-building strategy for student-led Wikimedia communities in African Universities and tertiary institutions. Five Wikimedia community leaders from student-led Wikimedia communities were sampled.

Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect primary data. The methods used for data analysis included descriptive statistics and content analysis. The findings showed that different communities could identify a skills gap in their areas using various methods. In-person training sessions were the most typical training format in the various communities, and most communities preferred electing leaders over selecting leaders.

Recommendations

Based on our findings, we recommend the following:

We suggest that community leaders have regular discussions with community members about skills they need to effectively contribute at least once a month to gauge the level of skill shortage. To give community leaders more insight into the severity of the community needs, surveys should be conducted every semester/session. Through these surveys, local leaders can gather information and create statistics that will assist them in deciding how best to approach the problem. Community members need to participate in training sessions, or they may not be aware of certain abilities they lack and may need. This is why the community is encouraged to provide monthly training sessions to help prevent a skill gap.
It is also important for community leaders to be on the lookout for new trends in the movement. Community leaders should sign up for different mailing lists where they can be informed of the latest happenings in the Wikimedia movement. This includes opportunities, grants, programs, conferences and workshops, contests, governance processes etc. This would enable their local communities to grow and be involved in the Wikimedia movement.
With the right support and incubation, student-led Wikimedia communities in African Universities and tertiary institutions would play a big role in the sustainability of the Wikimedia movement in the coming years and decades. They also provide an opportunity to close the skill and content gap between Africa and other parts of the World. We recommend that the Wikimedia Foundation and African Affiliates hold sponsored capacity-building conferences every year at the community level, where experts are invited to train community members from Universities in light of the rate at which new Wikimedia projects are introduced and the widening gap in skills and expertise between Wikimedians in African communities and Wikimedians in more developed communities. This could cover everything from learning how to write grants, to starting wiki projects, to learning how to edit on the different Wikimedia projects. Contests and edit-a-thons should also be considered as additional chances to train future movement members in the Universities. Support could also be provided in the form of internet bundles and laptops.
We recommend that these communities develop guidelines that align with the values of the Wikimedia movement and should be inclusive (gender). We believe with the right leadership values, the communities will continue to grow by helping their members to grow and develop through goal setting, opportunities, and support. A leadership guide could be developed and also be adopted from other communities to develop the capacity of members. We also recommend that mentorship and peer support from experienced and skilled Wikimedians should be set up for these communities.