Grants:Project/MSIG/Education Hub needs finding research

statusFunded

Movement Strategy

Wiki Education/Education Hub needs finding research

Needs finding research for a possible Education Hub

targetAll languages & projects with Education Programs

start dateApril 15

start year2023

end dateDecember 31, 2023

end year2023

budget (local currency)$46,753

budget (USD)$46,753

grant typeorganization

non-profit statusYes

grantee• LiAnna (Wiki Ed)

contact(s)• liannawikiedu.org• frankwikiedu.org

organization (if applicable)• Wiki Education Foundation

website (if applicable)• wikiedu.org

friendly space expectations

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Review your report

Applications are not required to be in English. Please complete the application in your preferred language.

Project Goal

What will be the outputs of your project and how will those outputs contribute to advancing a specific Movement Strategy Initiative

What specific Movement Strategy Initiative does your project focus on and why? Please select one of the initiatives described here

25. Regional & Thematic Hubs: The Education community is one of the more vibrant programmatic efforts in the Wikimedia universe, and is already organized in a structure of program leader representatives supporting global efforts, with the Wikipedia & Education User Group. We would like to engage in a research project to identify what is working about current international collaborations around education, what needs are not being met, and what our global vision is for the education program. This needs-finding research aims to surface the needs and priorities of the diverse actors in the education ecosystem within the movement. It builds on the current momentum and aims to surface opportunities and recommendations for collaboration or coordination models or even a hub, if found to be needed. We believe the education program’s demonstrated impact globally shows it is a lynchpin for enacting numerous other initiatives.

Project Background

When do you intend to begin this project and when will it be completed?

April 15, 2023 – December 31, 2023

Where will your project activities be happening?

The initial phase of this research will be conducted during the EduWiki Conference, in May in Belgrade, Serbia. Additional discussions with community members not attending the conference will be held via videoconference. The location for the subsequent phase of the project will be determined by the outcomes that surface in the first phase.

Are you collaborating with other communities or affiliates on this project? Please provide details of how partners intend to work together to achieve the project goal.

Wiki Education (as an organization experienced with managing funds, hiring staff, and other professional skills) will be leading this initiative and be the recipient of the grant.. Closely collaborating on the design and execution of the project will be the Wikipedia & Education User Group and the Wikimedia Foundation’s Community Programs team, particularly the education staff.

However, the education program is a global group, with program leaders spread across the globe. To ensure our research includes representative voices from the entire education community, we’ll be working closely with Wikimedia affiliates and other education program leaders who are attending the EduWiki Conference (attendees at the conference represent at least 60 different education programs, and include geographic representation from every grantmaking region). Additionally, since not everyone is able to attend the conference, we will also engage in outreach to affiliates who were not able to send a representative.

What specific challenge will your project be aiming to solve? And what opportunities do you plan to take advantage of to solve the problem?

The education program is one of the longest-running outreach programs in the Wikimedia universe, with formal education programs running at chapters like Wikimedia Serbia since 2006. (A longer history of the program is available in the recent book chapter, “The Wikipedia Education Program as Open Educational Practice: Global Stories”, available through the Wikipedia Library.) Many affiliates — and unaffiliated volunteers — are running education programs. In 2019–20, more than 10% of all new active editors globally came through education programs, making our global efforts one of the key drivers of new contributors to the Wikimedia projects. The education program is poised to play a major role in achieving the goals of our Movement Strategy: We are bringing more diverse contributors (innovating in free knowledge), identifying topics for impact (and then filling those content gaps), and successfully onboarding new users (improve user experience). Several years ago, program leaders from various affiliates (and unaffiliated volunteers) came together to form the group now known as the Wikipedia & Education User Group, with the goal of identifying global needs for education program leaders. This volunteer-led group has had some successes (hosting regular open meetings to share learnings, launching a mentorship program, hosting the forthcoming EduWiki Conference), but it is limited in its capacity because it is volunteer-run, and nobody’s primary Wikimedia effort (the board is comprised of different program leaders who are each running their own programs). Transitioning this group and other education-related Wikimedia stakeholders into an Education Hub may address some of these challenges, while providing a stronger support system for the valuable work education program leaders are doing globally — but we want to determine whether this is an appropriate next step by conducting needs-finding research with the global Wikimedia and education community. This research project is aimed at identifying the needs global program leaders have, to determine if those could be met by a hub. We know there is interest in this work, given the Wikipedia & Education User Group is one of the largest user groups, with 378 individual and 21 affiliate members. According to the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal, 32 affiliates reported conducting activity with one or more Education partners in the last year.

As part of the second phase of this research, we want to also identify global trends that may affect the education space in the coming years, as well as reaching people who have not yet started Wikipedia Education Program work. We want to ensure that — if a hub is the right answer to our question — it meets the needs not just of our community who are already here, but also those who wish to join our community.

Does this project aim to apply one of the examples shared in the call for grants and if so which one?

Yes: Research: Example of a hubs research grant proposal

Project Activities

What specific activities will be carried out during this project? Please describe the specific activities that will be carried out during this project.

This research project will be conducted in two key phases over the remainder of 2023.

Phase 1: The first phase will focus on understanding the opportunities, challenges, and needs of the education community. This process will surface preliminary findings that are critical for decision making for deepening the research in phase 2. This work will be carried out collaboratively with some work being done by: (1) A contracted Education Hub Researcher, hired by Wiki Education for this project and funded by this grant; (2) Existing Wiki Education staff, with a small percentage of staff time funded by this grant; and (3) Wikimedia Foundation Community Programs staff, funded through the WMF budget.

As part of Phase 1, the following activities will occur:

• In-person engagement at EduWiki Conference: Community discussion of a potential Education Hub is a key element on the agenda of the forthcoming EduWiki Conference in Belgrade, Serbia, in May. Participants for this conference have been specifically selected to represent diverse regions, with at least five participants from each of: Central and Eastern Europe, East and South East Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, United States and Canada, Northern and Western Europe, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. All participants are active in running or creating education efforts. More than 75 participants at the conference will be there as program leaders from all over the globe, making this conference an excellent opportunity to reflect the diversity of current program leaders. The Education Hub Researcher, Wiki Education staff, and Wikimedia Foundation staff will facilitate group discussions that are part of the official program and meet individually with education program leaders from all over the world who are attending the EduWiki Conference. These three intensive days will form a major part of phase 1 of the research.
• Video Conference interviews: Not every person relevant to an education hub, however, is able to travel to the conference. Thus, to ensure there is diversity and representation in the research, the Education Hub Researcher, working closely with support from the WMF programs team, will also conduct interviews of up to 20 additional leaders of in-progress or planned education programs, and other primary stakeholders. In particular, identifying needs of yet-to-be-created education programs (a group that may be less well represented at the EduWiki Conference) is an important part of these interviews. Note that additional video conference interviews will be an important part of the Phase 2 research as well.
• Written preliminary report: The Education Hub Researcher will review transcripts from all interviews and group discussions and synthesize the outcomes into an outcomes document, identifying several key elements:
  • Common needs across global education programs, and what gaps exist that need to be addressed.
  • Opportunities for a potential Education Hub to address these needs.
  • Any consensus (or not) that emerges around governance structure and how the Education Hub would work in collaboration with existing affiliates, education programs, and other stakeholders.
  • Recommendations for next steps (the “draft implementation plan” referenced below).
  • Key open questions, challenges, and opportunities to expand the research framework for phase 2

We expect to complete phase 1 by June 30, 2023.

Phase 2: Based on the research outputs of Phase 1, the second phase will involve more education ecosystem actors, giving everyone a fair chance to participate in and contribute to the strategy behind the potential hub (particularly by providing some language support to those who do not speak English, given the first phase will be conducted in English). Any impactful hub (within the movement or not) demonstrates value to the communities it serves by ensuring that they are fully aware of the services or opportunities it can provide. This we aim to achieve through a research and proper movement-wide dialogue which will be happening within this period.

Because Phase 2 will be more dependent on the outcomes from Phase 1 of the research, our specific plan is less detailed. However, we have some big picture ideas we are confident about already:

• Additional research to delve into unanswered questions from Phase 1, including:
  • Up to 50 additional video interviews, either with existing education program leaders who were unable to participate in Phase 1, or with those who are not yet running education programs but who might be interested in starting one, but lack some key support a hub could potentially provide.
  • Identifying global and regional trends (such as the impact of generative AI on writing assignments, changing trends in knowledge consumption, decreasing public investment in education, increasing economic and social inequalities, decreasing scientific culture, etc.) that may affect the strategy of the broader education program in the coming years, and evaluating their potential impact on Wikipedia & Education programs.
  • Identifying opportunities for global and regional collaborations or partnerships with other organizations that could advance the education work within Wikimedia at an international level.
• Determining a plan for Phase 3, which — if the research from Phase 1 and Phase 2 supports it — could lead to the planning of a potential Education Hub. Any work on creating the hub would be funded through an additional grant, and is out of scope for this project.

How do you intend to keep communities updated on the progress and outcomes of the project? Please add the names or usernames of these individuals responsible for updating the community

Some of this work will happen at the EduWiki Conference in Belgrade, and is being organized in conjunction with the conference organizers. Additional interviews will be invited through the Education mailing list, the Wikipedia & Education User Group membership list, the Wikipedia & Education Facebook group, and the This Month in Education newsletter. The primary person responsible for engaging with these groups will be the Education Hub Researcher; their work will be overseen by LiAnna Davis, Wiki Education’s Chief Programs Officer, who also serves as the chair of the Wikipedia & Education User Group.

Specifically, we will do the following with direct support from WMF;

• Pre-Engagement announcement of the needs assessment plan prior to the EduWiki Conference and issue a call for participation for the many members who will not be part of the event to ensure transparency.
• Communicate actively in both the UG and Education mailing lists to ensure information is accessible to the global community.
• Ensure regional engagement to include voices from underrepresented regions.
• Develop plans for engaging-to-include, external stakeholders, such as teachers or professors, who are key stakeholders in education, to understand their expectations and how Wikimedia projects can support their classroom programs.
• Other outreach as needed.

Who will be responsible for delivering on this project and what are their roles and responsibilities?

The Education Hub Researcher, who will be hired as a contractor to take on this project, will be primarily responsible for completing Phase 1 of the work. We propose to hire Cornelius Kibelka to serve as the Education Hub Researcher.Cornelius is a project and event manager with longtime community experience as a staff and volunteer, numerous personal contacts, and extensive knowledge of the organizational structure, history, and strategy process of the Wikimedia Movement.He holds a long track record of successfully organizing conferences and projects within the Movement working with diverse stakeholders from around the globe, and we are confident that he will be able to conduct this research effectively.

The Education Hub Researcher’s work will be overseen by Wiki Education’s LiAnna Davis.

We will re-evaluate our needs after the completion of Phase 1, and create and communicate a more detailed plan for how we will conduct the research for Phase 2 in collaboration with stakeholders, including Wiki Education, the Wikipedia & Education User Group, the Wikimedia Foundation’s Community Programs team, and other stakeholders. However, Phase 2 will also be overseen by Wiki Education’s LiAnna Davis.

Additional information

If your activities include community discussions, what is your plan for ensuring that the conversations are productive? Provide a link to a Friendly Space Policy or UCoC that will be implemented to support these discussions.

By hiring an Education Hub Researcher experienced in Wikimedia community facilitation, we hope to make discussions productive. All activities will be under the auspices of the Universal Code of Conduct. The EduWiki Conference is also under Wikimedia Serbia’s Friendly Space Policy.

If your activities include the use of paid online tools, please describe what tools these are and how you intend to use them.

We expect to use Zoom video conferencing for video-based interviews. We also anticipate using Otter.ai to create transcripts of Zoom interview recordings and EduWiki Conference session recordings.

Do your activities include the translation of materials, and if so, in what languages will the translation be done? Please include details of those responsible for making the translations.

While we wish it were different, the education program primarily operates with English as the lingua franca. We expect this research will be conducted in English; however, we welcome written comments in other languages that we can machine translate. As part of Phase 2, we will identify opportunities for participation in non-English languages.

Are there any other details you would like to share? Consider providing rationale, research or community discussion outputs, and any other similar information, that will give more context on your proposed project.

Outcomes

After your activities are complete, we would like to understand the draft implementation plan for your community. You will be required to prepare a document detailing this plan around a movement strategy initiative. This report can be prepared through Meta-wiki using the Share your results button on this page. The report can be prepared in your language, and is not required to be written in English.

In this report, you will be asked to:

• Provide a link to the draft implementation plan document or Wikimedia page
• Describe what activities supported the development of the plan
• Describe how and where you have communicated your plan to relevant communities.
• Report on how your funding was spent

Your draft implementation plan document should address the following questions clearly:

• What movement strategy initiative or goal are you addressing?
• What activities will you be doing to address that initiative?
• What do you expect will happen as a result of your activities? How do those outcomes address the movement strategy initiative?
• How will you measure or evaluate your activities? What tools or methods will you use to evaluate your activities?

To create a draft implementation plan, we recommend the use of a logic model, which will help you and your team think about goals, activities, outcomes, and other factors in an organized way. Please refer the following resources to develop a logic model:

• Overview of logic models on Meta-wiki
• Example logic models for reference for other movement activities (such as partnerships and edit-a-thons)
• Blank logic model template on Google Drive

Please confirm below that you will be able to prepare a draft implementation plan document by the end of your grant:

• Based on conversations with Yop Rwang Pam, we confirm we will create an analysis of the research findings and plan for what we consider to be the next-step following the research phase.

Optionally, you are welcome to include other information you'd like to share around participation and representation in your activities. Please include any additional outcomes you would like to report on below:

Budget

How you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!

Description	Amount
PHASE 1
Education Hub Researcher (design of interview protocol, conducting interviews, facilitating sessions at EduWiki Conference, analysis, synthesis, report writing, and project administration)	$10,450
Travel and accommodation for EduWiki Conference for Education Hub Researcher	$3,000
Software licenses (Zoom, Otter.ai)	$100
Wiki Education staff support of phase 1 (5% of total)	$673
Administrative costs (10% of subtotal)	$1,345
Subtotal, Phase 1	$15,568
PHASE 2
Additional researcher ($4,500/month for 6 months)	$27,000
Wiki Education staff support of phase 2 (5% of total)	$1,350
Administrative costs (10% of subtotal)	$2,835
Subtotal, Phase 2	$31,185
Total, Phase 1 & 2	$46,753

TOTAL AMOUNT REQUESTED USD: $46,753

Completing your application

Once you have completed the application, please do the following:

• Change the application status from status=draft to status=proposed in the {{Probox}} template.
• Contact strategy2030wikimedia.org to confirm your submission, as well as to request any support around your application.

Endorsements

An endorsement from community members (especially from outside your community) will be part of the considerations when reviewing your application. Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!