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Through Wikipedia Classroom, we provide 4-5 weeks of training to young people, under 35 years old, from three universities of Ivory Coast. During each training session, learners focus on creating and improving the Wikipedia articles of the 100 most notable Ivorian writers. The course is inspired by the WikiEducation Syllabus and was tested for more than 6 months in Abidjan (Ivory Coast). This 2nd edition ended with the creation of 2 Wikipedia Club.
Recruit new Wikipedia editors or members of the Ivory Coast. The majority of participants had never contributed to Wikimedia projects. The Wikipedia Classes were an initiation for them. At the end of the program, we opened 2 Wikipedia Clubs with about 30 students and appointed a University Referent.
Increase skills for existing editors who have less than 50 contributions. Some of the trainers, although contributors on Wikipedia, had fewer than 50 contributions. The Wikipedia Classes, through the training of trainers, helped to raise their level. They passed the bar of 50 contributions.
Add or improve content on Wikimedia Website (Wikipedia, Commons). The Wikipedia Classes focused this year on Ivorian writers. It was about improving or creating new Wikipedia articles on the theme. Similarly, photos of Commons have been reused to enrich Wikipedia.
Involve advanced wikipedians in mentorship of newbies. The opportunity of the training of trainers allowed to mobilize 8 Wikipedians. Their role was to animate training sessions and organized writing workshops. A role that has continued with the support and assistance of students after face-to-face sessions.
Important: The Wikimedia Foundation is no longer collecting Global Metrics for Project Grants. We are currently updating our pages to remove legacy references, but please ignore any that you encounter until we finish.
100 articles about Ivorian writers have been created or/and improved by the end of the project
78
We have encountered difficulties in finding sources on Ivorian authors. Articles concerning authors or literature are rare in the media because they are more interested in political topics.
30 participants have been trained
48
The program has received a welcome beyond our expectations. We received more than 300 applications. We were forced to make a selection.
20 newly registered users
47
Almost all participants were beginners.
6 existing Wikipedians have received a trainers' training
6
5 participants join the UG and get involved in our projects
11
We have opened 2 Academic Clubs of about ten members affiliated to the user group and appointed a university referent.
5 participants become regulars contributors (at least 5 edits/month)
10
We have identified a dozen contributors with an average of 5 contributions per month since the creation of their accounts during the training.
By the end of the project, at least 2 trainers who were previously trained when the project began, will then be able to train new trainers
Beyond the training and editorial contributions recorded, we particularly appreciate the creation of 2 Wikipedia clubs. Wanted by the participants, and authorized by the administrations, these clubs are for us the proof of the adoption of the project by the partners of the education. These clubs are today the spearhead of the spin-off of the Wikimedia movement beyond the user group.
Please provide a list of the main methods and activities through which you completed your project.
Engagement of the User Group member's
The project was officially presented on January 15, 2018 in front of twenty members of the User Group.
The meta pages of the project have been edited, including biographies of project members. The pilot project team was appointed again.
6 trainers (2 of them published their biographies) were recruited from 10 applications. The teacher training took place on March 10th. 4 Wikimedians of the UG were taught to deliver training and familiarized themselves to the Syllabus of Les Classes Wikipedia.
Working session and preparation meetings with heads of Université Virtuelle de Côte d’Ivoire were held to discuss practical arrangements.
At Institut des Sciences et Techniques de la Communication – Polytechnique, after obtaining authorization from the administration staff, we had a meeting on March 28th with the new Student Office to introduce them to the project.
A call for applications was launched on March 21st, via a Google form.
On April 18, the 64 selected candidates were notified by email of their selection. Their evaluation was conducted in two phases. The first phase took place from April 11th to 13th. It consisted in sorting the candidatures, in order to exclude duplicates and less serious applications. The latter phase considered either the unavailability of candidates or their inability to secure or borrow a computer equipment. From April 14 to 17, the 6 trainers evaluated each application based on some criteria. Trainers assessed candidates motivation to participate and their Wikipedia and literary culture. Each candidate received 2 ratings given distinctly by 2 trainers. Out of these ratings an average score and ranking was established.
The training sessions started on May 2018. On May 19th, INP-HB started with a class of 8 students. Activities were focused on account and user page creation, discussion, visual editor, wikicode, talk page discussion, etc.On May 26, we launched the Wikipedia Classes at ISTC-Polytechnique. That launching session aimed to introduce students to the encyclopedia and the Wikimedia movement. On May 18, we also hosted an information session on Wikipedia for Abidjan Catholic University (UCAO) students in License 1, as part of the Communication course led by a member of User Group. Les classes ont finalement démarré à l’UVCI le 4 juin 2018.
Closing sessions were held in June and July 2018. June 23, 2018, with INP students, July 7 with ISTC-P and July 16 at UVCI. The closing sessions consisted of feedback from the participants, followed by presentations of the most regular certificates. Regularity was finally accepted as the paramount criterion for obtaining certificates.
We held an average of four two-hour sessions per school, sometimes having to adapt the training plan because of the academic calendar.
Creation of 2 Academic Clubs & designation of a school referent
We opened two university clubs in two schools, one at the request of the administration, the other at the request of the students themselves. We have designated a local referent at the doctoral school of INP-HP. The one with interface role in the school and the user group.
We are planning to link to Wikipedia Classroom the opening of Clubs. Our objective is to create a territorial or sectoral spin-off of the Wikimedia movement in Ivory Coast. It is also a way to make the impact of this project sustainable beyond the training sessions.
Please copy and paste the completed table from your project finances page. Check that you’ve listed the actual expenditures compared with what was originally planned. If there are differences between the planned and actual use of funds, please use the column provided to explain them.
Actual Fund Spend
Activity
X OF
USD
(549.63)
Notes
Communication - Marketing
Communication - Marketing
Designing & printing (contractor)
150 000
273
Designing and printing roll up banner
9 000
17
Printing training kit
18 000
33
Printing completion certificates
Total Communication/ Marketing
177 000
323
Snacks
Snacks
Trainers' training workshop
50 400
92
Snacks and beverage for 6 participants
Total Snacks
50 400
92
Travel / Equipment / Human ressources coordination
Travel / Equipment / Human ressources coordination
Human ressources
15 000
28
Trainers' training workshop (Transport allowance for workshop attendees)
If you have unspent funds, they must be returned to WMF. Please see the instructions for returning unspent funds and indicate here if this is still in progress, or if this is already completed:
This first Project Grant experience has been rewarding for us in the process of this type of grant. However, we were disturbed by the reaction times from the Grant team, especially during the validation of the mid-term report, forcing us to adapt our deployment schedule.
This project is funded by a Project Grant
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