How Wikimedians engage with educators and students in their local communities depends on various factors, which are often connected: access to infrastructure (and lack thereof), availability of educational resources in mother languages, teachers’ digital literacy, awareness of how to use open educational resources in the classroom, and many others. What makes an education initiative meaningful varies widely from place to place.
The Education team at the Wikimedia Foundation is excited to launch the very first edition of the Wikimedia & Education Greenhouse! We’re looking for new and innovative ideas that engage the Wikimedia projects in the education field.
The Wikimedia Education Greenhouse is a pilot program that uses a startup incubator model alongside a rigorous online course in Wikimedia & Education project management. It will support program leaders to structure their activities on the idea of knowledge equity, considering the challenges and opportunities of their Wikimedia community and their local education contexts. It will equip participants with the skills, knowledge and support to bring their ideas to life and scale them into high-impact initiatives in their community. 2019 is the International Year of Indigenous Languages, and this is why we’d like to particularly encourage participants to present project ideas that empower indigenous communities to share in the sum of all knowledge through education and the Wikimedia projects.
Team applications are closed! Meet the 2019 Greenhouse team GOES for Ghana
There are three ways you can get involved in the first edition of the W&E Greenhouse:
Apply as a team: Get together with a group of fellow Wikimedians who are enthusiastic about starting an education initiative in your community (at least 3 people). Read through the application guidelines to make sure you all understand the commitment, timeline and scope of the Wikimedia & Education Greenhouse and decide if it’s right for you. Once you’re ready, complete the corresponding application form. One team will be chosen to participate in this first edition of the Greenhouse. This team will receive seed funding, on-site support from WMF staff, and will participate in a free 9-month online course on project management for Wikimedia and education projects.
Apply as an individual: Alternatively, if you are an individual who would like to learn more about Wikimedia projects in education but are not ready to commit for the immersive Greenhouse experience, you can still join us on the free online course “Wikimedia Education Project Management - An introductory course on how to change the world with Wikimedia and education”. Read more about how you can participate in our online course here. Once you’re ready, complete the following application form: Wikimedia & Education Greenhouse - Individual Application for Online Course. Through this online course you will be immersed in a co-learning environment with a global cohort of peers. There’s no limit to the participation of interested and committed individuals in this free online course. The course is open until March 2020.
Join us as a volunteer collaborator (closed): Wikimedians who have led successful education initiatives and want to share their expertise are welcome to join the W&E Greenhouse as volunteer collaborators. There are collaboration opportunities to support the Greenhouse in the following areas: selection process, curriculum facilitation and design, forum engagement, and buddy system. The Wikipedia & Education UG board is kindly providing support to facilitate this collaboration process with the selection and organizing of interested volunteers. Registration for this modality closed on April 21st, 2019, thank you to all of those who joined!
Overview of the Wikimedia & Education Greenhouse pilot, 2019.
