User:Nick Moyes/training
These are rough notes to help with event planning and discussion. They are not fixed in stone!
Astronomy Training Event - 3rd October 2023
[edit]Requesting Organisation: International Astonomical Union / Max Planck Institute
Programs & Events Dashboard Link: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/International_Astronomical_Union/IAU_Engaging_with_Wikipedia_2023
Slide Presentation (Google Docs): "Engaging with Wikipedia"
For anyone using the SAA Observatory network on 3rd October, please use this link to request a Wikipedia account:https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/International_Astronomical_Union/IAU_Engaging_with_Wikipedia_2023?enroll=teacsyho
WMF Lead Trainer: Nick Moyes (Timezone UTC +1)
WMF Trainer Roberta W. (Timezone UTC +1)
WMF Trainer: Heidi Berg (Timezone UTC +1)
WMF Trainer: Thomas B (Timezone UTC + 8)
IAU Organiser and Workshop MC: Samantha Brown Sevilla (UTC +2?) -timezone needs confirmation
Training Event Dates 
Confirmed : Tuesday 3rd October 14:00 - 15:30 (UK time) and again at 20:00 - 22:30 UK time (=UTC+1)
Title: Engaging with Wikipedia
This will be 90 minute online Zoom presentation to an in-person meeting of the IAU's African Regional Meeting.(Local time UTC+2) Some (or indeed many) participants may have access to a computer so they can edit from their own account.
In addition, all the National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) are invited to join online. NAECs are a combination of professional and amateur astronomers, teachers and planetarium/science centre directors from 117 different countries). T
The evening session will be entirely online for the NAECs, mainly for those living in time zones where this time is more comfortable than the afternoon, to give everyone a chance to attend.
Sam BS stated: The ultimate goal of the workshops would be to give the NAECs the necessary knowledge to not only edit/write articles themselves, but also be able to teach others how to do it in their own languages. With Sara (WMFUK) we talked about the possibility of achieving this through a series of three workshops in consecutive months, but whether or not we go through with it, will depend on the attendance at this first one.
Date & Time planning
[edit]Pre-event planning meetup
Done
Training Event Dates Confirmed : Tuesday 3rd October 14:00 - 15:30 (UK time) and again at 20:00 UK time (=UTC+1)
- Nick M: Has agreed to lead both training events
- Thomas B: Availability: Cannot confirm anything 100% without a specific time as my work does shift around, but I'm generally flexible especially in the mornings.
- Heidi B: I am student, so I don't know yet when I am available since we haven't gotten our timetable for the semester yet. Availability: My semester starts 18 September, so I will be in Scotland and in that time zone all of September and October (and November). However, I should be available most weekends, and all our lectures are recorded, so I should be quite flexible during the weekdays as well. Other than that, I am available most of the time.
Preliminary Notes from Sara Thomas
[edit]Extended content
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Ideas on Presentation structure
[edit]Welcome/Introduce ourselves
Practicalities of Zoom (breakout rooms/courtesy etc)
(Introductory Astronomy & Wikipedia presentation by I?)
Wikipedia Training (outline plan of this session)
- What Wikipedia is
- Basic page layout
- Basic Editing
- Practical exercises
- Finding topics to Improve or Create.
- Getting help after this session.
Q & A discussion
BEFORE SESSION:
[edit]Each participant will be asked to create a free Wikipedia account BEFORE the event day. (Sign-up link to guidance on appropriate usernames have been provided)
Wiki Edu Dashboard - Comment: do we really need to involve participants with this? If we know usernames of participants, can't we register them quietly 'behind the scenes'?
AIMS OF SESSION
- We’ll introduce you to how Wikipedia operates and how you can contribute;
- Main elements of the Wikipedia page and what they do;
- We’ll get you to login in with an account, or create one if you’ve not yet done so.
- We’ll get you to create your Userpage and edit a sentence or two (with wikilinks) about your interests in editing Wikipedia.
- Then we’ll get you to practice using your Sandbox - an area for experimenting with editing, where you’ll practice writing a factual statement, supported by a reliable citation.
- We’ll explain that we have two different editing tools, but we’ll just use the simpler one (Visual Editor) which suits new users better.
- How to get help or find guidance pages.
- How to find ideas for articles to work on, or notable topics that don’t yet have a Wikipedia page. (e.g. WikiProject Astronomy - articles needed).
- NEWLY ADDED: Looking at available Teaching Resources
- NEWLY ADDED: How to find topics to work on.
- We won’t be creating a new article today, but you will leave with an understanding of how to edit existing pages, and the route to follow to create a brand new one.
- NOT SURE IF NEEDED: Similarities and Differences between Academic publishing and Wikipedia editing. (Both have a summary or abstract; both use inline citations and have a reference section. But AP cites other primary sources, whereas Wikipedia relies more on secondary sources. We rely on the references section to credit research teams- we rarely do so on the body of an article.)
EVENT PLANNING
[edit]PREPARATION NEEDED
(I'll use User:NM Demo 2 for slide preparation)
- Prepare page of Ideas of 'Things you could work on'
- Add Thomas B's list of ideas to work on to this page
- Low Priority: Consider creating a welcome template for this specific training event (example)
- Ensure trainees are aware of WP:NASTRO, WP:NCASTRO and WP:COI. (Often scientists try to start editing by writing an article about themselves, an object they discovered, or a broader topic that they are a primary source for. Those run into notability and conflict of interest problems. It's better to work on something that's close enough to their expertise that they understand the science, but far enough that they haven't worked on directly themselves.
OTHER NEEDS
- Admin Access to Wiki Education Platform.
- Admin Access to Zoom.
- Agree roles for MC-ing event, key elements of training sessoin, and who controls Zoom (Presumably IAU coordinators).
ALL PARTICIPANTS SHOULD:
- Create a free Wikipedia account in advance of session.
- Add their Wikipedia username to the Zoom chat.
- NOT be working in 'Mobile view' (link to 'Desktop' view at extreme bottom of any page)
- Receive a standard welcome message from one of us during or after the event - with links to Help and Teahouse.
Past Slide Presentations
[edit]- general "Introduction to Wikipedia" sessions for some of the National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) group.
Emails
[edit]Hello Samantha et al.
Great to hear from you last week. I'm sorry I was unable to respond immediately.
I'm Nick, and I suspect I've found myself in the role of leading some of the training sessions with you! Heidi led her first training session a few months ago, and this one with you will be my first, too [Gulp!]. That said, I am an experienced Wikipedian and fairly used to helping other editors at the 'Teahouse'; I'm just not that familiar with presenting structured remote training sessions, or in running Zoom sessions. But, I'm very excited by the prospect, and I have started to rough out some ideas.
I think it's important that we understand exactly what you want us to deliver to your members or followers, and what the key components of the sessions you envisage delivering yourselves, and what you perceive their needs to be. I assume someone from your organisation would be MC-ing the event, and calling on us to give the Wikipedia training element of the session? Having others on hand to field question or administer breakout rooms for 1-on-1 problem solving is really helpful.
I'm putting some rough notes together to help us plan what you and your members/participants might need. These ideas are not fixed in stone, and you can find them at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Nick_Moyes/training. You are free to edit or annotate them if you wish.
Here is a link to a Google Slides presentation I am still working on: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1E_eSVRfhc2qaUun8pDgqLdjgwEh6CugtTfXhF8A94uM/edit?usp=sharing It's based on one that Heidi gave recently to another science group.
I suggest it might be helpful if we meet up over Zoom to discuss what we can offer you; what you want out of the sessions; the knowledge level of participants and how we can provide longer term training or support to academics who want to share their skills and to contribute to Wikipedia.
By way of context: I am no astronomer, but have long had an amateur interest in the subject. Until my retirement, I was a keeper of natural sciences at a museum in the English Midlands. Back in the early 1990s I commissioned a full-sized, working replica Grand Orrery to interpret the world-famous painting by Joseph Wright that we have there of a A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery. In 1999 I went to Austria to experience a total solar eclipse and, in 2004, projected the transit of Venus into a huge cardboard box in my garden to show my young daughter as it passed acrioss the Sun. . . but ask me to identify more than a few key constellations, and I might well let you down!
Heidi and Sara are both aware I have a personal situation at home with the health of my partner that could affect my availability over the next few months. So, I'd like to wait a week or two before committing to any specific dates until results of some hospital tests come back and I know where I stand. That said, I suspect mid September onwards and almost any dates in October would be best for me. Your suggested dates of 3rd to 5th October look ideal at the moment.
Hope this this helps