Training the Trainers/June 2012 event

Summary: We intend to run a train-the-trainers workshop in London in June 2012. Volunteers who want to take a leading role in Wikimedia UK's training programme are encouraged to read and sign up below.

This is an update on the way forward for our Train the Trainers programme. The next step is that we are going to have a two-day training workshop at the WMUK office in London, run by professional consultants. The trainer-trainers who are thus trained (yes, this gets very meta) will be collectively responsible for putting together a training and accreditation programme, and run later training/skill-sharing events for other interested trainers. This expanded group will deliver training to end users, including members of partner organisations.

I think this is a best-of-both-worlds solution: it's sustainable and owned by our community, but will be credible because it will have been started off by an external organisation. There's an analogy with how we use Wikipedia to spread knowledge: a reliable source external to Wikipedia vouches for it, and we adapt it, integrate it with other knowledge and make sure it's freely and widely available.

What we want now is for anyone interested to sign up below for this workshop. Due to room availability, this will have to take place on a weekend in June. Reasonable travel expenses to the workshop will be reimbursed, according to the WMUK expense policy. There will be limited places, to make sure that each participant gets individual attention and feedback. These places will be open to WMUK volunteers who can make a credible commitment to support training in future: it will be a strong advantage to already been involved in training events.

We know that some of our members are already delivering professional-quality training. They may think they don't need this weekend event, but it's especially important for them to sign up. It's a chance to:

1. Get accredited. Being a wiki expert does not necessarily mean you can pass it on to other people: this makes it all the more important that we recognise and appreciate people who have that expertise and also the ability to train.
2. Share your skills with others.
3. Help design a training and accreditation programme that serves WMUK in the long term.

If for whatever reason you aren't included in the initial group, you are not excluded from being an approved trainer in the future.

There will be an assessment process, and it will be genuinely demanding: no-one's guaranteed a certificate. There is more than one way you can be involved in training; whether it's designing a syllabus, delivering that training to a room full of people, or helping learners one-to-one. The workshop will explore your skills profile and relate it to the role you're suited for. I think I'm generally good at training, but I'm going to approach this with an open mind and listen to feedback on my weaknesses and strengths. Everyone can and should seek to improve, so if you are not accredited at the event, then this does not rule out being accredited in future.

If your interest is in training people to contribute to a sister project such as Commons or Wikinews, rather than to Wikipedia, that's no disadvantage. If anything, a diversity of training interests is a plus.

Note that this is about training, not presenting. There is no plan for WMUK to assess, accredit or regulate presentations or lectures on any aspect of Wikimedia. Similarly, there is no intention to restrict training to an elite clique. On the contrary, I think a clear process for becoming a WMUK approved trainer would encourage more volunteers to volunteer at training events and get themselves accredited. When we are putting together a high-profile event with a partner organisation, we will prefer to use accredited trainers in preference to others. It'll operate as a white-list rather than a black-list.

MartinPoulter (talk) 14:01, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Sign up here

Please tell us about your training background (inside or outside Wikimedia), your availability in June and give an email address or username through which you can be contacted.

In the event of over-subscription, a decision on who to include in the event will be the responsibility of the Board, but since some Board members are involved in training, this decision will be delegated to relevant WMUK staff, who in turn are welcome to seek advice from the appointed consultants. This training represents an investment by Wikimedia in its future, so the decision will be made on the basis of how credibly each individual can commit to delivering future events. This is not a first-come, first-served list: the order in which people add themselves is of no significance.

• Martin Poulter. Delivered training at Institute of Physics Workshop, At-Bristol Workshop, Bristol Wiki Academy 2. Assisted at London Medical Research Council Workshop, ARKive project events, Cancer Research UK Workshop, Bristol Wikimedia Girl Geek Dinner. Professional background includes six years as a part-time teaching assistant at the University of Bristol, running seminars in Philosophy and Logic. Free any weekend in June. martin.poulter@wikimedia.org.uk
• Have run various training events in real life from one on one to class size audiences. Recent wiki related training includes a one on one for one of our new staffers. Am quite capable of getting my netbook out in a pizza place or pub and introducing a fellow editor to the delights of hotcat or catalot. Will expect to continue delivering training in future WereSpielChequers (talk) 16:08, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
• The Land (talk) - have assisted in training new editors at events at CR UK and the British Library. I also have quite a lot of experience running training sessions for volunteers in politics - most notably, I co-ordinated the Liberal Democrats' training for election agents in the 2010 General Election. chris dot keating at wikimedia.org.uk.
• Doug Taylor. Delivered new editor training at Manchester Uni, Manchester Girl Geeks, Liverpool U, Monmouth (both Girls' and Boys' Schools); assisted editors at Geological Society workshop and Coventry History Editathon. Qualified teacher, worked in 11-18 inner-city comprehensives (1973-1997), HoD, Senior Teacher; Post 1997: F&HE delivering IT and project work, delivered Microsoft certifications to NHS and other business clients; scuba diving National Instructor, RYA Power Boat Instructor. Should be able to free up a weekend in June. User:RexxS has email enabled.
• Johnbod: Organized and led 2 group basic editing training sessions for British Museum staff, & participated in other events with training at V&A Tipu's Tiger drop-in, Hoxne Hoard etc. Johnbod (talk) 16:30, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
• John Cummings. Teach people how to edit in Monmouth, mainly Wikipedia and Wikimedia. Run small group sessions and individual sessions including schools, community groups and the council. Mrjohncummings (talk) 16:44, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
• Add yourself