Wikiversity:Colloquium/archives/March 2022

The Call for Feedback: Board of Trustees elections is now closed
Hello everyone - as a follow-up to #Call for Feedback about the Board of Trustees elections is now open: the call is now closed and reports are available for review. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 03:56, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

:You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.
 *  m:Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees/Call for feedback: Board of Trustees elections/Call for Feedback is now closed • 

The Call for Feedback: Board of Trustees elections is now closed. This Call ran from 10 January and closed on 16 February 2022. The Call focused on three key questions and received broad discussion on Meta-wiki, during meetings with affiliates, and in various community conversations. The community and affiliates provided many proposals and discussion points. The reports are on Meta-wiki.

This information will be shared with the Board of Trustees and Elections Committee so they can make informed decisions about the upcoming Board of Trustees election. The Board of Trustees will then follow with an announcement after they have discussed the information.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Call for Feedback to help improve Board election processes.

Best regards,

Movement Strategy and Governance  Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 03:56, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Invitation to Hubs event: Global Conversation on 2022-03-12 at 13:00 UTC
Hello again - I'm sharing an invitation to the upcoming Saturday 12 March Global Conversation about Hubs, which are being explored as a way to help coordinate support for communities. Please see more details below.


 * You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.
 *  m:Special:MyLanguage/Hubs/Global Conversations March 12, 2022/Invitation • 

Hello!

The Movement Strategy and Governance team of the Wikimedia Foundation would like to invite you to the next event about "Regional and Thematic Hubs". The Wikimedia Movement is in the process of understanding what Regional and Thematic Hubs should be. Our workshop in November was a good start (read the report), but we're not finished yet.

Over the last weeks we conducted about 16 interviews with groups working on establishing a Hub in their context (see Hubs Dialogue). These interviews informed a report that will serve as a foundation for discussion on March 12. The report is planned to be published on March 9.

The event will take place on March 12, 13:00 to 16:00 UTC on Zoom. Interpretation will be provided in French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, and Portuguese. Registration is open, and will close on March 10. Anyone interested in the topic is invited to join us. More information on the event on Meta-wiki.

Best regards,

Kaarel Vaidla Movement Strategy 

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 17:49, 5 March 2022 (UTC)
 * A report on the findings of the Hubs Dialogue has been published on Commons ahead of the Global Conversation later today. Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 01:28, 12 March 2022 (UTC)

Central space for ideas / reading lists
Hi all,

I was wondering if there was a central space to record ideas for developing/ improving this wiki?

Additionally, I wanted to know if automatically curating a reading list might be a good possible idea for this wiki. E.g. searching for materials on the wikilibrary that can then be added to a reading list, which could then be embedded into a page it would be useful within, etc.

--Jamzze (discuss • contribs) 21:14, 11 March 2022 (UTC)


 * @Jamzze Welcome! I looked around. I don't think there is a common place for suggestions other than Wikiversity talk:Main Page or here in the Colloquium . Reading lists would certainly be a good idea. Long ago someone started Reading groups. You could check and see if there's anything useful there and either rename it or start fresh and create what you envision. Let us know if you need any assistance. -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 22:09, 12 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for this - I think creating a new project for this might be a good idea!
 * As for a central space for tracking development suggestions, it would be good to have a similar thing that Wikipedia's village pump has under "proposals".
 * Here, concrete proposals could be located just so they can be separated from the general quick questions or still developing suggestions that this page tackles. This would help ensure proposals can be scanned more effectively and kept a track of. I am not sure what the appetite for this there would be/ how to create such a page that maybe links off of this, so it would be great to hear others' opinions on it Jamzze (discuss • contribs) 21:09, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Catalogue of agricultural businesses
Hello,

Would a catalogue of agricultural businesses with notes on their "is organic or not" "what pesticide they use" status be on-topic here? I would create a table and a map on one page.

--Gryllida 00:17, 13 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I think that's legit: it's educational and in principle, factual. Another good place for that information is Appropedia as well. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 01:18, 13 March 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Loves Folklore 2022 ends tomorrow
International photographic contest Wiki Loves Folklore 2022 ends on 15th March 2022 23:59:59 UTC. This is the last chance of the year to upload images about local folk culture, festival, cuisine, costume, folklore etc on Wikimedia Commons. Watch out our social media handles for regular updates and declaration of Winners.

(Facebook, Twitter , Instagram)

The writing competition Feminism and Folklore will run till 31st of March 2022 23:59:59 UTC. Write about your local folk tradition, women, folk festivals, folk dances, folk music, folk activities, folk games, folk cuisine, folk wear, folklore, and tradition, including ballads, folktales, fairy tales, legends, traditional song and dance, folk plays, games, seasonal events, calendar customs, folk arts, folk religion, mythology etc. on your local Wikipedia. Check if your local Wikipedia is participating

A special competition called Wiki Loves Falles is organised in Spain and the world during 15th March 2022 till 15th April 2022 to document local folk culture and Falles in Valencia, Spain. Learn more about it on Catalan Wikipedia project page.

We look forward for your immense co-operation.

Thanks Wiki Loves Folklore international Team MediaWiki message delivery (discuss • contribs) 14:41, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Leadership Development Working Group: Apply to join! (14 March to 10 April 2022)
Hey all, following the call for feedback last month for the Leadership Development Working Group, I would like to share the summary of input (note the terminology change to Working Group) along with an invitation to apply. Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 01:04, 15 March 2022 (UTC)


 * You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.
 *  m:Special:MyLanguage/Leadership Development Working Group/Participate/Announcement • 

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone who participated in the feedback period for the Leadership Development Working Group initiative. A summary of the feedback can be found on Meta-wiki. This feedback will be shared with the working group to inform their work. The application period to join the Working Group is now open and will close on April 10, 2022. Please review the information about the working group, share with community members who might be interested, and apply if you are interested.

Thank you,

From the Community Development team 

Let me know if you have questions. Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 01:04, 15 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Hi! I'm one of the grantees for Eventmath, and we are interested in developing annual positions for co-stewards to lead the project in the future. Will there be opportunities for us to discuss such ideas with the working group, if we are not officially a part of the group? Thank you for your help! Greg at Higher Math Help (discuss • contribs) 01:49, 16 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Hi : Thanks for your question (and your work on the Eventmath project! I love how it will help educators engage learners in contexts that are interesting to them). My understanding is that the working group will be gathering community feedback throughout its working period, so there will certainly be opportunities to reach out to discuss ideas once it is formed - the group is expected to develop work in small increments and make frequent changes based on feedback.
 * You can also feel free to post any time to m:Talk:Leadership Development Working Group, where thoughts and ideas are collected. I'm going to tag my colleague who will also be very interested to know more! Feel free to let either of us know if we can be of any assistance moving this idea forward. Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 02:10, 16 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Wow, thank you so much for your kind, detailed, and rapid reply! This all sounds fantastic, and I'd be very happy to share more about this idea :) I'll certainly follow up once I get a chance to confirm the details with @Professorbrendan. Greg at Higher Math Help (discuss • contribs) 02:34, 16 March 2022 (UTC)

Leadership Development Working Group: Reminder to apply by 10 April 2022

 * You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.
 *  m:Special:MyLanguage/Leadership Development Working Group/Participate/Announcement/Reminder • 

Hello everyone,

The Community Development team at the Wikimedia Foundation is supporting the creation of a global, community-driven Leadership Development Working Group. The purpose of the working group is to advise leadership development work. Feedback was collected in February 2022 and a summary of the feedback is on Meta-wiki. The application period to join the Working Group is now open and is closing soon on April 10, 2022. Please review the information about the working group, share with community members who might be interested, and apply if you are interested.

Thank you,

From the Community Development team 

Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 20:13, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

Proposal: Turn on syntax highlighting by default for new accounts
Syntax highlighting is an extremely useful feature launched in 2018 that helps make wikitext easier to read by turning wikilinks blue, templates purple, references green, and other color codings. It can be toggled on or off at any point by clicking the highlighter button in the editing toolbar, but many new (and not-so-new) editors take quite a while to discover it, thereby missing out on its benefits.

I propose that, for all new accounts and IP editors, syntax highlighting be enabled by default. This proposal does not involve making any changes for existing users. All editors will continue to have the option to turn syntax highlighting on or off with a click of the button. -- Wikipedia Village pump proposal

The cited proposal appears to apply equally well to Wikiversity. For example, contributors to the Eventmath learning project are presented with a page creation button that preloads a lesson plan template for them, and syntax highlighting makes it easier for them to identify inline editing instructions that are embedded as HTML comments. Also, my personal experience is consistent with the description above: I did not realize the editor supports syntax highlighting until I had made well over 500 edits!

--Greg at Higher Math Help (discuss • contribs) 02:25, 16 March 2022 (UTC)

Discussion

 * It's important to also be aware of the technical issues involved in implementing this proposal. See T288161. The proposal may be premature. It appears that the discussion is ongoing and implementing for new users only may not be technically feasible. Voting, therefore, needs to consider three options: Enable for all users by default, Enable for new users only and reject the proposal if that isn't possible, Reject the proposal. -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 14:51, 16 March 2022 (UTC)
 * An additional consideration: There are a few different syntax hilighting extensions. For example, Extension:WikEd also displays images when in markup mode. However, I don't know the relative pros/cons of each option. T.Shafee(Evo&#65120;Evo)talk 22:26, 16 March 2022 (UTC)

Join the Community Resilience and Sustainability Conversation Hour with Maggie Dennis

 * You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.
 *  m:Special:MyLanguage/IRC office hours/Office hours 2022-03-24/Announcement • 

The Community Resilience and Sustainability team at the Wikimedia Foundation is hosting a conversation hour led by its Vice President Maggie Dennis.

Topics within scope for this call include Movement Strategy, Board Governance, Trust and Safety, the Universal Code of Conduct, Community Development, and Human Rights. Come with your questions and feedback, and let's talk! You can also send us your questions in advance.

The meeting will be on 24 March 2022 at 15:00 UTC (check your local time).

You can read details on Meta-wiki. Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 02:48, 18 March 2022 (UTC)
 * This is starting in 5 minutes and can be viewed live or later on YouTube.on YouTube. Xeno (WMF) (discuss • contribs) 14:55, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

New Editor Question
I'm sure some of the more active users have received and answered this question multiple times before(especially since I am a newer user to Wikiversity in general) but I have a few questions and confusions.

I cannot find any consistency to Wikiversity at all, whatsoever. There are some vaguely outlined pieces, but other than that, there is not really any similarities between anything as far as I can see.

There is an occasional article that has no categories at all and is just floating around, not part of any particular area.

Others areas of Wikiversity has a more defined and established tone between courses. When viewing the music portal, you get a well-defined area with minimal inconsistencies. When looking at Algebra, however, the only course involving secondary-level algebra(not including prealgebra or college algebra) is "Speak Math Now!" This course includes(or its course description says it does, the actual course includes maybe a semester of information, most of which is red-linked) all of algebra up until calculus, merging Algebra 1 and 2. Furthermore, why that name? It is strange and confusing, especially since it's the only algebra course of that type available.

There are, of course, more examples other than just Algebra that I can find. I find it strange and erratic and there must be something that I am missing. Thanks, MrMeAndMrMe  Let's talk 19:34, 25 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Welcome! The short answer is that Wikiversity is not consistent. Most courses are designed and developed by a single user targeting a specific audience, the students they are teaching in real life. We do try to guide new users and sometimes help with initial formatting. Sometimes that works and sometimes it offends them and they go away.
 * If there are courses you are interested in working on and making more consistent, please let us know. Anything that no longer has an active user associated with it isn't likely to draw objections. For content with active users, please check with them first. They may have an active real-world course using the content this semester.
 * Speak Math Now! has an interesting history. It was originally created by a user who was attempting to profit from their Wikiversity contributions. It probably should be renamed. The course has been updated more recently by User:Atcovi and User:Guy vandegrift. Perhaps they can better address specific questions about this resource.
 * Thanks! -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 21:48, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you, Dave. This makes more sense and is helpful. MrMeAndMrMe  Let's talk 22:26, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I agree with everything Dave says, and wish to add the reason I continue to contribute to Wikiversity despite despite its obvious flaws. First, it is important to point out that any so-called "failure" of Wikiversity shouldn't really be viewed as a failure.  When I first started editing, there were virtually no open source textbooks.  The commercial textbooks were expensive and of lower quality.  About 20 years ago I remember organizing a return of all my student's astronomy textbooks because it was a recent edition with revisions that were full of errors.  It was clear to me that only reason they came out with a new edition was to suppress tendency of students to purchase used textbooks.  OpenStax and other efforts (especially ones by MIT and UC Davis) began to fill  the void with efforts to "set education free" using zero cost materials.  One outcome is that commercial textbooks were forced to reduce costs by offering the material online.  And, of course we now have OpenStax.  Although the open education movement was not commercial, we did follow the capitalistic culture of using free competition to sort things out.  Students benefited, while most "ventures" failed.  It is worth noting that despite the tremendous value in making our modern culture more mobile, most investments in the airline business lost money (see here for proof.)--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 09:40, 26 March 2022 (UTC)
 * P.S. Forgot to finish my thought: My reason for continuing with Wikiversity goes beyond traditional education:  Quizbank is an effort allow students to test out of all or part of college courses.  The best questions for such preliminary exams focus on reading comprehension.  Maybe someday people will use short passages from Wikiversity to construct short passages that assess that skill.  Also, I have a grandson who seems interested in music.  So I created Sing free.--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 09:47, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

Wikidebates
Hello. I have a brief question again. Can wiki debates be based on any controversial argument, or are they only used to resolve issues? I can't find out. Thanks, MrMeAndMrMe  Let's talk 20:14, 29 March 2022 (UTC)


 * I hesitate to say yes to "any". There have been some problematic issues in the past (suicide, pedophilia, various pseudoscience topics), but the intent is for wikidebates to discss controversial topics upon which reasonable people might disagree. I'm not sure they have resolved any issues, though. -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 00:14, 30 March 2022 (UTC)
 * OK, thank you. I was slightly confused by that. MrMeAndMrMe  Let's talk 01:25, 30 March 2022 (UTC)