Wikiversity:Who are Wikiversity participants?

There are many roles, or ways of participating, in Wikiversity—indeed, it is possible to have multiple roles. This page is to document and explore these roles.

Anyone can contribute to Wikiversity. You can click the register button to join up and start helping out. You can even edit pages without being a registered user!

Volunteers
Wikiversity is written, edited, and staffed by volunteers. Anyone is capable of editing a page, but some people in particular devote a portion of their time to editing and maintaining Wikiversity, all these individuals are volunteers. Wikiversity owes its existence to these volunteers, and thanks the most vigilant by giving them custodianship, or sysop privileges.

Newcomers and experienced participants
Experienced users are supposed to do their best to "not bite newcomers". That is, sometimes experienced users forget what it is like to be new to Wikimedia projects and can sometimes be less sensitive than appropriate in helping newcomers to become aware of best practices that contribute to the best possible quality of the projects. So please be bold, and forge your own path!

Learners / Students
Primarily here to learn. Can access learning materials, and join existing learning projects or form new ones.

Mentors / Teachers
Primarily here to teach. Can write learning materials, assist learners, and mentor students.

Researchers
Engaged in gathering, analyzing, and presenting new information and knowledge.

Editors
Modifying and improving the content, presentation, precision, sourcing, etc. of others work. Interestingly, any effective feedback to resource creators shifts this role towards embracing aspects of the instructor and/or learning theorist. This is true without further specific participation of the editor should the originator of the material learn anything from a different comparison of the original to the edited version.

Custodians
Sometimes called "admins" or "sysops" on other projects, custodians have some extra tools to facilitate maintenance work on Wikiversity, including deleting pages, and blocking people who vandalise Wikiversity or engage in destructive activity.

Curators
Curators have some extra tools to manage content on Wikiversity, including moving and deleting pages and rolling back vandalism.

"Gardeners"
Quite a lot of wiki work is in linking pages, creating structuring resources (such as navigation templates), adding categories, etc. in order to aid others in their navigation of Wikiversity. This is sometimes called "gardening" to indicate the "hidden" jobs that make the whole thing (i.e. wiki/garden) work and look better. Most of this work does not require custodian tools.

Community builders
Welcoming new participants, pointing people in appropriate directions, creating, developing, and sustaining community spaces (have a peek at Category:Wikiversity)

Learning theorists
Discussing how learning works on Wikiversity, and helping orientate learning projects and resources around pedagogical theories and practice.

Facilitators
Help things happen—pointing people to appropriate pages or people, asking questions, raising suggestions, etc.

Mediators
Help ease conflicts, or move them from destructive towards productive conflict.

Catalysts
Catalysts are "movers and shakers" who work as custodians but don't want or need the sysop tools.

Other roles
Please add further roles here as they arise.

User pages
Many people detail some of their interests and/or activities on their user pages. This can be a way of getting to know someone, or to give some information about yourself that might spark some learning activity. Further info at Help:User page