User:Wikirandy/WikiEducator Purpose

My WikiEducator Purpose

The WikiEducator is an evolving community intended for the collaborative:

• planning of education projects linked with the development of free content;
• development of free content on Wikieducator for e-learning;
• building of capacity and sustainable communities of support for educators;
• work on building open education resources (OERs) on how to create OERs;
• networking on funding proposals developed as free content.

Note: I think there is a distinction between "A community of support" and "Communities of Support". Overall, WikiEducator can be considered a "community of support" - however, over time, as educators develop content, they will develop sub-communities or 'communities-in-communities' where they will benefit from support from each other. Thus, "communities of support" seems more likely, particularly as WikiEducator evolves.

My Perspective from the Tectonic Shift Think Tank Conference

While attending the Tectonic shift think tank held at COL, I noted the following:

• Always be aware of the human factor in technology / community creation.
• Make sure the technologies/technologists serve the users. Use every opportunity to engage others, and learn individually and collectively.
• Know your stakeholders well, and their interests.
• Communicate effectively, by multiple means at varying frequencies within the group and externally.
• Wikis are a paradigm-shift - and also represent a power-shift: Remember that fear and anxiety are ever-present - before we ever started talking about MediaWiki / Wikieducator!
• Give laggards (or perceived laggards) an opportunity to participate at their level.
• Respond to feedback.
• KISS..and...keep our eyes on the prize ~ individually and writ-large (i.e., Millennium Development Goals).
• Exercise self-reflection
• Try to find the humour / enjoy the laughter!