In order to achieve Mozilla’s goal of “building a generation of web makers“, we are reaching out to help those who already teach (or would like to teach) web literacy skills.
One of the ways in which I’d like to do this is to put up a tent (yes, a metaphoric tent) and invite all of the instructors to gather under the tent where we can begin to discuss what already exists out there for teaching web making, what tools are useful in which contexts, and find where there are holes.
Goals
- To build a community where webmaker instructors can feel like part of a larger community.
- To reduce the number of times the wheel has to be reinvented, by allowing them to share experiences, tips, and tricks.
- To identity holes in current offerings/curriculum/tools and assist in filling those holes.
- To lower the barrier to entry in becoming a webmaker instructor by providing as much plug-and-play assistance as possible.
Educational Content
Information should be accessible by:
- Audience (eg: youth 10-16, or adult filmmakers, or kids in Nairobi)
- Topic (eg: privacy, intro to CSS)
- Educational tools (eg: Scratch, X-Ray Goggles)
- Curriculum (eg: Hackasaurus, Scratch for EDU, etc.)
Users should be able to add to any of the above, and provide comments / feedback on their experiences with any of the above.
For example:
“I used the X-Ray Goggles to teach about remixing on the web. The kids loved it, but the adults found the UI to be a little too child-like. I was surprised that both advanced and total novice kids found use out of the goggles. Here’s a link to the lesson plan I used, in case anyone wants to use it.”
Other Content
- Links to our hacktivity/event kits: how to hold events, and information from how to advertise, to how to engage volunteers, etc.
- Crash courses to tools they may find useful: blogging software, collaborative tools (etherpad, IRC, google docs), organizer tools (event brite, online calendars, etc)
- Space to advertise regional events / collaborate
What do you think?
What’s missing?
Most importantly, I want to mention that although Mozilla can seed this site with what we already know, its real value will come when others gather under the tent and really make the site into their own. So anything that we can do to help foster this sense of community and ownership will be a huge plus.
Nice post!
To the point about event resources, I’d love to build in fora to share best practices, event kit hacks, and other tips & tricks that the community proposes.
We talked a bit about diff. changes to the kits online. That way, people can easily compare versions & edits over time and various usage. I have no idea what a good UX looks like for that, but the idea seems very powerful.
Wicked! I didn’t immediately understand that this was to be a website-tent. I imagined more of an event-tent.
If it is a website-tent, I think case studies/blow by blows of how days went down would be useful. Ideally in video form, but I’m biased.
Case studies are always sweet.
There equally is no reason why this kinda stuff couldn’t also happen in the ‘event-tent’ space to I am guessing…
Looks like you have similar goals to the W3C Web Education Community Group: http://www.w3.org/community/webed/