Webmaker/Mentor

What are we doing?

• Supporting mentors everywhere
• to rip, remix and repost web learning content
• in a peer community and in their city
• so they can help people they care about
• make amazing things using the web

Who are we talking about?

We see the mentor community as the intersection of:

• Makers interested in learning
• Educators interested in making

For example:

• A hackerspace founder interested in running HTML courses
• A museum director interested in a digital making program

These two groups, makers and educators, are situated in two larger movements:

• the "Maker Movement": with a DIY ethos and an "If you can't open it, you don't own it" approach. A strong culture of documentation and sharing, collaboration and remixing. Has roots in physical spaces and physical objects, but important ties to the web. Examples include: Maker Faire, hackerspaces, tinkerers in electronics, 3D printing, CNC and more.
• the "Learning Movement": challenges traditional education with its learner-centric, web-inspired approach to learning. A strong culture of peer learning, open course materials, and new kinds of assessment. Has roots in peer production, participation, networks of institutions & learners. Examples include: Massive Open Online Courses, YOUMedia spaces, instructors from computer clubs and more.

What will we do together?

• This group will be a skunkworks incubator for radical ideas about learning, webmaking and mentoring.
• It will be powered by a Github for Learning Stuff, an open repository where mentors can rip, remix and repost materials.
• Driven by the interests of the mentors, we'll run webmaking campaigns, train the trainer workshops, and other activities that grow this community.
• In cities where mentors and institutions want to team up, we'll help bring new Hive learning networks online. Hives are vibrant learning clusters in a city; they are labs and a place to see "making is learning" in action.
• We're dedicated to documentation and on-boarding new mentors, and many processes will be easily replicable, remixable and teachable.

What needs to be done?

You can:

• Tell us why you care about making + learning
• Create, test and localize hacktivity kits
• Offer in-person trainings for future-mentors

The mentor community team will:

• Set up communication channels
• Initiate train the trainer programs
• Scaffold mentor relationships
• Design a "Github for Learning Stuff"
• Issue badges and celebrate community successes

When will it happen?

Jan - Mar, 2013

• Reps Training Days

Apr - Jun

• Mentor Convening

Jul - Sep

• Summer Code Party

Oct - Dec

• Mozfest 2013