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.
• 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; they are city labs and a place to see "making is learning" in action.
• We're dedicated to documentation and on-boarding new mentors, so many processes will be easily replicable, remixable and teachable.

How will Hive Learning Networks and the mentor community work together?

• Hive Learning Networks are clusters of people and institutions in a city that care about connected learning. They organize events and joint projects, and they share experiences locally and globally. Members of Hives are part of the mentor community, although not all mentors will be formerly part of Hives. Hive partners believe that:
  • School is not the sole provider in a community’s educational system
  • Youth need to be both sophisticated consumers and active producers of digital media
  • Learning should be driven by youth’s interests
  • Digital media and technology are the glue and amplifier for connected learning experiences
  • Out-of-school time spaces are fertile grounds for learning innovation
  • Organizations must collaborate to thrive
• Webmaker Mentors may be part of Hive Learning Networks, aspire to start one in their city, or just be individuals who care about making and learning. Hive members and mentors share experiences, increasing the breadth and depth of knowledge about learning. Mentors are encouraged to visit and participate in nearby Hives, to try out smaller test events in their city to see if Hives are viable there, or to continue their work individually with the feedback and support of these networks.

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?

• Missing: UK-specific plans. Decision on team's role in support.mozilla.org.

Jan - Mar, 2013

Theme: Lay groundwork for year in team, key partners and network

Milestones

• Launch Hive Global: Chris.
• Tie Mentor & HIve Global work into overall "Making as Learning" messaging arc: Ryan / Geoff.
• Launch "Mentor" landing page (webmaker.org/mentor): Michelle.
• Launch Mentor Market place prototype: Michelle.
• Surface and connect communities and individuals to serve as leaders and amplifiers.
• Ship draft of metrics for mentor participation
• Map year of known events and mentor labs / TTT

Team Coordination

• Ship MozFest staffing plan: Michelle & Chris.
• Set Mentor Community Team infrastructure: Chris.

Events & Activities

• Reps Training Days. March 1 - 6, Athens.
• Mozilla South Asia Community Meet-up. TBD. Kathmandu.
• Mozilla Community Building Work Week. March 26 - 28, Toronto.
• StoryCamp NYC Launches
• Hive Screening at Tribeca Cinemas of Rip: A Remix Manifesto (April, move to Q2)
• Hive Learning Network Pop-Up at DML Conference in Chicago
• Writing/Making/Sharing Hackjam Mentorship Training: https://etherpad.mozilla.org/WritingMakingSharing
• Edu-Con: NWP + Mozilla on Web Literacies panel; Mozilla Tools Panel
• Hive Berlin Meet-up
• StoryCamp German style
• etmooc

What success looks like

• Leadership of 10 mentor community related events
• /Mentor on webmaker.org
• Activity on #webmakermatch and #webmakerwin
• First meeting of Hive Global Stewardship group
• Shipped team, community meetings, open work plan
• Agreed mentor metrics and plan

Apr - Jun

Theme: Build connective narratives to rally community, launch and disseminate guiding documentation

Milestones

• Ship first draft of Hive Global "Cook Book"
• Expand Hive Global to 6 cities total
• Publish first draft of MozFest 2013 plans
• Ship summer campaign plan & partnerships
• Launch ReMo Webmaker Mentor program
• Finalize remixable Hacktivity kits + event guides, inc. plans for growth
• Build and ship Mentor storytelling platform (HuffPo for Makers/Mentors)
• Pilot / experiment with event-driven fundraising around Hive events
• Develop TTT program plan
• Draft curriculum contest
• Scope "Github for Learning Stuff"

Team Coordination

• MozFest hiring plan in action

Events & Activities

• Mentor "Best of" Convening
• Emoti-Con Youth Digital Making Festival (NYC)
• GenOpen hackjams

What success looks like

• Guiding document released for current and future Hive Learning Networks to use to grow, on-ramp
• Additions of Hive Athens, Toronto to Hive Global stewardship group
• Collectively constructed, discussed and debated MozFest 2013 remixes
• Two MozFest contractors hired/working
• No less then 10 Hacktivity Kits released, process for mentors to create/remix and add their own
• ReMo Webmaker mentoring program began
• Theme, partners and plan released for Summer Campaign
• Begin counting mentors with nuance on how numbers were/are reached. Have sense of where we are by April 15th to set goals for summer participation.
• Version 1.0 of Webmaker Mentor storytelling blog/site launched

Jul - Sep

Theme: Community in action or taking the Mentor Community out for a spin

Milestones

• Manage campaign(s)
• Set up campaign events as minor league feeder system to MozFest
• Align Hive Global sites around a theme
• Work with new cities to on ramp towards joining Hive Global

Events & Activities

• Summer Code Party

What success looks like

• Hitting previously agreed upon participation metrics for campaign(s)
• 30+ campaign events identified as feeder events to MozFest
• 3+ new cities at a Hive Learning Network stage

Oct - Dec

Theme: MozFest MozFest MozFest

Milestones

• Curate best of campaign(s)
• Execute MozFest

Events & Activities

• Mozfest 2013

What success looks like

• A kick-ass Mozfest
• Wrap MozFest with a well identified and energized group of community leaders. They feel they own part of Webmaker and are enthusiastic / clear about 2014
• Learning as Making narrative is widely known and has momentum
• Mentors are regularly adding new content and projects to Webmaker.org

Open Questions and Ideas

• Community micro-grants. Pitch fund.
• Marketplace for mentors and expertise, including non-profit and for-profit listings
• Affiliated spaces
• Mozilla Summit
• Webmaker Module Owners from the Mozilla communities

Groups to learn from

These people know about mentoring.

• distributed mentoring movement
• Scratch
• Google Summer of Code mentors
• Young Makers
• National Mentoring Partnership
• Code With Me
• OpenTechSchool
• International Budgetary Mentorship
• Audrey Watters
• Facilitating Change
• Publications about youth organizations, some mentoring
• NWP (distributed network)
• EPiK
• Mentor Makerspace Directory
• New York Hall of Science
• Mentor Library
• Hackidemia