Webmaker/Mentor

We believe that people learn best with others and that mentoring is a powerful, distributed way to connect learners with instructors.

That's why the Mentor Community team will spend 2013 developing ways to link webmakers and mentors. The team will surface exemplary work from the community while also producing events, campaigns, hacktivity kits, tools and stories that help build a generation of Webmakers.

Lay the year's foundations with the team, key partners, and network
Launch an international campaign rallying around the theme "Making as learning"
Mobilize local communities and network them globally
Build platforms and social APIs for people to gather and teach skills for a digital age
Celebrate the community at Mozfest and set the stage for 2014

2013 Goals for the Mentor Community

3.0 Grow a global community of mentors with a maker attitude
3.1 Offer compelling on-ramps for mentors to participate in webmaking
3.2 Merge Hive + Code Party to create a global mentor community w/ local roots
3.3 Make it easier to find local mentors, events, and learning resources online
3.4 Create more + better mentor resources: step by step guides for teaching that are hackable
3.5 Surface localization opportunities. Tools and starter content should all eventually be translatable for different communities.

What success looks like

Webmaker.org/mentor is a destination for mentors. It includes community stories, remixable resources, events, and a marketplace for needs and offerings.
Remixable hacktivity kits released. Mentors are regularly ripping, remixing, and reposting content to Webmaker.org.
"Making as learning" narrative is widely known and has momentum
Participation metrics for campaign(s) are hit
Hive "Cookbook" used to grow & on-ramp new learning networks. 3+ new cities at a Hive Learning Network stage.
An active webmaker mentoring program with ReMo
30+ campaign events as feeder events to MozFest
A kick-ass Mozfest that wraps with clear community leaders who own part of Webmaker and are set for 2014

UK roadmap: https://events.etherpad.mozilla.org/2013-roadmap-UK

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

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.