Discussions/Submissions/Sharing experience: One learning pattern at a time
Sharing experience: One learning pattern at a time
In this discussion I am systematizing my current experience with creating learning patterns. It's a bit *meta* talk: I will try to share my experience about how I share my experience. :) I want to encourage other people to overcome more quickly my own barriers to entry: the realization that my 10 year long experience in Wikimedia is not isolated, and can relate to other contributors and benefit them; and the awareness that even tiny bits of experience, which I'm taking for granted or even tend to ignore, may turn out to be significant, helpful new knowledge for someone else.
My experience with learning patterns has resulted so far in five completed LPs, and several more that need to be finalized. Five LPs may not seem too much of work done, but some of the patterns are rather detailed and have been endorsed by other users, and I have received certain positive feedback about them.
The backbone of the discussion are some of the most important lessons I have learned while creating my learning patterns:
- Thinking about the context: Putting your experience in context and discovering what exactly can be relevant to the others.
- Finding the balance between "too abstract/broad" and "too concrete/narrow".
- Dividing a big chunk of experience into smaller and independent bits, and presenting them separately, in a modular way. (Drawing an analogue with the concept of greatest common divisor, or complete groups of independent events.)
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| No. | Again no. | Umm, yes. |
- Ordering and organizing the elements (listed items, etc.) of a learning pattern. The added value of colours, symbols and visualization.
- Thinking about the user's needs: Outlining the aspects where the user can adapt the learning pattern, when and how.
- Thinking about the learning pattern: Naming, categorization, linking to other related patterns, promotion.
In conclusion: Experience is nothing without being able to learn from it. And to share it with others.
- Purpose
- Help other people believe in their ability to create useful learning patterns. :)
- Targeted participants
- Wikimedians, interested in learning patterns.
- Preparatory readings or materials
- I didn't find any "theory" of making Wikimedian "learning patterns", but I'd love if someone adds it here, if any. In the meanwhile, here are the five LPs which I am referring to: meta:Category:Wikimedians of Bulgaria learning patterns.
Questions and Comments 9
- Hi Spiritia, thank you for your proposal. Please bear in mind that discussions are not presentations, so could you rephrase your description so that it is less about your personal experience? Thanks, --Gnom (talk) 13:59, 16 April 2016 (UTC)
- Agreed. I don't see how this can be turned into a discussion topic. I suggest to leave it out of the discussion programme. Effeietsanders (talk) 21:09, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
- Thank you for your opinions. It was really originally proposed as a critical issue presentation, which despite the positive evaluations did not make it. I decided to resubmit it here, only because within the WMF Learning and Evaluation team the topic received wide acclaim and support. It is sad that the essential changes in this year's programme design lead to so many underestimated topics and triumph of form over content, but this is how it is this year, and we have to accept it. :) Spiritia (talk) 09:40, 23 April 2016 (UTC)
- Hi Spiritia. I accordingly moved it out of the programme. But I am interested by your patterns. Have you considered posting a start here https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Learning_patterns ?