Wikipedia:India Education Program/Cooperation Agreement

This document serves as a record of understanding among the course instructor and the Wikipedia volunteers ("Wikipedia Ambassadors"), to define the roles and responsibilities of each party as they work with Wikipedia as a teaching and learning tool. The document establishes a framework of cooperation, in order to produce the greatest benefits for instructors, students, and Wikipedia Ambassadors. The points outlined below allow each party to understand not only what is expected of him/her, but also what s/he can expect from others in the project.

Overview
The purpose of the Wikipedia Global Education Program is to support instructors in running Wikipedia-editing assignments in class. The program aims to create an effective learning environment for students, while also strengthening the content and community of Wikipedia.

The "pod" is the core unit of the program; each "pod" consists of:
 * the course instructor,
 * the Wikipedia Campus Ambassador(s) supporting the course, and
 * the Level 1 Wikipedia Online Ambassador(s) supporting the course.

These three parties have specific responsibilities toward one another. In addition, there are also mutual responsibilities among these parties, the Wikimedia Foundation, and the Level 2 Wikipedia Online Ambassadors. All these are outlined below.

Preparation
The instructor and the Campus Ambassador(s) will communicate before classes begin to plan out the Wikipedia portion of the class and clarify mutual expectations. The professor is the person making all final decisions regarding course plans; the Campus Ambassadors can provide advice and feedback based on their knowledge of Wikipedia and familiarity with how Wikipedia assignments have worked in the past.


 * Instructor's preparation responsibilities:
 * Meet with the course' Campus Ambassador(s) before classes begin to go over the objectives of the course, the objectives for the planned assignment, communication preferences, and mutual expectations in general. For example, what skills will students build, what subject matter(s) should they master, what will students learn (and not learn) about Wikipedia, and what Wikipedia contributions are students expected to make? Also, when and how often will the Campus Ambassador be expected to do in-class presentations and/or labs/workshops, how much time will they have for these, and what are the main objectives for these? What shape will student-Ambassador interactions take outside of lecture time? If a student has a question related to Wikipedia, how should they communicate with the Campus Ambassador(s) about it? What form will Ambassador-instructor communication take throughout the academic term?


 * Campus Ambassadors' preparation responsibilities:
 * Actively participate in the Campus Ambassador training provided by the Wikimedia Foundation.
 * Browse through the educational materials, resources, and links provided by the Wikimedia Foundation to familiarize oneself with how Wikipedia assignments have worked in the past.
 * Meet with the course instructor and any other Campus Ambassador(s) paired up with the course before classes begin to go over class objectives, discuss plans, and clarify mutual expectations.


 * Level 1 Online Ambassadors' preparation responsibilities:
 * Actively participate in the Online Ambassador orientation provided by the Wikimedia Foundation.
 * Browse through the educational materials, resources, and links provided by the Wikimedia Foundation to familiarize oneself with how Wikipedia assignments have worked in the past.


 * Level 2 Online Ambassadors' preparation responsibilities:
 * Actively participate in the Online Ambassador orientation provided by the Wikimedia Foundation.
 * Browse through the educational materials, resources, and links provided by the Wikimedia Foundation to familiarize oneself with how Wikipedia assignments have worked in the past.

Assignment Design
Courses participating in the Wikipedia Global Education Program will assign students to make significant Wikipedia contributions. The assignment will be planned out, and described on the course page (see below), before the course begins. The sample syllabus and assignment design resources provided by the Wikimedia Foundation can be adapted to form the basis of the assignment, but need not be.

Designing the Wikipedia assignment and making final calls about the assignment is the responsibility of the instructor, although involving Campus Ambassadors in the process of assignment design is strongly recommended.

Course Page

 * Instructor's responsibilities:
 * Provide the course syllabus and a short description of the course to the Campus Ambassador(s).
 * Campus Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Create the class' course page on Wikipedia - include a brief description of the course, an overview of the Wikipedia assignment(s) in the course, and a detailed timeline indicating the milestones and due dates for the Wikipedia assignment(s), as provided by the instructor.
 * Level 1 Online Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Familiarize oneself with the content of the course page as soon as possible to get an overview of the Wikipedia assignment(s) as well as the timeline and due dates for the Wikipedia assignment(s), as provided by the instructor.

Support provided by the Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation will provide a variety of support resources in the Wikipedia Global Education Program to help professors effectively use Wikipedia as a teaching tool and to help students learn about Wikipedia. This support will come in various forms, including Wikipedia Ambassadors and online and printed materials. The Wikimedia Foundation can also provide high-quality resources and tips on assignment design, based on over a year of experience working with various professors on using Wikipedia as a teaching tool.

Course Page

 * Instructor's responsibilities:
 * Require all students to list their Wikipedia username to the course page, as soon as they have created their username.
 * Require all students to list what Wikipedia article they're working on to the course page, as soon as they have selected their article.
 * Campus Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Inform the instructor if students are behind schedule in listing their Wikipedia username and article.
 * Assign themselves as mentors to the students in a way that each CA has almost equal number of students assigned.
 * Reach out to students (they are mentoring) directly and make sure that they have updated course pages with Wikipedia username and article.

Introducing Students to Wikipedia

 * Instructor's responsibilities:
 * Require and remind students to create their Wikipedia username, create their Wikipedia user page, practice editing, select their Wikipedia article topic, and complete other initial Wikipedia assignments as described in the syllabus.
 * Campus Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Do in-class presentations (and/or outside-the-class labs) that introduce students to Wikipedia, at a time pre-determined with the course instructor.
 * Respond to students' questions as soon as possible (within no more than 48 hours) if students ask you a Wikipedia question in-person, on-wiki, over email, or over phone.
 * Level 1 Online Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Place a welcome template on all students' user talk pages, as soon as students have created their username.
 * Place the project banner on the discussion page of all students' selected articles, as soon as students have selected their article.
 * Refer more advanced questions (that you cannot answer) to a Level 2 Online Ambassador, by emailing the Level 2 Online Ambassador queue.
 * Level 2 Online Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Answer questions sent to the Level 2 Online Ambassador queue as soon as you can. If another Level 2 Online Ambassador already answered a question adequately, do not respond to the same question.

Supporting Students in Writing Articles

 * Instructor's responsibilities:
 * Require and remind students to follow the assignment deadlines as described in the syllabus.
 * Campus Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Do in-class presentations (and/or outside-the-class labs) that explain Wikipedia-editing to students, at a time pre-determined with the course instructor.
 * Respond to students' questions as soon as possible (within no more than 48 hours) if students ask you a Wikipedia question in-person, on-wiki, over email, or over phone.
 * Level 1 Online Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Provide feedback on all students' work on Wikipedia, via the articles' discussion page.
 * Refer more advanced questions (that you cannot answer) to a Level 2 Online Ambassador, by emailing the Level 2 Online Ambassador queue.
 * Level 2 Online Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Answer questions sent to the Level 2 Online Ambassador queue as soon as you can. If another Level 2 Online Ambassador already answered a question adequately, do not respond to the same question.
 * If a student's question requires lengthy support (for example, how to nominate an article for Good Article status, or how to deal with a deletion nomination), communicate directly with the student to help him/her through the process. Inform the Level 1 Online Ambassador(s) that you are doing so.
 * Identify student articles that are eligible for Did You Know status, inform the relevant students, and help them through the nomination process. Inform other pod members if a student's article is being nominated for Did You Know and when any student article is scheduled to appear on the front page of Wikipedia.

IRC (Chatroom) Office Hours

 * Instructor's responsibilities:
 * Encourage and remind students to ask their Wikipedia questions on IRC.
 * Level 1 Online Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Be fully available to answer students' questions on IRC, at a pre-specified "office hours" time each week.
 * Outside the pre-specified "office hours" time each week, be available to answer students' questions on IRC whenever you have time.
 * Level 2 Online Ambassadors' responsibilities:
 * Be fully available to answer students' questions on IRC, at a pre-specified "office hours" time each week.
 * Outside the pre-specified "office hours" time each week, be available to answer students' questions on IRC whenever you have time.

Communication - in general

 * Instructor's communication responsibilities:
 * Inform the Campus Ambassador(s) if any changes to the syllabus occur during the academic term.
 * Inform the Campus Ambassador(s) whenever new students sign up or students leave the course.
 * Contact the [Regional Coordinator] if any problems arise with pod members.


 * Campus Ambassadors' communication responsibilities:
 * Send three short written reports to the Wikipedia Ambassadors (India) mailing list throughout the academic term:
 * Report 1, to be sent after your first in-class Wikipedia presentation/session: describe how the session went, students' reactions to the Wikipedia assignment and to the session, and general information about what the Wikipedia assignment will look like in the class
 * Report 2, to be sent at the midpoint of the academic term: describe how the class is doing (overall) with regards to the Wikipedia assignment, what students are liking about the assignment and what challenges they face, what the professor is liking and disliking, and general learning points from the first half of the academic term
 * Report 3, to be sent at the end of academic term: describe what students have accomplished over the academic term (overall), how students have changed/progressed over the academic term as a result of the Wikipedia assignment, and general learning points from the academic term
 * NOTE: Feel free to add additional information not mentioned above to these reports
 * Participate in check-in's with your [Regional Coordinator] during the academic term.
 * Respond to pod members' questions/comments quickly.


 * Level 1 Online Ambassadors' communication responsibilities:
 * Send monthly updates to the [Regional Coordinator] about students' overall on-wiki progress. Send updates more frequently if students' on-wiki activities are particularly busy or in need of attention.
 * Inform the rest of the pod if problems arise with students, or with students' interactions with other editors.
 * Respond to pod members' questions/comments quickly.