WT Academy Update

Question

Hi WikiTreers!

Now that the WikiTree Academy has been out for a bit, I thought I might share some quick stats as of this morning.

• 272 members have created accounts on the Academy.
• 186 members enrolled in the first public course, New Member How-To.
• 68 members completed the New Member How-To course and  received a shiny little reward (an Academy Badge).

Have you had a chance to try out the Academy? Any questions, suggestions, or feedback?

Or maybe you would like to be involved in the Academy? We are currently recruiting members for Project:WikiTree Academy. Project members can assist with a number of items, such as:

• Review/test courses before they are released to the public.
• Review/approve course creation requests.
• Review courses after any system updates, new feature additions, or policy changes to identify any potential edits needed.
• Assist "Teachers" with general course creation, settings, and administration.

Comments

Note: Membership in Project:WikiTree Academy is not needed in order to create or participate in courses.

If you would like to sign up and take a course:

• Go to https://academy.wikitree.com
• Click the 'Log In / Create Account' link at the top right of the page, and then clicking the 'Sign Up Now' link and complete the verification process.
• Once signed in, click on the Courses menu, and then select 'All Courses' to see those available.

The Academy does not have access to your WikiTree email or password, so you will need to create a new account at the Academy.

If you would like to create a course:

• Go to https://academy.wikitree.com
• Log into your account
• Click on the Courses menu, and then select 'Request a New Course'

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On a less serious note, is there any plan to implement Academy Badge tracking in WikiTree.main?

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There have been a few discussions surrounding this, but nothing finalized yet.

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How can that be done if different logins are used by the Academy? They don't have to be part of Wikitree and don't have to use their Wikitree Info?

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@Linda - Magic :)

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Can’t see the courses without having to join are they on a FSP somewhere with a list of the content covered and the llearning outcomes?

Ann

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Ann, there is currently a single course, which is titled "New Member How-To." The learning outcome is a gentle introduction to the main features of WikiTree, and it was written by Steve, and I believe Eowyn.

It's very easy to sign up to the academy and look at the course list, and the course descriptions, and it is free.

Brad

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The course list is accessible without signing in. Open the drop-down menu "Courses v" from the top bar of the Academy front web page, then select "All courses". A brief description of the one currently existing course will be shown.

Edited to add: The front page has changed: the course list is now permanently visible.

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Thank you for that info. I was hoping that there was an info page you could go to first that told you everything.
Can you put a better description  on the page. It says 6 easy to flow topics but no list of them.
Regards,

Ann

Answer 1

Thanks for the update Steve, Are there any new courses that we may see in the future?

Comments

We are hoping for a bunch of new courses!

Currently in progress:

• WikiTree Projects
• Trans Canada Trail
• Introduction to Writing a Narrative Biography

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Soon to be currently in progress:

• Getting involved Beyond Your Branches

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Oh!  I like the sound of this one!!

Answer 2

This is great. I hope it'll become a central part of new user onboarding.

I can already imagine ways it will be of immense value, effectively making many help pages interactive. I think it will also be a great way to stretch limited mentor and trail guide resources.

One killer use case I thought of, going through the NEWT training. It will be much easier to one-time generate multi-language training materials (I'm thinking specifically for French and Spanish) than it is to find dedicated multilingual mentors and guides. This is a constant issue for us with the Canada project, and Mexico (and Latin American) projects. I'd love to make WikiTree more regionally accessible and this could really help!

I would happily help to develop, or proofread, or field test any other modules for this project.

Comments

Thanks Brad!

I hope it'll become a central part of new user onboarding.

We are working on some of those details now. In the future, new members will be invited to participate in the Academy NMHT course to learn more about the site and how to start contributing.

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One killer use case I thought of, going through the NEWT training. It will be much easier to one-time generate multi-language training materials (I'm thinking specifically for French and Spanish) than it is to find dedicated multilingual mentors and guides. This is a constant issue for us with the Canada project, and Mexico (and Latin American) projects. I'd love to make WikiTree more regionally accessible and this could really help!

That is definitely something I am excited to see myself! The site supports multilingual operations, we have just not yet had a volunteer willing to help translate.

Answer 3

Can we have a list of who is teaching what please?

Ann

Comments

but there is that perception and I know quite a few people have been upset by it.  It is an issue that needs dealing with and we need to send a clear message to the community.

Let me know how I can help with that!

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I suppose the only way that you can help is making it clear that there is no threat when when comments are made on G2G threads, and making it plain on any infomation pages on WikiTree.  As England Leaders we are trying to send out a message to our trailblazers that there is no threat.

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Perhaps it would help if the Academy insignia was not a hiker. I am sure there are other types of explorers that could be used instead.

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That is a badge image for completing a specific course (New Member How-To - which is also referred to as a New Member Trail). The hiker represents "Exploring WikiTree".

The Academy has it's own logo.

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My point was that the image is a Hiker, and it is called a New Member “Trail”. Taken together, they could result in the perception that the training program is intended to replace Projects’ Trails.

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In the Canada trail, if anyone asks, we're going to tell them that Academy courses can be integrated into the trail at the discretion of the guides, and that these materials will especially be useful to new members. In a lot of ways this is going to make our job as guides easier (and this is not to even mention the largest proportion of Wikitree members who don't take the trail).

We're also excited to work with the Academy to eventually develop materials that will illustrate complex, trail specific topics as teaching aids for our guides. For instance, I've emailed so many screen grabs and copy-pasted so many named citation examples, and numbered list examples it'd be amazing to have a fifteen minute interactive worksheet instead.

I think it's up to all of us together to communicate clearly if anyone is repeating a half-heard a rumor and generating agitation. And to reiterate how much opportunity there is here for all of us to collaborate to benefit the community.

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As an aside, the logo of the academy isn't a hiker. It's a wikitree logo with a graduation cap. It's not a new member "Trail", it's a "New Member How-To" (the name and content is taken pretty directly from existing help pages).

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:New_Member_How-To

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The image at the top of this page is that of a hiker, with hiking stick and rucksack.  A hiker.  Not a mortar board.

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@Melanie, you are correct. Located right next to the text about the Academy Badge members are receiving when completing the course.

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Brad, please re-read what Steve said 

New Member How-To - which is also referred to as a New Member Trail

Answer 4

Will all "Academy" courses be offered online via software, or will any include interactive instructors? Or put another way, are they all envisioned to be on-demand vs. say, with a live instructor?

Comments

That entirely depends on how the creator of the course sets it up!

The Academy offers a variety of ways of creating content - through self-paced courses, or interactive sessions. It also supports blended learning where you can switch between online and face-to-face (not literal - but like trails do now with personal guides) types of learning.

And even better, it supports a combination of all of the above!

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As someone experienced in developing courseware with the software the Academy is using, I can say that what Steve says is correct. Courses can have provide interaction with real people. Different types of courses will have different requirements and a lot of very basic ones don't really need them. Other courses will definitely need them. The combination approach will likely become common.

Answer 5

I've joined the Academy. I created and delivered lots of training courses during my career, and I'd be happy to help out with the project.

Answer 6

Just completed the WikiTree Academy New Member How-To Course and thought it was great. It helped me understand some of the source/citation things waaaay better. Much appreciated!!