Mozilla is trying a new approach to scaling our community: Events nicknamed "Train the Trainers." The idea here is that we are not teaching QA skills directly -- we are teaching volunteer community members how to recruit other volunteers who would be well-suited to QA, how to recognize QA-relevant skills in volunteers, and how to train QA volunteers in Mozillian habits.

This is the space where we collect QA sessions to be offered at these "Train the Trainers" events. Ultimately, we'd like to collect these sessions into Webmaker teaching kits, so that they can be distributed worldwide, wherever "Train the Trainers" events are being held. Initial list of resources is being gathered on this etherpad.

Notes from previous meetings are linked here:

• 2014-08-06
• 2014-07-15
• 2014-07-22

Suggested sessions are below. One etherpad is available for collaboration and brainstorming, and another for QA-relevant people to invite. Wiki formatting is encouraged on the etherpads; results will be ported back to this page from them as necessary.

First Session = what is QA?

• can't assume everyone is technical, need to be able to define QA, explain why it's impt, how it fits into the larger picture
• high level understanding of development process, how QA fits in this
• tell the story of how QA interacts with projects/teams
• explain QA *without* using any technical jargon

Who are QA?

• identify different teams
• identify the different types of QA work they do
• create a spectrum handout identifying all easiest -> hardest tasks, make it so people can match interest with skills, know what they HAVE to know in order to succeed, also list what they can learn?
• goal is to give something tangible to each Rep so they can look at the spectrum, identify where the contributor lands [interest crossed with current skills] and point them to contacting the team/Getting involved

Finding people and information

• Finding info on QMO
• Finding info on the Wiki (Which wiki? What do you mean there are three of them?)
• Search tools
• Finding work to do: teams/One and Done/nightly
• general tips for finding answers @ Mozilla: search first, check other people's work for similarities, asking good questions
• How to get more involved:
  • Finding people in IRC
  • joining mailing lists

How to identify a good potential tester

• Characteristics we look for: https://etherpad.mozilla.org/aLMddunZRV
• Questions to reveal intellectual/technical curiosity
• Getting good answers from coders
• Getting good answers from non-coders
• Getting curious together
• How well does the person understand our mission, online communities, and how to engage people along a semi-structured pathway that leads them to being stronger and more confident community stewards

Sorting volunteers by interest and motivation

• Some work has been done on this at https://wiki.mozilla.org/User:Kthiessen/Projects/Community/Contributor_Motivations
• Also, https://wiki.mozilla.org/QA/Services/Contribute#.22Sorting_hat.22_questions
• How to spot potential mentoring volunteers?

Developing locally relevant resources

• Internationalization and localization
• Multi-lingual discussions and meetings
• Training using local websites/software
• Cultural and national sensitivity/awareness
• Talk to Reps about this? (mbrandt)

Leveling up

• See one, do one, teach one: casual, active, core
• Community stewardship and the pairing process: Mentorship within the volunteer community
• How to look for conversion points

Working in the Open

• http://openmatt.org/2011/04/06/how-to-work-open/
• Ask questions on IRC instead of in email
• QA-specific: Bugzilla is more than email.

Links to Previous QA Presentations

• Mozilla Under the Hood: http://www.slideshare.net/mozillamarcia/mozilla-under-the-hood-1257014
• Mozilla Crash Reporting and Analysis: http://www.slideshare.net/mozillamarcia/crash-analysis-and-reporting

Ideas for Potential Invites

• https://etherpad.mozilla.org/TrainersNominations