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''This page '''is still a draft''' mode. Comments and contributions encouraged.''
==Overview==
=== Vision Intro ===Working with computer science, design and business schools around the world, we aim to create learning opportunities for a new generation of Mozilla community members ''and'' help to drive a new wave of participatory, student-led learning.
=== Context ===
In 2009, we plan to run experimental programs aimed at overcoming these challenges. If we can make progress, there may be a case for Mozilla to more actively promote and scale its efforts in the education field.
==Strategy==
=== Vision ===
Working with computer science, design and business schools around the world, we aim to create learning opportunities for a new generation of Mozilla community members ''and'' help to drive a new wave of participatory, student-led learning.
===Strategy Scribble (aka Theory of Change)===
The following diagram provides an overview of how we plan to pursue this vision:
<add diagram this afternoon<
The elements of this diagram are written our on more detail below.
===Goal: Big Picture===
At the broadest level, Mozilla Education is focused promoting the strategies outlined in the [http://www.mozilla.org/about/manifesto Mozilla Manifesto]. In particular the aim is to ...
<blockquote>Make openness, participation and distributed decision-making more common experiences in Internet life</blockquote>
This is [http://blog.lizardwrangler.com/2009/01/05/integrated-revised-2010-goals/ one of four goals] that Mozilla is aiming to meet by 2010.
===Objectives: Education Program===
We want more and more people to ...
# Understand and use (Mozilla's?) open source work methods
# Learn about and build with open web and Mozilla technologies
# Participate in Mozilla and other open source projects
These ojectives are designed to contribute to the larger goal outlined above.
===Possible Bonus Effects===
In addition to these objectives, we're also hoping that Mozilla Education will result in:
# Pool of high quality Mozilla open courseware
# New participatory learning model built around contributing to open source projects
# Large number of professors skilled at integrating open source prjects and methods into their teaching.
These things aren't our core motivations, but they are still important and useful outcomes to shoot for.
===2009 Activities===
We are planning a number pilot activities for 2009. These include:
# ''' Seneca Expansion / Virtual Seneca' offering Mozilla learning resources and support to students everywhere.
# '''Madrid Summer Course''' at URJC, establishing the first formal Mozilla course beyond Seneca and establishing an educational foundation in Europe.
# '''Online Mozilla Courses''' that provide learning and engagement opportunities directly to potential Mozilla contributors.
# '''education.mozilla.org''' where all Mozilla courseware and learning information can be found.
Each of these is described in more detail in the 'pilots' section below. There is even more detail on related pages for each activity.
=== Questions? ===
We have a broad thesis about how Mozilla can contribute to and benefit from engagement with the world of education:
<blockquote>Systematically creating opportunities for students and other learners to immerse themselves in Mozilla projects will a) produce rich learning outcomes for the participants and b) garner new ideas and contributors for Mozilla. Over time, this will contribute to the broad adoption of participatory learning approaches based on involvement in open source communities.</blockquote>
These are big ideas. We can't test fully test them in one go. However, we can ask a number of questions over the coming months that will help us understand whether this is an area worth a significant investment of time and money:
# Can we [http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Main_Page replicate something roughly similar to our Seneca experience], getting another college or university to run community-based Mozilla courses, or is Seneca a unique case? If we can, how much time and resources are required?
# Can we leverage skills, knowledge and other resources at Seneca to create a sustainable platform that students everywhere can use to learn with and contribute to Mozilla? If yes, will students use it?
# Can we accelerate our efforts in education by setting up our own online courses for Mozilla volunteers and others? If so, do we get good participation and learning outcomes?
# Will more students and professors use Mozilla educational materials if we create and promote a single place where they can be found (education.mozilla.org)? What if we promote these materials on [http://cnx.org other] [http://www.oercommons.org courseware] [http://www.curriki.org portals]?
Our plan for the first three quarters of 2009 is to start running real programs at a modest scale to help us answer these questions. Towards the end of 2009 we will evaluate to see if we should go further.
== 2009 pilots and experiments ==
Prior to 2009, the primary Mozilla activity related to education was financial and staff support of Mozilla-related activities at Seneca College. Our proposed plan for 2009 is to expand the scope of Foundation activities through a series of pilots and experiments related to Mozilla education. These include:
* '''Expanding Seneca Expansion / Virtual Seneca' The aim here is to expand Mozilla-related mentorship, online community and infrastructure at Seneca''' to support faculty and students elsewhere, making it easier for more people to 'study with Mozilla' and start their own small scale courses. * '''Establishing Madrid Summer Course'''. Working with UJRC in Madrid, we will establish a prototype Mozilla course at a European university''' to see whether it's possible to run Mozilla education programs in formal academic settings other than Seneca. * '''Developing online Online Mozilla Community Courses.''', providing These community based courses will provide Mozilla volunteers and other interested learners with an easy way to study topics like community management, open web technologies and community marketing. * '''Piloting 'education.mozilla.org' '''We will pilot this site as a central place for course-friendly Mozilla resources and other materials relevant to education. This will leverage and promote existing and emerging Mozilla Education materials.
Most of these activities are very Mozilla-specific -- our immediate goal is to better understand how Mozilla can contribute and benefit in the education space. However, the aim is not to do this alone or in isolation. [http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/ OSS Watch], [http://www.redhat.com/solutions/education/academy/ Red Hat] and many others are also trying to make links between open source and higher education. We plan to work closely with these other initiatives wherever possible, collectively helping to create new participatory learning models based on involvement in open source communities.
This will be an initial experiment in Mozilla education in Europe, and will test the concept of a hybrid course combining classroom and online instruction. It may be possible to make this course partly self sufficient financially.
=== Online Mozilla Community Courses - Online ===
The [[Foundation:Planning:Education:CommunityCourses| Community Courses]] initiative will create an ongoing series of online courses on topics where Mozilla a) has expertise and b) needs more skilled contributors. For the pilot phase, the approach would include:
