Webmaker/WebLiteracyMap/v2/interviews/themes

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From: https://teach.etherpad.mozilla.org/weblitmap2

A list of themes from interviews with stakeholders, organised as a SWOT analysis. The list of interviews can be found here. Suggestions in bold were significant themes, discussed in this blog post.

Strengths

  • Three strands approach works well
  • Broad overview of landscape
  • Raw material from which to build curricula
  • Visualisation of the map at webmaker.org/resources
  • Holistic (other standards - e.g. ISTE - too narrow)
  • Living document - updated as the web evolves
  • Having one place to go to for resources around a particular area of web literacy
  • Community created, feels like something people can have a say in how it develops
  • More accessible to 'non-techies'
  • Doesn't feel like there's anything obviously missing
  • Helps gives words to things not well-named - common, shared vocabulary
    • Stops endless arguments/discussions about definitions
  • Something that works that comes from a trusted brand (Mozilla)
  • Verbs keep it active and focus on making/doing
  • Not 'too much' in the competency-level view to make it feel daunting
  • Discover / Make / Teach taxonomy on competency pages makes sense
  • Reflects interactive learning process (Aggregate-Remix-Repurpose-Feed Forward)
  • Shows that literacy isn't about grammar, but communication
  • Helps users create a mental model of what being literate in the online world is all about
  • Situates events and activities within wider landscape - shows what it means to 'teach the web'
  • Good conversation-starter
  • Colour coding makes it attractive
  • Copy at top of each of the resources page
  • Allows organisations to 'map' their work onto Mozilla's / Hive Networks'
  • Sense-check to ensure people haven't missed anything (e.g. schools / after-school clubs / Grow Mozilla)
  • Useful for parents, teachers and HR
  • No giant gaping holes.
  • Visual helps people 'get' web literacy (e.g. during presentations)
  • Explains that web literacy is not just about learning to code
  • Sets the stage and broader intellectual context for why this stuff matters
  • Introduces context to literacy - not like 'dog training'
  • Defines a big enough tent for everyone to find a place, without losing focus
  • Includes language anyone can relate to
  • Useful for getting people to think about the 'totality of interactions with the web'
  • Avoids tendency to slip back into 'print media' way of thinking when teaching the web
  • Balance between technical and social elements
  • Shows at a glance what we're teaching
  • People trust Mozilla brand
  • Evolved in the open
  • Cleanly and clearly laid-out
  • The copy on the competency pages is good
  • Colour-coding on Web Literacy Map
  • More obvious than the front page of webmaker.org
  • Current terminology fine for mentors - even if they haven't got much experience with the web
  • Useful for structuring interviews with Mozilla Reps


Weaknesses

  • 'Connecting' (strand) sounds a bit too surface-level
  • Change name of third column (MS suggests 'Participating')
  • Cross-cutting themes/lenses (e.g. Identity, Mobile, Accessibility)
  • Offline stuff (e.g. connecting to wifi, local servers)
  • Focus less on localisation and more on local content
  • Overwhelming when presented to n00bs
  • 'Messiness' of web literacy - competencies seem too clear-cut
  • Overlapping circles have been suggested
  • Links to other kinds of new literacies
  • Additional terms to reference:
    • Algorithms
    • Big Data
    • Cloud
  • Opportunity to remix for a particular context and share with community - merge back (like GitHub)
  • Doesn't really look like a 'map' at the moment
  • Toolkits to really 'sink your teeth' into one of the competencies
  • 'Episodic' rather than 'systemic' (e.g. talks about 'how to decode URLs' but not about the syntax of addressing or the architecture of the internet in general)
  • Tends to focus on lower elements of Bloom's Taxonomy rather than the higher elements
  • Competency as 'collection of skills' is too narrow - needs to include something like 'habits of mind'/ 'values' / 'objectives' (i.e. not just doing stuff, but determining what's important and what's not)
  • Lacking rhetorical components - covers actions, but not intentions (e.g. storytelling)
  • Not obvious how to put together the resources/activities into a meaningful pathway (e.g. at an event)
  • Connecting strand should talk more about safe social media practices and 'personal branding'
  • Doesn't really focus on 'attention'
  • Could be expanded in terms of participation and collaboration
  • Lacking audience definition
    • Not obvious what the 'most important' areas are in a given context
    • Mentors need to see the Web Literacy map, but end users don't - they should enter through (e.g.) 'how to turn on private browsing' - start from where they are. Entry points can be areas of interest, or current issues/zeitgeist
    • Push the Web Literacy Map firmly onto the 'Mentor' side
  • Needs better framing to show these skills aren't purely digital
  • Feels right to westerners in developed countries, but too academic and westerny to next billion users of the web? What are the skills needed at the bottom of the pyramid?
  • Doesn't show why these skills are important - e.g. getting a job / better outcomes
  • Perhaps need more, or a different approach to 'E-Safety'. Could resurrect 'Protecting' strand but focus on keeping yourself / others / the web safe?
  • Missing 'being creative on the web' and conceptualisation of self, which comes before other stuff. Not included in Remixing or Coding/scripting.
  • Difficult to curate resources for the 'Exploring' strand as it currently stands.
  • Some topics/areas (e.g. tagging) clearly cross all three strands
  • Looks sequential and rigid - perhaps different 'projections' (like Mercator, Peters). Could acknowledge complexity through overlapping circles?
  • Too much nesting at webmaker.org/resources - easy to lose your place. Breadcrumbing?
  • A bit geeky/frightening to generalist audiences (incl. teachers)
  • Lacking stuff around 'curation'
  • Not enough about accessibility in 'Design/Accessibility'
  • Grids are an easy way to represent things on-screen, but reality is a lot more complicated and intertwined
  • Missing discussions of gender and power
  • Seems a bit arbitrary to separate 'Security' and 'Privacy' - how about 'Network Architecture'?
  • Makes explicit effort to take the web as the platform for communications and participation through media
  • Not well-situated within wider discourse
  • Doesn't include anything about internet governance / policy issues
  • 'Navigation' not a popular competency with people running Maker Parties
  • Difficulty of finding the original make in Webmaker gallery
  • 'Open Practices' doesn't go deeply enough into licensing


Opportunities

  • Incorporate Laura's Web Literacy pathways prototype
  • Badges - should be obvious links
  • Better, more visible forums for discussion
  • More welcoming to translators/localisers (can feel lost/frustrated)
    • Badges for translation
  • Talking points so people can explain the WebLitMap to others easily
  • Generic document that can be hacked/customised introducing the Web Literacy Map and how it can be used - e.g. Badge Alliance's Campus Policy document
  • Add a 'Remix' button to the Web Literacy Map (similar to Webmaker Tools)
  • Case studies with real-world examples of people who have improved skills/competencies
  • Clicking on a competency reveals a short description. Clicking 'learn more' takes to competency page. Breadcrumbs allow you to get back to overview easily.
  • Change the representation of the map. Suggestions have included:
    • Make it look like an actual map
    • Overlapping circles showing some of the complexity (not clear cut boxes)
  • Contributing to the development of the Web Literacy Map could be badged.
  • Can use big events (e.g. iCloud celebrity leak) to focus on particular competencies
  • Webmaker Tools should link to the Web Literacy Map (show that they're based on research / user needs)
  • Extend tagging through Webmaker resources to (for example) AppMaker
  • Could integrate with Firefox (under the hood)
  • Improve visibility of skills underpinning each competency (easy to miss)
  • Need to speak to mobile context (next billion web users) - what are the unique challenges?
  • Re-launch with advocacy agenda - speak to those with mandate/appetite (e.g. governments, NGOs)
  • Sounds a looks very serious - opportunity to make it more fun and geared towards makers
  • Situating learners by starting with what they know - questionnaire? Buzzfeed-like quiz?
  • Case studies with real people who have learned that skill/competency - perhaps like http://personas.webmakerprototypes.org
  • Could have multiple versions of the map with interest-driven language that speaks to particular contexts
  • Add Internet of Things-related stuff? Would help demystify 'The Cloud'
  • Scaffolding learning (learning pathways)
  • Ways for the community to get involved in the Web Literacy Map (voting things up, etc.)
  • Add the WebLitMapper to webmaker.org to surface useful resources not on webmaker.org: http://weblitmapper.webmakerprototypes.org
  • Re-visit fourth column (Protecting)? Fits closer to Mozilla's outward mission
  • Contextualisation - what's related or pre-supposed by the map? We should link to it. Examples:
    • Connecting to wifi securely
    • Dealing with/embracing/using ambiguity and discomfort
    • Permanent beta
    • Growth mindsets
    • Social/emotional learning (e.g. anti-bullying)
  • Badges should be on competency pages
  • Link to other curricula - e.g. MIT Scratch guide
  • Learner dashboard - c.f. Jess Klein's Webmaker+ work
  • Add levels / structure so people can work through it? (e.g. for n00bs: Navigation / Search / Remixing / Sharing)
  • 'Fog of war' that gradually reveals more of the map? Make the link between the WebLitMap and skill attainment more concrete
  • Link to wider ways to get involved with Mozilla ('Get Involved' page: https://www.mozilla.org/contribute )
  • Reference the Mozilla mission explicitly
  • Link to more Open Source community stuff - e.g. Open Hatch's missions: http://openhatch.org/missions/
  • Tiered engagement to knowledge to scaffold attention?
  • Include simple exercises based on the what time people have - e.g. 5 mins / 20 mins / 1 hour
  • Talk specifically about the Commons - net neutrality, extension of copyright laws, spam, privacy and commercial tracking, trolls/harrassment/bullying, misinformation
  • Help people form cultural/societal norms around technology / the web
  • Focus on overwhelming people with how amazing the web is. Make it fun.
  • Build personas to serve across Webmaker
  • Build cultural empathy - surface the 'long tail' of the web as the differentiator to (e.g.) Facebook
  • Web Literacy Map as the 'glue' to hold Webmaker together
  • Link to STEM education iniatives
  • Make it even more textbook-like so people can dive in and out (and know what comes before/next). 'Resources' is too nebulous - can mean tools or skills. Contrast with WebLitMapper approach.
  • Suggest places for people to start
  • Use Super Mentors as curators for each competency page? Localised resources?
  • Mention libraries as a IRL place to go to improve skills
  • Surface the research behind each competency (both why important and why resources chosen)
  • Could choose competencies based on:
    • Basic digital citizenship - i.e. what everyone should know
    • Profession-specific skills
    • Technical specialism
  • 'Map' suggests exploration - could surface this a bit more
  • Create a 'Facebook literacy map' and be the opposite
  • Security could actually be a whole category (strand) by itself - could put 'Credibility' and 'Privacy' underneath it?
  • Clicking on competency should make it fold out like an accordion
  • Firefox = default browser in French schools, so Mozilla name well known - opportunity for Webmaker + badges?
  • 'Remix' is foundational to Webmaker.org - make foundational to the WebLitMap? Encourage people to remix the map itself?
  • Link to Doug's 'Essential Elements of Digital Literacies' work
  • Add a comments board or link to Discourse to discuss the WebLitMap itself
  • Lots of people looking to make their first web page - how do we address that?
  • Link badges to things done - 'smooth pathways'
  • Funnel people off by interest - e.g. OpenNews / OpenScience
  • Weave potential 'Protection' strand through other competencies - e.g. 'Design/Accessibility' could include stripping EXIF data out of photos
  • Change description of 'Privacy' competency to 'Exploring the consequences and benefits of sharing online'?
  • Include 'foundational competencies'? e.g. http://bit.ly/YBdkhN
  • Tagging (using WebLitMap competencies) and badges could be 'glue' between Mentor and Learner views of webmaker.org
  • Firefox could be an 'opinionated' web browser that could intervene as an advocate on a user's behalf. There could be a 'guided mode' that help improve web literacy 'out in the wild'.


Threats

  • Attempting to cram too much into the Web Literacy Map could lead to scope creep and confusion
  • Disconnect with formal education systems (see as 'other')
  • Adding buzzwords or specific technologies would make it out-of-date sooner
  • Translations of 'competency' and 'literacy' problematic in some languages
  • North America / Europe-centric at the moment. Does this represent Web Literacy globally?
  • Move to 'lenses' could be problematic as emphasises that there's some kind of 'reality' for us to look at.
  • Lacking audience definition, so chance doesn't fully appeal to any particular group
  • Main way to access the Web Literacy Map is under 'Resources', which is confusing
  • WebDev skills mixed together with broader skillset - audience definition?
  • Picking out 'mobile' as a separate competency would kind of go against Mozilla's position that 'the web is the platform'
  • Don't go too wide or too deep - focus on what everyone basically needs to know
  • Presupposes that user already sees the value in the technical domain described
  • Efficacy depends on subject matter - non-linear pathways don't always work well
  • Scope creep if we try and include offline and 'softer' skills
  • Representing the landscape in 2D means some things get distorted and squashed
  • No obvious flow (e.g. map - resourecs - activities - badges)
  • Lacking quality control r.e. complexity around Discover / Make / Teach across competencies
  • Security and Privacy often seen as pinnacle of digital skillset - how do we avoid this?
  • Shoudn't fetishise the technologies - instead, focus on commonalities. For example, not 'mobile' but 'devices that know your location'. Threat modelling.
  • Would be easy to dilute the map's 'strong understanding of tech'. Important to maintain this.
  • Needs much better localization strategy
  • Webmaker.org/literacy is difficult to navigate - add clickable map at the top?
  • Version 1.1 of the WebLitMap focuses on what's accessible via the web browser - is this still a good enough scope?
  • Mozilla wiki version of the Web Literacy Map often shows up first via search engines
  • Version control - people need to know how up to date things are (and which version they're aligning with)
  • Wenger's framework for building value in online interactions says that we need need self-disclosure to build community maturity - balance with Privacy?
  • Separate maps would lead people to say that a particular map doesn't well-describe their context
  • Focus on specific technologies - learners need to find ways to 'abstract away' or genericise
  • Revealing complexity of web literacy could end up with a 'plate of spaghetti'.
  • We don't currently include why the web's worth being literate in. We don't 'sell' it.
  • Can scare people off by talking about the 'darker' side of the web too early
  • Make the language even simpler - Up Goer Five? http://splasho.com/upgoer5/


People / orgs we should be reaching out to

  • Academics (citations)
  • After-school clubs/groups
  • AmeriCorps / Peace Corps
  • Aspen Institute
  • Code.org
  • CoderDojo
  • Code Club
  • Common Sense Media
  • Community Centres
  • CSEdWeek/code.org & their partners
  • DIY.org
  • Edutopia
  • Hive Networks
  • HR departments in large orgs
  • IRA (International Reading Association)
  • Knight Foundation
  • MDN
  • National Day of Civic Hacking
  • NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English)
  • NWP (National Writing Project) - Connected Learning folks
  • OER community
  • School districts - need advice on configuring firewalls properly
  • State education departments
  • UK Computing curriculum (schools + CAS)
  • UNESCO Youth Mobile
  • Unions
  • Workforce/industry
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