2025:Program/Beyond barnstars - What learning recognition systems are meaningful for Wikimedians?
Session title: Beyond barnstars - What learning recognition systems are meaningful for Wikimedians?
- Session type: Workshop - 85 minutes
- Track: Community Engagement
- Language: en
đ„Session recording: https://w.wiki/FDhUđ„
As the Wikimedia movement expands learning opportunities, how we recognize learning achievements matters. This session explores WikiLearnâs certification system to foster alignment on best practices for learning recognition across the movement. What makes a certificate meaningful? How do these recognitions support community growth and sustainability? How can Wikimedians apply these principles to their own capacity-building efforts?
This interactive session is designed for Wikimedia trainers, representatives from affiliates and partner organizations, and Wikimedians enthusiastic about capacity buildingâespecially those interested in using WikiLearn. Through guided hands-on activities, we will:
- Build a shared understanding of what learning certificates mean for the Wikimedia movement. - Evaluate WikiLearnâs existing process for certifications and badges. - Identify opportunities to remix, exchange, and scale learning recognition models.
Description
This session explores how learning recognitionsâsuch as certifications and badgesâcan meaningfully support skill development, motivation, and retention within the Wikimedia movement. Focusing on WikiLearnâs certification system, participants will assess current practices, remix existing models, and strengthen their own capacity-building efforts. The way we recognize learning achievements must reflect contributors' skills and be valued within and beyond the movement. By critically reviewing WikiLearnâs recognition system, this session aims to align best practices, ensuring certifications are both meaningful and adaptableâsupporting individual growth, community engagement, and broader career development of Wikimedians. This session is ideal for Wikimedia trainers, affiliate and partner organizations, and anyone interested in capacity building - especially those interested in engaging with WikiLearn. Participants will: - Develop a shared understanding of learning certifications in the movement, their purpose, and the systems involved. - Evaluate existing recognition systems, focusing on WikiLearn, to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement. - Build on key insights to apply in their own capacity-building efforts. Connection to Wikimania 2025âs theme: Inclusivity â By aligning learning certification practices with concrete needs, we ensure that more contributors can gain recognitions that are meaningful and accessible. Impact â A trusted, well-designed certification system enhances engagement, skill-building, and long-term retention. This session will help define what makes certification valuable and how it can support individual development. Sustainability â Effective learning certifications must be adaptable and scalable. Critically approaching the quality standards, instructional design, and best practices of WikiLearnâs certification system we can maintain a cohesive system to learning recognition across the movement.
Session activities and outcomes: This interactive session will encourage participants to critique and co-create ideas for strengthening learning recognitions within WikiLearn and beyond based on community needs. Activities will include: - Visualizing Learning Journeys â Participants map out different contributor journeys, identifying where meaningful learning recognition plays a role for motivation, engagement, and capacity building. - Certification Remix â In small groups, participants assess the existing WikiLearn certification system and are encouraged to remix or adapt elements based on their particular community contexts. - Future-Proofing Challenge â A rapid ideation exercise where participants design flexible and scalable learning recognition models that align from local to global with movement-wide goals.
By the end of the session, participants will have: - Collaboratively validated key elements of WikiLearnâs certification system, identifying strengths, gaps, and opportunities for evolving. - Applied key insights to enhance their own capacity-building initiatives with meaningful and practical learning recognitions.
- How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 â Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
Inclusivity â Learning recognitions should be aligned with the diverse ways people contribute to Wikimedia projects. By aligning certification practices with concrete needs, we ensure that more contributors - especially those in underrepresented communities - gain recognitions that are meaningful and accessible. Impact â A trusted, well-designed certification system enhances engagement, skill-building, and long-term retention. This session will help define what makes certification valuable and how it can support individual development. Sustainability â Effective learning certifications must be adaptable and scalable. Discussing quality standards, instructional design, and best practices from WikiLearnâs certification system will help create a cohesive approach to learning recognition across the movement.
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Average knowledge about Wikimedia projects or activities
Resources
Speakers
- Melissa Guadalupe Huertas
- I'm an international educator and instructional designer with 15 years of dedicated service to global education. My expertise lies at the intersection of technology and learning, and in collaboratively designing localized programs that empower people into action. From leading experiential learning initiatives in Peru, Panama, and Ecuador to steering global programs at the Wikimedia Foundation, I've honed my skills in the areas of human-centered design and cross-cultural facilitation. I currently work with the team that is leading the development of WikiLearn - an online learning platform for and by the Wikimedia movement. As part of the former Education team at the Wikimedia Foundation, I led the development of the Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom program and its corresponding Training of Trainers program. Through these programs, we provided thousands of secondary school teachers around the world with a framework to leverage Wikipedia as a tool for media and information literacy.
- Asaf Bartov
- I have been a practicing (volunteer) Wikipedian for many years; my home wiki is the Hebrew Wikipedia, but I am also active in Wikidata and the Wikimedia Commons, and I make occasional contributions on the English Wikipedia as well, all under my volunteer account. I have a strong background in software engineering, and an abiding interest in literature, education, open access, linked data, and library science.
- At the Foundation, I am working on increasing reach (readers) and participation (editors) in the developing world, through community support as well as partnerships with grantees, other NGOs, and governments.
- My main project since 2019 is the WikiLearn online learning environment. Previously, I had worked on the Community Capacity Development program and as a grants program officer.