Hugh Lashbrooke 12:59 am on November 16, 2021
Tags: community-events

Request: New Social Learning Slack channel

Since Learn WordPress was launched in December 2020, one of the focuses of the platform has been to enable live, synchronous learning experiences. These were initially formalised as discussion groups, but have since evolved to the more general name “social learning”. More info here: https://learn.wordpress.org/social-learning/

The events, known as social learning spaces, are live sessions where people learn together in multiple formats – discussions, workshops, webinars, ride-alongs, work-alongs, etc. These are currently been done over Zoom, which is fine for the most part, but in order to be more accessible and available, it would be great if text-based spaces could be run too. The most logical place for those would be the WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/., so I’d like to request that we add a new Slack channel named #social-learning.

This new channel would be reserved for these live, synchronous events and nothing else – it means that all attendees would need to join Slack in order to take part.

For some context, when discussion groups were still relatively new, some were initially done in this text-based format using the #community-events channel. However, since the Training team has now taken ownership of this side of the project, it makes more sense to break them into a separate place and have their own dedicated space.

I’ll leave this request open for feedback until Friday, 19 November @ 2am UTC, after which feedback will be collated and, if there are no objections or issues, the new channel can be created.

+make.wordpress.org/training/

Dan Soschin 1:10 am on November 16, 2021

Do you think each SLS cohort would only use the channel during their “session” or would they find value in continuing their membership beyond their session? If we think they would remain connected, that channel could experience bloat over time. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing… but if the SLS topics vary greatly, would it make sense to co-mingle different cohorts? A separate, short-term channel could be created for each cohort (with a clever/intuitive naming convention) and then auto-expire after a certain amount of time post-session. For example, we would create a new channel, specific to each SLS cohort, and then it would expire/delete automatically after six months, for example… to prevent channel bloat. Or, am I simply overthinking this? 🙂
- Hugh Lashbrooke 1:14 am on November 16, 2021
  
  and then auto-expire after a certain amount of time post-sessio
  
  I love this idea, but I think that’s stretching the limits of what SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. can do 😀
  
  I like where you’re going with all this! I think it would be best to start with something manageable like a single channel and, if we see a need for separate spaces, we can look into options. My gut tells me that if we did that then using DM groups might be the best solution in the short term, but that has its limitations. I don’t think we need to think that for ahead yet though – the single channel will be a good start and allow us to test the waters of what we could need in the future.
Sarah 1:27 am on November 16, 2021

I LOVE this idea! As someone who learns best through text, I would really appreciate a space to run text-based Learning, live, from this channel.

I also agree that they might be more accessible than our current Social Learning Space formats, so I am all about this!

Do you think each SLS cohort would only use the channel during their “session” or would they find value in continuing their membership beyond their session?

My thought is that we would strictly enforce the “we are only available here for X topic during Y time” boundary with this. Otherwise, I think people might see it as a place they might ask for WordPress help when what they need is the forums. 🙂

I appreciate where you’re going with the future membership, though! I feel like it serves as a solid springboard into other channels. What people learn there, they can take with them to different channels–which might help promote new contributors!

We would create a new channel, specific to each SLS cohort, and then it would expire/delete automatically after six months, for example… to prevent channel bloat.

I think this is a separate entity from cohorts; there may be some backscroll, but each new session is a new place of learning. The way I see it: the same way we can have multiple topics taught throughout the day in one classroom, so too can we do so throughout a month or week in one SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel.
- Hugh Lashbrooke 1:52 am on November 16, 2021
  
  My thought is that we would strictly enforce the “we are only available here for X topic during Y time” boundary with this.
  
  Yes – that would be an important rule in the channel that we would stick to.
Joy 1:37 am on November 16, 2021

I can see the channel being useful for coordination of events, but not for end-user interaction. It would be better if a different tool is used or a separate SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. organization. We would still like to be able to say “this whole Slack is for contributing to WordPress”. (It is still a paid plan, which charges per user.)
- Hugh Lashbrooke 1:51 am on November 16, 2021
  
  That’s fair. The channel wouldn’t have much use for event coordination, so if we aren’t using it for events then we would just use the existing #training channel for that.
  
  A new SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. instance would be theoretically possible – it wouldn’t help us escape the pay-per-user issue though since we would be paying for that instance as well, and it would be harder to find, maintain and moderate. I’m not sure if that’s a good solution unless social learning spaces explode in popularity and frequency.
  
  Do you feel that having one channel dedicated to social learning in this way would break the model of “contributions only” that we have for Slack? And, if so, do you think that should be something we say a hard no to? Social learning is an important part of the Training team’s mission and the best way to achieve the accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) we need is by using the existing Slack instance in this way, but I am open to other workable solutions as well!
Matt Cromwell 11:17 am on November 16, 2021

I like seeing momentum towards enabling: “live, synchronous learning experiences.” But it feels a little like the medium is dictating the tactics.

Echoing @joyously a bit, the end-user experience of these events is probably more important than the limitations of SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

If we want live synchronous learning experiences, then a Slack channel would not be the first or most obvious choice. Wouldn’t doing Online Meetups meet that goal just as well or better? And that’s a resource that is readily available via the Foundation as well, right?
https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/resources/organizing-virtual-events/#meetup-com-online-events
- Matt Cromwell 11:20 am on November 16, 2021
  
  Ah… I missed the secondary goal of the text-based learning, and that this doesn’t replace the existing Meetups but enhances them. I see.
Wes Theron 10:35 pm on November 16, 2021

Yes, the existing Online Meetups are very important! Calling it a secondary goal is clever. I think a space like this will be very beneficial as people will be able to ask more questions, exchange ideas, share experiences and offer advice simultaneously. It is less intimidating than a MeetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. group for some and it provides more opportunities for a variety of people to contribute. I completely agree: “My thought is that we would strictly enforce the – we are only available here for X topic during Y time – boundary with this.”
Hugh Lashbrooke 1:59 am on November 19, 2021

Given the point about the WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. being a space for contributors, we’re going to put this idea on hold as we explore other options. We will revisit this if needed in the future.
Hauwa Abashiya 2:50 pm on November 19, 2021

I think it is wise to delay this decision. I do think a dedicated space is needed, I’m not sure having it in the general WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. is the right place. Could we pose the question to past attendees, asking them where they want that text-based learning to take place?

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Request: New Social Learning Slack channel

Welcome to the MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. Team!

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