Outreachy Dec 2021 to Mar 2022

Oppia is excited to be participating in Outreachy's December 2021 to March 2022 round! Outreachy is a diversity initiative that provides paid, remote internships to people subject to systemic bias and impacted by under-representation in the technical industry where they are living.

Thank you for your interest in contributing to our project! Here you can find initial guidance on how to get started with the required tasks listed on the project Scale Community Outreach and Conduct Research on Oppia's Lessons.

If you have any questions, feel free to send them to outreachy-questions@oppia.org or send them directly to mentors by email. You can find mentors' contact information on the Outreachy portal within the Oppia project.

Getting Started

Please read through the topics below to get started on the three required tasks for the contribution period:

User Studies

• For the user studies, start reading this guide that provides information on how to properly perform a user study or learner feedback session on Oppia's math lessons. You can also make a copy and use this checklist to help make sure you don't miss any important steps.
• We recommend that you conduct learner feedback sessions on at least 3 consecutive chapters, using either the Web platform or the Android App, on any of the math topics inside Oppia Classroom. One student is enough for the contributing period, but you can work with more if you want to.
• Remember that for the sessions, you will have to make sure that the chapters you will use and the materials (surveys and tests) listed in the guide/checklist are translated in the student's language. Also remember that the report on your findings is your main deliverable for this task, and we recommend you follow the report template listed on the guide/checklist to save effort and avoid missing relevant information.

Reaching out and defining pilot plans with NGOs

• For reaching and drafting pilot plans with NGOs, we recommend that you start finding and listing a few NGOs related to children's education that you could potentially work with to use Oppia lessons. You will need to contact and meet with the NGOs in order to introduce Oppia and talk about the NGO activities. If you need guidance on how to strategically partner with organizations by taking a programmatic approach, please consult Oppia Menu of Services
• In this meeting, try to understand their pains and needs to better find a way for us to work together in a mutually beneficial partnership. You may make a copy and personalize these presentation slides to help you pitch Oppia to the partner.
• After you have a good understanding of the NGO context, work with them to draft a pilot plan detailing how they can include Oppia in their activities. If you think you need help on how to prioritize which NGOs to reach and how elaborate a nice reach out message, you can email our mentors for more materials.

Creating a scaling plan for Oppia

• For this task, you will need to create a plan on how you would scale the lessons and provide them to a larger audience in your country. It's important for the plan to be supported by reliable research that can include:
  1. a benchmark analysis of similar products in your region
  2. an analysis of your country's/region's demographics, and
  3. an analysis of existing NGOs and potential partners.
• You can use any documents and research you find relevant to support your proposal. The format of the plan is completely up to you.
• If you need help with the background research for your plan, you can contact the mentors for further guidance and additional materials.

FAQ

Q: How can I contribute to the project?

A: After finishing the required tasks, add a contribution URL to your Outreachy portal with all the necessary details and links. The contribution URL for each task should be a link to a Google Drive folder where you have uploaded the document/spreadsheet for that specific task. Make sure that the file access is public!

Q: How can I translate a lesson?

A: To translate a lesson, first fill out this contributor agreement to confirm that you’re happy to submit contributions under the Creative Commons license. Second, read through this document with information on how the translation process works. After you've filled out the form and read the documentation, please contact the mentors by email for further guidance.

Q: Who are the students I should work with?

A: Oppia's mission is to empower learners across the globe by providing equitable access to high-quality, engaging education. As our lessons are specially designed to meet the unique needs of under-resourced learners around the world, our target audience is underserved students who lack access to high-quality basic education. For this project, including the user studies, you should be working with these underserved students during the contribution period and the internship.

Please keep in mind that your internship will be contingent on you being able to contact and work with the required students and NGOs.

Q: How can I keep my mentors updated about my work?

A: The best way to report your progress and clarify questions with the project mentors is starting an email thread, with both mentors as recipients. You should always reply to this same thread when giving updates and reporting the relevant information about your work. This ensures that both mentors have visibility and are synchronized about all your contributions, making the selection process easier and more organized.