Wikipedia talk:United States Education Program/Campus Ambassadors/About

Question about the difference between campus ambassador and online ambassador

After reading the material here for several hours, I'm still not exactly clear on what the difference in scope of these two positions is. I would guess that an online ambassador is just the same, except that they are not expected to meet with anyone face-to-face, so they could physically be in any remote part of the globe -- is that right?

The reason I'm asking is that I am helping to try to set up a Fall, 2012 program for an online-only class. Since the class is online, I won't be meeting anyone face-to-face. But I guess other than that technicality, I would have all the duties of a campus ambassador. So, which should I apply for? Thanks! Klortho (talk) 03:07, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Hi, Klortho. The Campus Ambassador is typically the in-person contact for professors and students who teaches students about the basics of editing Wikipedia. Campus Ambassadors are not necessarily experts in the many processes on Wikipedia but work with the class on the necessary skills and tools for adding relevant content to articles. Online Ambassadors, on the other hand, monitor student work on-wiki, serve as a reference for more specific editing needs, and act as a liaison between the class and the editing community. In this sense, Online Ambassadors tend to have a lot of experience on-wiki, while Campus Ambassadors go through a training to pick up basic skills and, rather, focus more on the teaching aspect. However, we've never had an entirely-online class participate before, so this would be new territory. Of course, our program is flexible and aims to support any classes that will be using Wikipedia, should we have the capacity. So I guess I'd answer your question by saying if you are a regular editor on-wiki, the Online Ambassador role is probably most apt for this particular situation. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 18:20, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Also, the campus ambassadors are generally expected to have a physical classroom presence, whereas the online ambassadors are expected to have a considerable presence online, including talk page communication, IRC, or any other mediums that work for the students. Rob SchnautZ (WMF) ^{(talk • contribs)} 19:02, 30 July 2012 (UTC)