Despite the chaoticness of this week (switching from in person lectures to online) I must say in this class the transition was pretty smooth as we moved onto the next stage - contributing to an open source project as a group. This past Wednesday I found out who I would be working with for the rest of the semester. My new team members and I then spent the rest of the week deciding what project we would be working on exactly and what kind of contribution we would be making.

What’s the project?

My team members and I did not have much overlap in the projects we were initially interested in, but we were all interested in working with a project in JavaScript. Ultimately what was important for us was finding a project where the community was really open to first time contributors. We decided on Oppia because not only were we intrigued by their mission but also their active, helpful community.

When we reached out to them initially we got a response within 10 minutes and currently have a contact at Oppia who is determined to help us make a meaningful contribution. Oppia is an online learning tool that has a strong contribution community. Not only can coders contribute code, but Oppia invites designers, voice artists, ux researchers and more to contribute to their project.

What will be working on exactly?

My teammate Selam has been in contact with someone from the Oppia team who has helped us come up with potential project ideas. After speaking, we have decided we will be working on a partnership package. Essentially we will be working on compiling information for facilitators/educators. We have liberty in how we want to present this information and are currently brainstorming different options. For right now we think we might want to develop a website that educates educators on how to get started with Oppia.

Going Forward

I am really looking forward to working on Oppia especially with my team. Completing tasks and communicating virtually only might pose its challenges, but I also see it as an opportunity to learn. In the future I could be asked to work on projects with teams/people who work remotely, live in other states or other countries. This could be an opportunity to learn how to communicate and work efficiently with people remotely.