{"id":47,"date":"2014-02-13T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hivetoronto.wpengine.com\/?p=47"},"modified":"2014-02-13T08:00:49","modified_gmt":"2014-02-13T13:00:49","slug":"lessons-ive-learned-since-joining-mozilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/hive-toronto\/lessons-ive-learned-since-joining-mozilla\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons I’ve Learned Since Joining Mozilla"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post by Sam Dyson<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been one year since I became director of the Hive Chicago Learning Network<\/a> in February 2013. Four months later, through a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, we became the newest learning network to be stewarded by Mozilla, joining Hive NYC<\/a> and Hive Toronto<\/a>. I’d love to share some of what I’ve learned since then.<\/p>\n

Mozilla has several core values that I\u2019ve come to admire. \u00a0Here are a few.<\/p>\n

Doing good is part of our code. <\/strong>This pithy phrase seen on T-shirts and billboards captures the essence of what board chair, Mitchell Baker, describes as Mozilla\u2019s mission to protect the tools and ideals of a web that empowers people to \u201cknow more, do more, and do better.\u201d As you can see in slogans like this, Mozilla is proud of its identity as a values-driven non-profit.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s share what we know.\u201d <\/strong>This simple logo from the earliest days of the World Wide Web captures the spirit of one of Mozilla\u2019s core convictions.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

The Internet is among the most powerful inventions for the exploration, creation and sharing of new knowledge, making it one of the world\u2019s most valuable resources for good. Commitment to use the web for sharing what we know explains why \u201cteach\u201d is now one of Mozilla\u2019s four pillars\u2014build, empower, teach, shape\u2014announced at the October 2013 Mozilla Summit.<\/p>\n

Working in community.<\/strong> Like many of you out there on the interwebs, I was first introduced to Mozilla via Firefox. What I\u2019ve since learned is the remarkable way Mozilla creates its software: it mobilizes a community of volunteers to write the very code that makes its applications run. More than a company, Mozilla is a global community of passionate contributors\u2014a network\u2014with shared principles and tools to generate solutions to complex problems. That community-powered model describes much of the networked problem solving happening within Hive Learning Networks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Working in the open.<\/strong> Even if you have only a passing familiarity with Mozilla, you\u2019ve probably heard terms such as open source, open web, open badges. Clearly, we see special significance in the word open. \u00a0So\u2026<\/p>\n

What does \u201copen\u201d have to do with it?<\/em><\/h3>\n

What do the ideals of the open web have to do with the goals of Hive Chicago<\/a>? For that matter, what do we mean by open in this context? And what would it mean for Hive to be an openly networked community?<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

Drawing again from Mitchell Baker\u2019s introductory remarks at the 2013 Mozilla Summit, to be open means to be:<\/p>\n

Knowable<\/strong>\u2013it\u2019s being transparent; you can see it and understand it<\/p>\n