July 1st - First Thursday Topic - and mini-project on dentistry July 1, 2010

Hi Laurie

Sorry about your hassle joining us in the chat room today, thanks for letting me know. I was there ten minutes early and I saw you were there/had been there and greeted you - but somehow we missed each other ( see archive fragment below). I wonder if by any chance we were in different rooms. I think that you have visited several in the past. Hmm - that does not seem the right explanation as I saw you leave - but I did not see any message from you.   Let us try it sometime together, away from the pressure of also talking to the other First Thursday people, to try and fix the problem.

[15:47] <pam> hi Fred and Laurie
[15:47] <pam> are you really here or just logged in ready?
[15:48] <fred> am almos going away for some time
[15:48] <pam> (I'm really checking my emails - but seeing if anyone has arrived)
[15:48] <fred> hi
[15:48] <pam> hi Fred - how are the "working holidays" going?
[15:50] <pam> we are going to be discussing the realities of phones in Africa today
[15:50] User Kezia enters the room English.
[15:50] User nikki enters the room English.
[15:50] <pam> I hope you will be able to stay for while to share your local knowledge in east Africa
[15:51] <fred> ok
[15:51] <pam> hi Kezia and Nikki
[15:51] <Kezia> Hello
[15:51] <nikki> Hi Pam and Kezia
[15:51] <Kezia> Was going to wait until 1pm to start speaking. :)
[15:52] <Kezia> Hi Every One
[15:52] <nikki> Hi Laurie too
[15:52] <pam> fred and kezia - you may like to introduce yourselves
[15:52] <Kezia> I am interested in technology and media within the not for profit sector.
[15:53] <pam> adn your country....
[15:53] <Kezia> UK
[15:53] <pam> fred - are you in urban or rural area
[15:54] <nikki> Kezia I work with Pam in the UK so have a little introduction to your work
[15:54] <Kezia> Nikki - Pam has mentioned you to me as well. Hello
[15:55] <nikki> I see that Laurie has been trying to join us - I believe that she is in Canada
[15:56] <pam> nikki - Do you have a list of the topics covered so far realtign to phones, or shall we use what I wrote in the announcement?
[15:56] User John_Dada enters the room English.
[15:56] <pam> fred - have we lost you?
[15:56] <pam> hi John
[15:56] <nikki> I think that what you used in the announcement is great..
[15:57] <nikki> John also said to remind us to look at Freefone and VOIP by Bala; Use of VOIP by rural women for their businesses by Comfort
[15:58] User Laurie_Kagetsu3 leaves the room English.

The full archive is here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dvkjgqm_345d4b9prcp

I'll try to do a tidied up version on posterous before too long - but in theory I am on hols for a few days - so I won't do it immediately.

I am not able to give any feedback regarding the dentistry information you have collected so far. We would need to get that feedback locally. To be honest, my preference in any situation where information is to be exchanged is to  work according to the "ICT three legged stool checklist" - which would mean
1 - agree topic - ICT for dentistry
2 - work in parallel on all three of the ICT "legs"

I would prefer to slow down on the Information side until the Communication (people communicating) and the Technology (means of communication) are further investigated and developed. I realise this may not be possible in a mini project like this, but it would be essential in a genuine one. If this was a full project then I would expect to put you in touch with a local person who had a personal reason for being involved - so it would be win-win and I could justify asking that person to put time into exchanging information with you. Otherwise the information provided risks lying unused. However, as you have discovered, the practicalities of communication and the technology are not as simple as might first appear, and it takes time (or money) to find the right people, and to agree win-wins.  Getting an ideal level of involvement may be too demanding for a mini project like this one (unless you just happened to hit on a project area where we already know someone is already interested in the topic). I don't know how much longer is available to us. I hope that your write-up will include reflections on all three aspects (I,C and T) even if you have not been able to tackle them in detail.

Ideally I would like us to look at ways of understanding the situation of the people who might use the information. This is crucial if the information is to be useful and relevant. (For example you mention nutrition - we should check how the advice fits in with local preferences and availability of food. Is your advice just for the elite, or for dental professionals, or for families - perhaps specially for mothers of young children? What is the culturally appropriate way to share information? What are the local problems regarding dentistry? How much cultural overlap is there between the information you are sharing and the local realities? Do people normally eat the kind of foods you recommend, if not why not? Cost? Local supplies? What else do they eat? Do they eat other things - that you have not included - that are appropriate alternatives to recommended items?  etc)

It takes a while to find the right people and build an appropriate relationship (especially if you need to rely on voluntary involvement) and this is why I am so glad that you have made the effort to turn up at our First Thursday "open meetings" to start getting to know people and local practicalities. I am sorry you have had problems with being in the chat room.  I don't know how much longer you have for your project. If you will still be around for the August First Thursday perhaps you and I could meet in the chatroom sometime before then and see if we can iron out the glitches.

We will also need to agree where you information is going to be placed. If you don't want to make it interactive and don't want to put it up as a blogger at Dadamac.net then it may be simplest for you to publish it on Google (perhaps as a collection of Google docs, or as a Google spreadsheet  pointing to resources, or whatever suits you best) and we can refer to the link from appropriate places in Dadamac.net. 

I hope you are finding it interesting despite the difficulties, and that you will encourage others to follow in your footsteps. I am very glad that you and Mike are willing to reach out and accept the challenges of genuine academic practitioner collaboration and I hope we will continue to work together and build on this early shared learning experience.

Pamela