Online Course: Intro to Community Informatics - and Dadamac Community (continued) May 26, 2010

Hi Mike and John.

@Mike - Thank you for your rapid and positive response to my suggestion that there might be closer collaboration between Dadamac and your students at the Centre for Community Informatics Research, Development and Training,Vancouver, CANADA. I do hope some of the students will be interested.

@John - I know from discussions we have had in the past that you share my enthusiasm for closer collaboration between Dadamac and academics, so I imagine that you will be as pleased as I am that Mike is encouraging his students to link with us and suggests  

@Mike and @John

My first thought was that we might do an online conference at one of our usual times (which I know are reasonably do-able for people). I thought of doing it during a "First Thursday" chat room session time. However,  we have to bear in mind time zone issues (which I confess I was not thinking of when I first made the suggestion of an online meeting). Nigeria is GMT plus 1. I think Vancouver is  GMT -7. If so then a normal First Thursday at 13.00 in Nigeria would be an anti-social 5.00 for Mike (Though now I check the email it seems these students are in Toronto - 3 hours earlier - I am confused - will they be doing their course with you through distance learning Mike or are you teaching face to face in Toronto?)

Our first challenge is to find out if there any times of day that would be okay for both sides. Any thoughts on that? When I am in Nigeria it seems  most of the team normally work 8.00 to 4.00 (but seldom get away on time) so, in theory, they usually finish work before it is too close to sunset and darkness (but that is only my impression - things don't happen by the clock in Africa the way they tend to in UK). I imagine Mike's students don't start their day until 9.00 or maybe later - but I am just guessing.

@Mike - Do you have any further details about the course starting in June that would help me to think about areas of overlap with Dadamac which might be of interest to your students? It would be helpful to have some ideas of what they might like to discuss before inviting people in Nigeria to join in a discussion.

Thinking of previous experience

This connection with students in North America, reminds me of way back in 2004 when we prepared online for the Teachers Talking (TT) course that I was going to do at Fantsuam for John. When we did it there was a related online support group ranging across five continents and including an academic with her students. We learned a lot from each other.

Of course in that situation we had the benefit of all working on a shared task, and it was a a very genuine task. Local teachers had asked John to arrange some training; he asked me to prepare and deliver the training; I set up an online support group which helped me before and during the course. One of the people joining the support group was an academic in North America, and then she included her students in the group.  We would be very lucky indeed if any similar shared task happened to emerge in time for your students - but getting to know each other better is a useful first step.

I am wondering if there is any current genuine need or interest bubbling under the surface amongst John's team at Fantsuam.

@John - I know everyone at Fantsuam is very busy and I don't want to "manufacture" some project that is an additional burden.

@ John and @Mike. I have just though of something which makes me wonder if there might be any genuine overlap with anything that people are doing at the Fantsuam Academy. I remember various courses I have presented at Fantsuam when I have wanted to illustrate online chats and conferencing to course participants. In those situations I have been very grateful to my online friends in UK and elsewhere who have been willing to come online and chat to the course participants. I wonder if by any chance Kelechi or John (I) or anyone else, has a course that includes anything related to use of skype/chatrooms.. Obviously the more our link with Canada it fits in with something that John's people are really doing the more chance we have of an interesting and well supported online session.

Alternatively, especially given the time zone issues, it might be better to arrange a time when you (John) could be avaiable. Then Mike and his students could discuss various issues with you - a two way reality check -  and following that we might have a better idea of areas of overlapping intersts.

Those are my initial thoughts. What do you think?

Pamela

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Gurstein

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http://dadamac.posterous.com/online-course-intro-to-community-informatics