Zambia Focuss.Info Post- Workshop Survey

The Zambia Focuss.Info Workshop that took place on12th June , 2010 was aimed at raising awareness among lecturers, researchers and individual professionals working around global development research and cooperation on what web 2.0 tools are, their advantages and how they can be used. The other area of this workshop was to promote new ICT skills amongst the workshop participants such as the use of tagging and social bookmarking, subscriptions and syndication, blogging, online video/image sharing as well as group productivity and collaboration tools. The implementation of the initial Zambia Focuss.Info Workshop plan was also aimed at promoting the Focuss.Info Initiative to the participants by having a network of Zambians working in the development research realm contribute to the network and actively save their favourite electronic resources on the internet.

The workshop participants were given a short questionnaire with five questions only. The responses are a way of improving the organisation and execution of future workshops. Below are the questions from the questionnaire with some of the answers that the participants gave. 

Questions about the Zambia Focuss.Info Workshop 

1. What did you enjoy most about the workshop?

• Besides the coffee and the biscuits, lunch…it was very educational/enlightening. I can’t get enough of delicious.com’s convenience! Also, being introduced to new social networks (e.g. twitter) was a good experience.

• The workshop brought together people from different backgrounds and institutions. Its a good way to learn

• Learning how to use social bookmarking tools like delicious. A very useful tool. I also enjoyed the presence of the other participants and the interactions

• The focuss.info initiative is a good project. It will enable people share useful and resourceful information.I really like delicious. I have a yahoo account and didnt even know about the existence of delicious

• For me, i enjoyed learning how to put my information in form of bookmarks online via delicious though i didnt get to practice that because of poor internet. I hope i can still get to practice what ive learnt

• I enjoyed the presenatations. They were not too long and they were clear

    2. What did you learn from the workshop that you now use in your work or anticipate to using in your 

        work?

• How I can keep track of my bookmarks using delicious.com and have access to them regardless of where/which computer am using. Talk about convenience!

• Social bookmarking  which has been relatively new to me has been a learning experience.

• The training that I got during the workshop such as uploading materials online, photo sharing

• Social bookmarking using delicious and how i can easily carry my bookmarks everywhere i go as i can now save them online and not in my browser like before

• With the training in web 2.0, it has given me basic skills on how to upload materials onto the internet and how i can use web 2 tools for networking

• With basic skills that I acquired, it proved to be easy for me to upload content online such as photosharing and keeping a list of my favourite sites online although the internet was very bad

   3. Was there anything about the workshop and the presentations made that you did not understand?

       Please provide specific examples.

• No
• No
• Honestly there is nothing I can point a finger to
• No

• No

  4. What is the most valuable thing you learned through workshop (knowledge or skills)?

• The delicious initiative is pretty smart! Kudos to whoever came up with it.

• Information exchange through the internet; my ability to use modern/new ICT tools such as web 2 has increased

• Bookmarking my favourite site. Its a pitty the internet connection was very bad during the workshop

• Browsing the internet to search for information and saving my bookmarks online. But internet was too slow and very bad

• I learnt a few tricks from this workshop which i hope to use in my current work. Social bookmarking seems like a very helpful thing for organising information

• The most valuable things I learned were both knowledge and skills. Even if I had to buy a computer, the knowledge and skill I acquired through the workshop is important. I didnt know there was so much one could do over the internet. Its important for those who have these details to share with those of us that dont know.

• I enjoyed RSS. I think it is very convenient, being able to chose what updates to recieve from what sites..that is convenient

5. What other specific comments do you have?

• More people need to know about these tools.
• It  would be good if another workshop or followup meeting could be organised.
• Next time invite more people who may need to know about web 2 tools and what information sharing networks exist out there such as the Focuss.Info initiative
• Please,next time choose a venue with better internet. The internet was really bad
• The presenter has been very knowledgeable on the issues and tools outlined in the workshop programme and her presentation was good. I was happy.



Post-Event Report- Zambia Focuss.Info Workshop

On the 12th of June, 2010, I facilitated the Zambia Focuss.Info workshop. The workshop took place at a small local public library in north mead area of Lusaka, Zambia. The library was equipped with desktop computers and internet connectivity was available. The training was conducted for only one day. With great internet connectivity, I would say one day training is sufficient.

Participants and special notes on participants

The training drew ten participants although only seven out of the ten confirmed participants were able to attend. Three of the participants were female- two Library and Information Science professional representing the Zambia National Food and Nutrition Commission as the Zambia Association for Research and Development; while one of the females was a researcher from the University of Zambia (UNZA). The other five participants were male- one was a Library and Information Science student from Evelyn Hone College of Lusaka, a Genetics and Microbiologist from the VETLAB of Lusaka, a researcher and lecturer from the University of Zambia, as well as a Research Officer from the Zambia Agricultural and Research Institute under the Zambian Government’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. All the participants were new to most of the tools that I shared with them. But they were a vibrant group and asked as many questions as they could which was motivating to me as the facilitator.

Training methodology

In order for me to carry out the workshop successfully; I used the following methods:

 1. Lecture method- I found this method to be useful to transmit information as well as explain

procedures.

2. Demonstration- this particular method proved to be efficient in that, the participants were able to see the sequence of a particular procedure in performing a task and build on it. Demonstrations also proved to be very handy in that key points were emphasized and repeated.

Training covered the following: group productivity and collaboration tools; tagging and social bookmarking; subscriptions, feeds and syndication; blogging; online video and image sharing. At the end of every presentation, the participants were encouraged to ask questions. Responses were given to the best of my ability. There was a hands-on session, completely dedicated to practical exercises.

Language of instruction

English was the language of instruction especially that most online content is in English and report on the workshop was intended for an even wider audience who mostly understand English.

Attendance

Initially ten (10) participants had confirmed their availability to this workshop. Unfortunately due to some unforeseen circumstances; seven (7) out the ten (10) were able to attend the first Zambia Focus.Info Initiative workshop. The attendance was fairly good as 70% of the people invited were able to actually participate.

Constraints/challenges

Internet connectivity, the unavailability of some of the web 2 tools proved to be a challenge for me as facilitator and for the participants too. We lost internet connectivity too many times during the practical session. This slowed down our progress and was a bit discouraging to me. But in the amount of spaces when the internet was available, five out the seven participants present were able to sign up with TWITTER and DELICIOUS. The participants were only able to add a few bookmarks to their delicious account and set a few details on their Twitter profiles before we completely lost the internet connection. In the short time when the internet was available, others had problems opening up Twitter accounts as the twitter website seemed busy and unavailable.

Successes

Despite the challenges, the participants gained a basic knowledge of the Focus.Info initiative, web 2.0 tools and the concept behind social bookmarking and networking. Even though the participants did not spend as much time online as I hoped they would due to the unforeseen connectivity issues, I feel they will be able to still use knowledge they acquired appropriately as they demonstrated willingness and interest to learn. This was very motivating.

Conclusion

The workshop was successful. Participants were equipped with basic skills and knowledge on social bookmarking and how to use web 2.0 tools for networking. They were appreciative that they were amongst the group that had been invited to benefit and be able to contribute to an online community and initiative such as Focus.Info. As facilitator of the workshop, I felt that it was important for me to continue steering the group that was able to attend the workshop. As they have just been introduced to these tools, continuous use of the tools especially twitter, delicious and other social networking media is important. Therefore, I have created a small discussion group for the participants using Google groups. I will continuously share some useful resources with the participants through this group. It is my hope that I can help the participants improve their skills through this group. The group I have created is called FocussZambia. The email address is focusszambia@googlegroups.com. The FocussZambia group is intended to keep the group active and help the members with constant practice, and also steer web 2.0 awareness among the members. For social bookmarking and networking to be realized, I felt there was need to continue discussions and exchanges with the group as they are completely new to these tools.

Workshop in pictures

"Zambia Focuss.Info Workshop" in pictures

Workshop presentation

 Zambia Focuss.Info Workshop Presentation

Social media for development- Lusaka, Zambia Focuss.Info Workshop-12th June, 2010

As the facilitator of the upcoming workshop in Lusaka, Zambia on 12^th June, 2010, I must admit that I underestimated how difficult it would be for me to find a venue that could have computers as well as internet connectivity all in one place. There are a lot of conference/workshop facilities available in Lusaka but none that are tailored for ICT sessions where computers with internet connectivity are readily available. I noticed that if one wants to carry out an ICT related training with hands-on sessions then one would have to most likely hire the computers separately; carry them to the supposed workshop venue and have them setup there.

But wait, what about internet connectivity for sessions that require participants to be online? The venue/facility owners could assist you with internet connectivity...for free? you would ask...no, of course not for free but at a fee or you could hire a computer laboratory at a school/college or university or even an Internet café as these (school/college/university) seem to be the only places that have computers and internet connectivity all in one place/room.

That is what I had to go through as I searched for a venue for this workshop. But at last, the Lusaka, Zambia workshop has now been scheduled for 12^th June, 2010. Our venue in Lusaka will be a lovely small quiet public library which also has computers with internet connectivity in place.

This one day workshop is aimed at raising awareness among the participants on what web 2.0 tools are, the advantages and usefulness of web 2.0 tools and how these tools can tremendously contribute to improved access to information and knowledge. By illustrating a wide range of social media tools and describing how they can be used strategically to more effectively collaborate and exchange knowledge, it is my hope as the workshop facilitator that participants will acquire new ICT/Internet skills and be able to contribute to the Focuss.Info Initiative and network.

So far a total of ten Zambian participants both male and female have confirmed participation. Participants are coming from various institutions. Expected participants as follows: lecturers from the University of Zambia (UNZA), Researchers from the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI), which is the largest agricultural research entity in Zambia. ZARI is a department in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The department develops and adapts crop, soil and plant protection technologies and provides a high quality, appropriate and cost effective service to farmers. Another group of participants will be from the National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research (NISIR)- NISIR undertakes research and development activities in various areas agriculture, natural resources and products, environment and water resources, minerals and industrial raw materials, peaceful application of nuclear science technology, information and communications technology.

Below is the content the workshop will cover:

• group productivity and collaboration tools

How will this be done? By presenting some commonly used social media tools and services, and a variety of situations in which they are applied, highlighting how they can support work groups and collaboration

• tagging and social bookmarking

 How will this be done? By illustrating the concept and purpose of tagging and social bookmarking and explaining how they work within social media services 

• subscriptions, feeds and syndication

How will this be done? By describing what content feeds are and providing guidance on how one can syndicate their own content so others can easily find and use it

• blogging

 How will this be done? By describing blogging and illustrating how these tools can be used strategically in a project, organization or network 

•  online video and image sharing
  

How will this be done?

By introducing the basic concepts related to producing, uploading and sharing digital video and photography on the web.

The morning session will be dedicated to the introductions of social media tools as well as illustrations and descriptions. Most of the hands-on exercises and practicals will be conducted in the afternoon session.

Although the workshop content and outline is ready, a skills needs assessment questionnaire  is being  administered too, before the workshop, for the participants to fill out.The questionnaire responses will give me(the facilitator) an insight to the computer/internet skills levels of the would-be participants. I believe this will help me prepare the final workshop outline adequately, one that will encompass the participants needs but as well as be in line with the overall workshop objective. 

I have also prepared a small "After Action Review" tool which i will administer at the end of the workshop. The After Action Review will help me( facilitator) together with the participants to identify what was supposed to happen, what actually happened and if there are any other issues raised during the workshop or any other issues that participants would like to consider.

Keep your eyes locked onto this space! We are about to have a wonderful time!

·         online video and image sharing