Social media for development- Lusaka, Zambia Focuss.Info Workshop-12th June, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010 at 1:00PM As the facilitator of the upcoming workshop in Lusaka, Zambia on 12th 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 12th 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
Reader Comments (4)
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It is very sad that as the rest of the world is in an era where access to information and knowledge is readily available, most Zambians due to a host of various contributing factors can not be in this era.
It is my hope that this one-day workshop can indeed equip the participants with new skills to access information that will benefit them and be utilized to enable them to network with others and learn more as they interact with others, with the aid of these web 2.0 tools.
I am unable to attend this workshop but I look forward to attending more of such workshops in the near future.
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This is a very interesting post to read,
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