digital habitats : stewarding technology for communities - south africa, may 2010
DESCRIPTION
The general set of slides I'm using in my Technology Stewardship workshops in S. Africa, May 2010 (CSIR/Pretoria, University of Cape Town and IST in Durban)TRANSCRIPT
Making sense of the technology landscapefor groups &communities
Nancy WhiteFull Circle Associateswww.fullcirc.com
Digital Habitats
Human spectrogram
Agenda/Scaffold:Agenda/Scaffold:Idea/Practice/Debrief/shared documentationIdea/Practice/Debrief/shared documentationPeople FormsPeople FormsPurpose ChecklistPurpose ChecklistPolarities and TensionsPolarities and TensionsPolarity self assessmentPolarity self assessmentOrientationsOrientationsSpidergramSpidergramRoles (especially technology steward and various Roles (especially technology steward and various facilitators)facilitators)The Looking GlassThe Looking Glass
http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Stewarding+Technology+for+Online+Communities
http://bit.ly/a2neSA
http://technologyforcommunities.com/
Tech + Social:Tech + Social:Technology has
fundamentally changed how we can be together
#1 People Forms(me, we, network)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/2918198742/in/set-72157603453505459/
Go Solo?
Pairs, triads and very small groups –
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/2167756791/
Fly with the flock?
Research teams...http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/2167756791/
South Africa's community nest spider
http://www.south-african-game-reserves.com/arachnidpics/comnestspid.htm
Roam the network?
Networked Individualism Barry Wellman
The connected researcher, teacher, consultant...
Many: Networks
We: Communities
Me: the IndividualPersonal identity,
interest & trajectory
Bounded membership; group identity,
shared interest, human centered
Boundaryless; fuzzy, intersecting
interests, object centered sociality
(Engeström)
Many: Networks
We: Communities
Me: the IndividualConsciousness, confidence level, risk tolerance, styles, emotion Distinct power/trust
dynamics, shared forward movement or strong blocking, stasis, attention to maintenance, language Flows around
blocks, less cohesion, distributed power/trust, change
Many: Networks
We: Communities
Me: the IndividualBlogs, email, research portfolios, RSS readers, the Brain…
Forums, wikis, group blogs, content mgmt systems, LMS, platforms…Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia,etc…
purpose exercise
•What is the purpose of your community/group?
• Community Checklist
http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Online+Community+Planning+Checklist
revise?
• After hearing other people’s ideas, do you want to alter yours at all?
• Share any changes at your table - briefly
#2Polarities
TOGETHERNESS SEPARATENESS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/angerboy/201582453/
community timecommunity space
shifting engagement & rhythm...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldcafe/227358678/
Participation Reification
Vocabularies, tools, concepts, methods, stories, papers, pictures, reports…
Conversing, experimenting, practicing, learning, planning…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldcafe/227358678/
INTERACTING PUBLISHING
INDIVIDUAL GROUP
Designed for groups, experienced as individuals
Does not imply homogeneity
Multimembership
Attention
Togetherness Separateness
Participation Reification
Individual Group
togetherness separateness
participation reification
individual group
rhythm
interaction
identity
F2F Community platform
addressing inherentcommunity tensions Tools
Groupasynchronous
IndividualInteracting
Publishing
synchronousGroup
asynchronous
discussion boards
teleconference
chat
instant messaging
member directory
wikiblog
telephony/VoIP
individualprofile page
e-mail lists
scratch pad
RSS
“new” indicators
subscription
podcast
contentrepository
presenceindicator
buddy list
security
Q&A systems
RSS aggregator
newsletter
calendar
videoconference
application sharing
whiteboard
site index
participation statistics
search
subgroups
personalization
communitypublic page
versioncontrol
documentmanagement
UseNet
contentrating
scheduling
polling
commenting
networking tools
tagging
bookmarking
sharedfiltering
geomapping
www.TechnologyForCommunities.com
Etienne WengerNancy WhiteJohn Smith
purpose exercise
•What polarities might show up with your community/group/network?
#3 OrientationsSpidergram
… meetings
… relationships
… community cultivation
… access to expertise
… projects
… context
… individual participation
… content publishing
… open-ended conversation
Community activities
oriented to …
Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for
communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith
activities oriented to …
Community Name: KM4Devglobal knowledge sharing network
… open-ended conversation
… meetings
… projects
… access to expertise
… relationships
… context… community cultivation
… individual participation
… content publishing
Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for
communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith
With only one meeting a year, large size and diversity, KM4Dev focuses on enabling individual participation.
Community knowledge wiki, content management system to bring together resources.
Email list is core of community activity
Once a year and only about 10% do/can participate.
When funding allows. E.G. supporting ShareFair
Informally via the email list by asking/answering questions.
Relationships mostly via meetings and core group. Strongly
external – all resources public/shared.
While everyone pays attention to the community, no centralized efforts…
activities oriented to …
Current and Future
… open-ended conversation
… meetings
… projects
… access to expertise
… relationships
… context… community cultivation
… individual participation
… content publishing
Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for
communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith
Spidergram Exercise1. Determine if you are thinking about an existing or planned context.2. Fill in 3. Discuss w/ a peer you don't know so well4. Revise5. Group debrief
#4Roles
enable people to…
• discover & appropriate useful technology
• be in and use communities & networks (people)
• express their identity
• find and create content
• usefully participate
facilitators community leaderstechnology stewards network weaversIndependent thinkers
What the %&*# is a
technology steward?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dani3l3/364684710/
Nancy WhiteFull Circle Associates
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dani3l3/364684710/
“Technology stewards are people with enough experience of the workings of a community to understand its technology needs, and enough experience with technology to take leadership in addressing those needs…
What roles do you want to explore and talk about?
#5Looking forward…
In collaboration with Nancy White and John Smith
new fabric of connectivity
active technology landscapes
multiple engagement modes
reconfigured geographies
From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009
new fabric of connectivity
- - togetherness and separation
- - always on
- - virtual presence
- - peripherality
From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009
active technology landscape
- interacting and publishing
- social/informational computing
- semantic web
- digital footprint
From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009
multiple engagement modes
- generalized self-expression
- mass collaboration
- creative re-appropriation
- thin connections/weak ties
From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009
reconfigured geographies
- competing spaces
- multimembership
- dynamic boundaries
- global reach
From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009
don’t worry –
there will be bumps in the road…TALK about them
15% solution
Noticing and using the influence, discretion and power individuals have right now.
– Keith McCandless
Do we….
–let it happen?–help it happen?–make it happen?
Epilogue
Resources:
www.technologyforcommunities.com
http://bit.ly/a2neSA
ContactNancy Whitenancyw at fullcirc dot com
http:www.fullcirc.com@NancyWhite
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poagao/527259905/