[GKD-DOTCOM] Kabissa Launches Training-of-Trainers Program in West Africa
Dear Colleagues, We have been following the recent discussions with great interest, and hope this announcement regarding Kabissa's efforts to develop a network of training partners in Africa will be of interest. Please spread the word, and get in touch with us if you are interested in participating. Best wishes, Tobias -- Tobias Eigen Executive Director Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa http://www.kabissa.org ** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 18, 2004 CONTACT: Kim Lowery +1 202 265 6116 [EMAIL PROTECTED] KABISSA LAUNCHES TRAINING-OF-TRAINERS PROGRAM IN WEST AFRICA PROGRAM BASED ON SUCCESSFUL TIME TO GET ONLINE CURRICULUM http://www.timetogetonline.org/2004-06-18-press.php Washington, DC (June 18) -- Responding to the demands of past Time to Get Online workshop participants, Kabissa launches a new Training-of-Trainers program for West African civil society organizations in August. The Time to Get Online curriculum combines self-learning materials and hands-on workshops to help African civil society organizations to build capacity through internet-based information sharing and advocacy initiatives. The Training-of-Trainers (TOT) model enables us to have an even greater impact on civil society organizations throughout the region by creating a network of ICT training partners empowered to deliver this curriculum in their own communities. Kabissa -- an organization dedicated to helping African organizations put the Internet to work for the benefit of the people they serve -- originally developed the Time to Get Online curriculum for organizations excited by the potential of the Internet, but lacking the skills needed to take advantage of the its many resources. The new Training-of-Trainers (TOT) program builds a network of ICT trainers throughout the region and gives twenty civil society organizations the opportunity to conduct Time to Get Online workshops in their own communities. The week-long intensive program will bring together a diverse set of civil society organizations to train them on the Time to Get Online curriculum and how to deliver it using adult learning techniques. This program has been developed in collaboration with echange, LLC and Eco-Ventures International, two organizations that specialize in training and innovative ways to use technology. Upon completion of the program, participants will become Kabissa-certified Time to Get Online training partners and receive learning materials for their own workshops. For more information or to apply for the workshop, visit the Time to Get Online Web site -- http://www.timetogetonline.org -- or contact Kim Lowery at [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # # About Kabissa Founded in 1999, Kabissa is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping African civil society organizations put the Internet to work for the benefit of the people they serve. Programs focus on providing Internet services, building the capacity of organizations to use technology, and promoting interaction within the African civil society sector. Today, more than 700 organizations from over 30 countries take advantage of Kabissa's services. For more information about Kabissa, visit http://www.kabissa.org or write to us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] What Are the 'Right' Resources to Foster Professional Development?
I feel sure that my thoughts here are somewaht off target, since the focus of this listserv is the use of ICT for development. But Sam Lanfranco and Tom Abeles have reinforced some of the (to me) most relevant factors in development, and they are only peripherally related to ICT. People relate to community, first of all and most importantly. For most individuals, they leave their communities only when forced to do so by economic or political necessity, expediency, or sometimes opportunity. And if they do leave, strong communal ties beckon them home, as soon as the economic and/or political climate makes that option viable. These basic facts have two implications for our efforts to introduce or expand the use of ICTs in developing countries: 1) First, we should all recognize that we play second fiddle. As part of the Prince George's Community College (Maryland, USA) team, my work in Africa the last four years has been concentrated in Rwanda and in South Africa, where recovery from genocide in one case and from apartheid in the other case present societal imperatives of the first order; and, frankly, the effective use of ICT (while important) is nevertheless secondary. These (very different) societies need to develop ways of getting along with each other, and perhaps the intelligent application of ICT can help; but the repair of the social fabric (not the use of computers) is the pre-eminent imperative. 2) Second, ICT makes it more possible for local activists to stay at home, and for expatriates to return home. If you have skills as an ICT professional, you can make a decent living in your local community, you can feel good about your contribution to your nation's economic development, and you can even maintain your contacts with the outside world. We could not make this claim without ICT. My Irish forebears came to the USA without hope of return to Ireland or even significant contact with the homeland; through ICT, current emigres may return to Rwanda while they continue to teach online for University of Maryland University College. Hence, one important contribution of ICT to the global development paradigm is that local talent in any developing country may leave and return, and may continue to contribute to their local communities. --Bob Spear Dr. Robert J. Spear Past President, Maryland Distance Learning Association Professor, Computer Information Systems Prince George's Community College Largo, Maryland 20774 phone: 301-322-0156 fax: 707 982-7178 ~~~ Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. ~~~ On June 18, 2004, Tom Abeles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Sam Lanfranco's comment, below, is worth serious reflection, > particularly his last sentence (copied up, here): > >> The challenge is to keep the skilled personnel in service for local >> society. ..snip... > It seems to me that the problem has been turned upside down. We need a > livable and desirable community to induce individuals to either not > leave, or in some cases, return or locate in that community. If that > exists, then the needed skills will come and/or skilled individuals will > remain. In the US we have a group of highly qualified individuals who > move to remote locations because they find them attractive, and the > infrastructure support (e.g. broad band access) and good mobility > support them in these spaces. > ICT's are not a magic bullet nor are they like a narcotic which compels > an individual or a business to become obligated or committed to a > location. They are only one of many components that make a community > desirable, though some may see them as of greater importance than other > quality of life indicators. One has to make sure that we do not see > these like the proverbial hammer where all problems begin to look like > nails. > ...There is no guarantee that with highly mobile, wireless ICT's that > communities which have "always" existed, should remain where they are in > the future. ICT's may lead to a creative destruction and reallocation of > human resources as new opportunities outweigh past static communities. > At one time, many groups of humans were nomadic. Permanance may not be a > desirable characteristic, at least as we imagine it based on our past. > On June 16, 2004, Sam Lanfranco wrote: > >> Femi is correct in this observation. The suggestion was not that >> organizational cultural changes are a prerequisite for ICT-enhanced >> skill development. The suggestion was that they are a co-requisite if >> the local society expects to both effectively utilize those skills, and >> to keep those skilled personnel in local residence, for service to the >> local society. There is no question that skilled personnel are turning >> to ICT-enhanced opportunities on an "as can" basis. For evidence of >> this, one only has to look at how wireless telephony (cell phones) have >> raced ahead, and been widely deployed, in
[GKD-DOTCOM] What's On the Horizon for Professional Development?
Dear GKD Members, The future of technology is exciting: online "face-to-face" courses with simultaneous translation; virtual reality training offering real-world experience; tiny hand-held devices providing just-in-time job mentoring from top experts. It is easy to imagine inspiring possibilities. Yet how much of this will actually be available to professionals in developing countries? And is this where our training investments should go? This week we explore the cutting edge of technology for professional development and what it means for the future. Technology R&D investment for developing countries is limited and many promising new technologies flounder for lack of support. At the same time, there is much hype about what new technologies can deliver. We need to understand where the technology trends are going, and assess them carefully in light of our concrete experience with the needs and resources of developing countries. KEY QUESTIONS: 1) What are the most innovative, cutting edge ICT-related practices currently used for professional development in developing countries? 2) Can technology innovations revolutionize professional training for developing countries? What is needed to make it happen? 3) What new technologies will significantly improve and expand professional development? What will it cost to develop these technologies -- and is it worth the cost? 4) What do cognitive and pedagogical sciences tell us about using these technologies effectively? 5) Where are the pitfalls in using these new ICTs in developing countries? 6) How do we want to be using ICTs 3 years from now? Where is the line between hype and reality? 7) How can GKD members be effective advocates for reaching these goals? We look forward to your insights regarding these questions, based on your concrete experience with professional development in developing countries. This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
