Non Profits & Technology

Along with AEC1131, I am also enrolled in AEC1182: "Teaching and Working in Non Profits and Public Sector Organizations." This course has exposed me to a wealth of knowledge about the nonprofit sector, and the numerous challenges faced by such organizations. Funding and staffing are just a couple of the big concerns faced by the nonprofit sector, but throw the internet into this mix and you've got a whole new set of issues!

I think this quote from Sherida's paper on the Online Social Economy really addresses some of the key concerns on nonprofits and internet use:

"The majority of nonprofit associations have limited resources, both human and financial. They rely with varying degree on volunteers, who often have an uneasy relationship with technology. This lack of familiarity with information and communication media has also been a characteristic of many nonprofit managers and decision-makers in funding agencies. Organizations that do not have technology champions in positions of leadership tend to be wary of emerging technology (Corder, 2001). Added to this, nonprofit organizations have traditionally engaged in hands-on activity, often with the disadvantaged who have limited, if any, access to the Internet. All of these factors can make it difficult for nonprofits to justify investment in technology as a priority." (Ryan, 2008).

I think it's easy to forget that while technology is a useful thing, ignoring the 'hands-on' aspect of most nonprofit work denies the original purpose of such organizations; to address the needs of a community and assist its members on a face-to-face basis. While I say this, I am equally aware from this class and my day-to-day life, that there is no way to ignore the need for technology resources to supplement and inform people about the face-to-face services that nonprofits provide.

A great web resource for Canandian nonprofits is Techsoup Canada. (http://www.techsoupcanada.ca/)

I found this through some online browsing, and was pleasantly surprised to find out what Techsoup does for the nonprofit community. Techsoup is a nonprofit technology asssitance agency. Their mandate is to provide assistance to nonprofits in acquiring, using and sustaining technology for their organization.

I think the work of Techsoup is necessary for nonprofits to have both a face-to-face and online presence in the current social landscape. The ideal situation is for nonprofits to be able to maintain that fine balance between a meaningful online presence and serving their community's needs.

Techsoup even has a presence in the online virtual community of SecondLife! Here's a short video on Techsoup & SecondLife:




ENJOY!

facebook inspires a generation..

This post is merely for my selfish desire to share this video with the world, as it amuses me greatly. ENJOY!

(p.s. favorite line: "I'd shrivel up and die without my mini-feed -- faceboooooook!")



:)

To trust or not to trust: that is the question…

How could I talk about trust without bringing up the latest facebook controversy? I mean, Whoopi was even talking about it on ‘the View’ yesterday. Here’s the situation: Earlier this month facebook modified their terms of service agreement, and from what I’ve read, thoroughly confused people as to the ownership of information that is placed online. The new terms of service appear to give facebook free reign over member content even after it is deleted. If there’s anything I’ve learned from our class thus far, it’s that transparency is something we’re going to have to face in today’s internet age where most information is out there as a free-for-all.

As I browsed for information on this issue, I found tons of information online. The consumerist did a great article highlighting key section of the terms of use that people have issues with ( Feb. 15: http://consumerist.com/5150175/facebooks-new-terms-of-service-we-can-do-anything-we-want-with-your-content-forever) Mark Zuckerburg, creator of facebook, claims that facebook’s terms on ownership of information is similar to any email site, which still has access to deleted emails.

Interestingly, another article from ‘the Industry Standard’ claims it is likely the issue will be resolved by today (Feb. 16: http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/02/16/facebook-claims-permanent-rights-user-content). Funny enough, today the following post was available in the facebook group of users against the new terms of service:

“In the meantime, we’ve decided to revert to the old Terms as we work to address this. Mark has explained this in more detail in another blog post (http://blog.facebook.com), and we’ve created a group where people can provide input (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69048030774). We hope you’ll join this group and post comments. We promise to use these comments to help construct a new Terms of Use that reflects the principles around how people share and control their information, and that’s written clearly in language everyone can understand.” (Link to the group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=77069107432).

I found it interesting that all these issues connect with the issue of trust that we’ve been discussing and reading about in our class. According to Nissenbaum, “if conditions are wrongly stipulated, then efforts to achieve trust may be misdirected.” This is exactly what happened with the trust of facebook users. The terms of service clearly breached rights of facebook users and the trust was broken between the users and the website.

However, Nissenbaum also stated that ‘access control’, ‘transparency of identity’, and ‘surveillance’ were what gave people a sense of security under his assertion that trust is achieved through security. In this case, users declared a certain level of discomfort with the surveillance of their information… but this is the same surveillance that should make them feel safe. It seems like it is always hard to see where the line should be drawn between keeping privacy safe and breaching someone’s privacy.

I’m curious to hear what any of you think about this issue … so let’s hear it :)

By the way, for some more background on the facebook terms of service issue, check out this video from Keith Parnell (an American tech writer):

(START WATCHING AT 1:42)

Reflections on informal learning ...

The further I go in my formal education... the more I begin to see how I am learning informally. The best kind of learning encourages and facilitates reflection, which is why I love the concept of informal learning.

According to Livingstone (1999), informal learning is "any activity involving the pursuit of understanding, knowledge or skill which occurs outside the curricula of educational institutions, or the courses or workshops offered by educational or social agencies." Isn't this synonymous with life? Our lives are full of informal learning, whether it be of any of the three forms mentioned; self-directed, incidental or socialization.

The class exercise about whether there could be a fourth type of learning where 'intention' was present but 'awareness' was not reminded me of a particular instance of learning I had recently. I was involved in making a podcast for a workplace initiative, and although I am somewhat web proficient, I had never used Mac based programs for creating video and audio files... I was a Mac newbie, suddenly being exposed to the shiny, new & vibrant world of the Apple computer!! (I can be overdramatic sometimes ;) )

In the process of creating these projects (intention: to create podcasts), I was unaware that I was becoming a more proficient Mac user; learning Mac shortcuts and in general, feeling more comfortable as a Mac user. Furthermore, I was learning more and more about Web 2.0 technologies and web platforms that supported what i was doing. I felt like I was being exposed to... well, a whole new world! (...cue in the Aladdin music!)

Now that I've read some our class readings, I can see that the principles of Andragogy were definitely facilitating my learning. According to Merriam (2001) the five assumptions underlying andragogy describe the adult learner as someone who:

(1) has an independent self-concept and who can direct his or her own learning
(2) has accumulated a reservoir of life experiences that is a rich resource for learning
(3) has learning needs closely related to changing social roles
(4) is problem-centered and interested in immediate application of knowledge
(5) is motivated to learn by internal rather than external factors

All these things were going on during my Mac exploration, but (4) was probably the one I was focused on in this situation.

Looking back on my podcasts & vodcasts (video podcasts), I now see a million things I can improve, and I am definitely more critical of them .. but it's a learning process right? Here's a link to a few of the vodcasts done by UofT students.

Ciao,
Suzanne