Hello "Click4hpers" !!
I am overwhelmed by the speed by which this list has launched itself into
existence.
You may be interested to hear that by 6:30 pm on May 7th we had 225 people
subscribed to the list. We might conclude there is much interest among those
working in Health Promotion here in Canada and elsewhere, for what the
internet holds for health promotion. As Alison and I discussed the inception
of the list for the purpose of providing a lead in to the Workshop we are
presenting at the Canadian Public Health Association Conference in Vancouver
in July, we had no idea so many would want to join in. Clearly we will be
using the list, collectively, to exchange information and resources, to
share lessons learned and to explore with each other our informed
understanding of how this venue can transform and enhance the way we work.
As facilitators on-line we have many functions - not unlike those we might
find in the literal feild of our work. Alison and I extend to you an
invitation to send your comments about how the list is moving along and of
course we would welcome your contributions in facilitating different aspects.
I believe the volume and wealth of experience we have among us here will
indicate the need from time to time, to condense and repost in a permanent
site, the work we do together. My experience has lead me to believe we begin
together and then as required we add new tools or create additional venues,
on-line, to get the work done. We may also want to begin to identify some
common headers for postings to help us easily sort and respond to queries,
discussion and debate, requests for resources etc. Alison and I will be
working on this over the next week so please send along your suggestions for
categorizing the postings by email.
For those who have just joined us - welcome - there were 97 new subscribers
today - Please let us know who you are and tell us a little bit about your
interests and aspirations for the list.
I would like to get the ball rolling here by asking:
What are your lessons learned to date with respect to incorporating computer
mediated communication (cmc) in your work?
You may want to take one aspect training, facilitating, on-line mediation,
creating on-line culture/atmosphere, mentoring, connectivity planning and
design in health promotion, etc., and roll out your observations in small bites.
For example:
Training:
In assisting the Growing Up Healthy Downtown partners to use a virtual
workplace to coordinate this large project we learned a thing or two! You
can find the full case study, "Putting Growing Up Healthy Downtown On-Line",
off the OPC pages http://www.opc.on.ca following the links for NEW and
clicking on observations for three on-line efforts. Typically, we have found
there are two key phases to making the transition to working on-line,
getting connected and mastering the technical skills and, figuring out what
to do once you are there.
We installed internet access in eight community sites, put 25 people
on-line, and learned:
1. Place the machine where the people you want on-line will have access to
it and be sure it has a phone beside it!
2. Don't train people until they have their accounts & id's set-up, modems
and software installed and working.
3. Consciously plan how you will shift your literal communication patterns
to incorporate the capacities of the virtual environment.
Nothing like stating the obvious - but you'd be surprised at what people
will do.
We all can recall attending computer training and walking out and promptly
forgetting 50% of it! We also provided on-site training and trouble shooting
to each site.
4. Provide leadership and on-line mentoring to facilitate
"just-in-time-learning", in this case to support people through the learning
curve.
I'm sure you will hear more about the concept of "just-in-time-learning" as
we begin our work.
Liz Rykert
cofacilitator - click4hp
****************************************************************************
**********
Liz Rykert * facilitator <act.cuts.ont>
Coordinator, Growing Up Healthy Downtown *
http://community.web.net/act.cuts.ont
Family Service Association of Metro Toront * <bright.futures.net>
24 Wellesley St. E, Toronto, Ont. M4Y 1G3 * <guhd.net>
p(416)927-8500 f(416)927-8291 * http://www.opc.on.ca/
<[log in to unmask]> * co-owner - <[log in to unmask]>
****************************************************************************
**********
|
