FSCA Regional Workshop in Monrovia

Almost ready to the start of the second FSCA Regional Workshop here in Monrovia, Liberia. During the third day I will spend the morning introducing Communication for Development and Knowledge Sharing to the tens of people working in the seven countries (Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau) involved in the projects [...]

4th AMARC Pan African Conference

I’m very happy to participate to the AMARC Africa’s 4th Pan African Conference!
At the Conference, AMARC will gather its members, community radio stakeholders and relevant partner organizations to discuss the challenges of community radio in Africa. In his invitation, Marcelo Solervicens, Secretary General of AMARC, is eager to stimulate further collaboration between the major partners.
In [...]

KM4DEV meeting in Zeist

Two weeks ago some of the members of the km4dev list met in Zeist, The Netherlands, for a three days workshop. I was there and it was a very interesting meeting.

People with different background and from very different contexts met and spoke freely about many different topics on knowledge management. You [...]

3rd Workshop on online communities

The new workshop on online communities is starting. After the last edition, we modified the structure to take care of participants’ suggestions. So the new features of the course are:
- three weeks only and less contents to read;
- more focused on the IMARK lessons;
- fewer discussions and a different set-up of the space in our [...]

NEW COURSE is starting!!

A new course on ONLINE FACILITATION is starting!
The crew, and what a great crew, is ready again!
Welcome onboard to everyone who wants to share his/her experiences, questions, doubts and ideas with all of us. Remember that:
“…this workshop is not about simply delivering information to you. It is the conversations we will have with each [...]

Learning log – Week #5: mixing text and audio

It was nice hearing voices – It adds the personal touch to it all.
I think integrating audio, if it is possible, in an online workshop would be a brilliant idea.
Comments about sound experiment remind that Africa is rooted in the oral culture and traditions. At times audio messages are not only informative but entertaining. Different [...]

Learning log – Week #5: final comments

“I was especially happy to be exposed to using tools (e.g. Dgroups, blogs, etc) which I had only seen, but never quite understood how they worked. I am glad we have been able to start one D-group as a result of this workshop. I’ll now be looking to identify & advise on areas where [...]

Learning Log – Week #4: tell the group you’re changing hats

“IF we are called on to shift our role, it is useful to tell the group what you are doing.
Transparency is even more important online – otherwise people can make assumptions which are often quite different than our intentions.”

Learning Log – Week #3: many members each take a bit of the load

“The one-man (person) show is untenable and we have to find alternatives and quickly…
I have to chime in again – I can’t resist. This point is CENTRAL to successful network work. It cannot be a hub with one person at the middle and the rest of the network like spokes. There [...]

Learning Log – Week #3: Trust is central

“Very related to norms and agreements is building relationship and trust in a group. Sometimes this is hard. There is a tension caused by a lack of time. When people are busy, they are less inclined to spend time building relationships, and developing trust with others in a network. Yet trust is central for [...]

Learning Log – Week #2: Start ONLINE

“I have found that pre-F2F work online makes F2F meetings more productive. For groups that have to go online and have a chance to be F2F, I usually suggest they start ONLINE first.
This helps people test their sense of others online, gain some identity and trust, then when they go F2F not only does the [...]

Learning Log – Week #2: Motivations

“People often don’t learn a skill just to learn it. Try to make sure people have applications in mind before doing the training. It helps!
When expressing this, you might also want to include WHY this is important. Help them see POSSIBILITIES. Some people have a clear picture of why. Others may need some illustrations or [...]

Learning Log – Week #2: Organizational change

“We may be trying to facilitate collaboration and networking, but we may not be operating in an organizational culture with this competency. When we fail, we often blame it on the technology. If we look closer, it can often be related to our organizational culture. So looking at initiatives that reinforce the value of and [...]

Learning Log – Week #2: Meaning and value for participants

“How might you communicate with your participants to market your online interaction space? Remember: if you build it, they may not come!
There is the saying that you can build something that is wonderful, but unless others know about it, care about it and want to participate, they won’t come. Just setting up an email list [...]

Learning Log – Week #2: Facilitation tips

“It was great to see that when a newcomer made an introduction, members of the group chimed in to offer a welcome. This is great from the facilitator’s perspective. One facilitation tip is to role model the behavior you want to encourage and once it is taken up, ease back.
Furthermore, some of us help “hear” [...]