Transmission Project - technology

CTEP another example of service in support of digital literacy

Ben Sheldon — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:31:35 +0000

TECHdotMIN published an article about the Community Technology Empowerment Project (CTEP) in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. CTEP was a result of organizing efforts by Digital Arts Service Corps members, and has received further capacity building support from our Corps.

While CTEP’s model focuses more on direct service (e.g. teaching) than capacity building (e.g. writing curriculum), like the Digital Arts Service Corps, they recognize that digital literacy needs go far beyond just getting computers into the hands of community members:

“In the 21st Century, access to technology is a crucial social justice and literacy issue,” says Aaron Mendelson, second year CTEP member serving as the News and New Media Training Assistant at KFAI Radio. CTEP arose from discussions in 2001 and 2002 about the technology needs of local organization and the communities which Americorps wanted to serve. The assumption could easily be made that the communities and organizations were lacking computers, but in reality, donated computers always seemed to be the easiest to procure.

Although hardware is essential, it is also the part of a technology center that donors are most likely to fund; what was lacking were the people to design, develop and lead programming around digital literacy.

Like the Digital Arts Service Corps, CTEP is a sometimes overlooked model for digital literacy development:

The work of CTEP received national attention when, in March of this year, the FCC unveiled its National Broadband Plan to Congress. One of the plans major goals is to ensure every American has the opportunity to become digitally literate. The FCC’s key recommendation to achieve this goal is to launch a National Digital Literacy Corps, which would “organize and training youth and adults to teach digital literacy skills and enable private sector programs addressed at breaking adoption barriers.” It is a great approach, and one that was crafted by the founders of CTEP over six years ago.

Why is technology missing from CNCS's strategic plan?

Ben Sheldon — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:45:31 +0000

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that administers AmeriCorps, is readying its strategic goals for 2011-2015 [PDF]. Conspicuously absent from its goals or plan is nearly any mention of technology or media. Their proposed priorities are:

Economic Opportunity
Education
Environmental Stewardship
Disaster Services
Healthy Futures
Veterans & Military Families

Of course, technology and media can play an important role within each of these 5 priorities, but past experience has shown CNCS reluctant to explore solutions without an explicit mandate, despite a strategy to “Identify and invest in innovative local solutions, as well as the infrastructure that supports them.”

Explicitly acknowledging public media and technology infrastructure as a necessity in support of these priorities would enable many critical and impactful projects to receive support from CNCS; support for which they might otherwise be determined ineligible.

Where technology is mentioned is within CNCS’s strategic goal to fortify management and internal operations:

CNCS is committed to setting and sustaining the highest standards of stewardship. Thus building upon our current infrastructure, we will strengthen and stabilize our IT systems, grantmaking and grant management processes, human capital and transparency efforts so that CNCS is optimally positioned to enable grantees and service participants to succeed.

A focus on building IT capacity internally would be valuable, for example CNCS’s 2010 annual report recently announced “First high-speed internet access for 35 of the 52 field offices”.

Listening sessions with CNCS stakeholders [PDF] over the proposed 5-year strategic goals have identified the opportunity a focus on technology can offer for CNCS:

Challenges: Participants cited challenges related to access to opportunities, as well as at-risk populations in need of skills development and job readiness.

Opportunities: […] Additional opportunities exist to engage potential job providers and skill developers as CNCS partners and to advocate for the growing role of technology in employment and education.

Whether this stakeholder feedback will be integrated into CNCS’s strategic plan at an actionable level remains to be seen.

One place for optimism in the strategy brief is the strategy to “Embed service-based approaches with federal peers and partners that align with CNCS priorities.”

This strategy leverages CNCS’ national leadership role and potential to catalyze efforts that feature service-based solutions to pressing needs. For example, given our priorities in education, health, economic opportunity, the environment, military families and veterans and disaster services we will seek, and create where necessary, opportunities to partner and collaborate with other federal agencies and organizations. Specifically, we will prioritize those opportunities where national service combined with the capabilities and resources of our partners’ yields stronger, sustainable and scalable results.

The FCC’s National Broadband Plan recommends just such a partnership between CNCS and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)—Recommendation 9.3—in the creation of a Digital Literacy Corps. Time will tell whether CNCS or NTIA will have the capacity to develop such a large-scale partnership.

Despite the opportunity for federal-level partnership, much of CNCS’s resources are aimed at generating local non-profit partnerships. Without a specific focus on technology or media in CNCS’s strategic goals many innovative technology and media projects—and the individuals and communities they support—will not benefit from CNCS’s capacity-building service model.

Technology, Social Innovation, and Civic Participation: What's the Next Step?

admin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:18:03 +0000

Disaster, fraud and crime reporting sites provide information to civic authorities. AmberAlert has more than 7 million users who help with information on child abductions, and SERVE.GOV enables citizens to volunteer for national parks, museums and other institutions. These are just a few examples of digital tools – from social networking applications, to microblogging (e.g. Twitter), to recommendation sites like Ushahidi – that represent the new frontier of technology-mediated social participation. Whether dealing with a natural disaster, expanding health care coverage, or campaigning to make a forest a national landmark, governments and private citizens alike have found digital tools to be an effective means of reaching the masses.

But there are also clear challenges when using technology in this realm, including limited scale and potential privacy violations. Please join us as we build on two recent National Science Foundation workshops to discuss the advantages and pitfalls of social innovation and civic participation in this brave new technology-mediated world.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010
3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

The New America Foundation
1899 L St. NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20036

Closing the technology gap in education

Ben Sheldon — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:30:06 +0000

Yesterday the Department of Education released their National Education Technology Plan (NETP), an 18-month project that details how to better integrate technology and media into a cradle-to-college system. Just like the FCC’s Broadband Plan, HHS’s Health IT Plan, or DOE’s Smartgrid Proposals (to name a few), this plan recognizes the need for broader digital literacy and a strengthened media infrastructure across communities—not just within the education (or telecommunications, or health, or energy) sector:

The technology that enables connected teaching is available now, but not all the conditions necessary to leverage it are. Many of our existing educators do not have the same understanding of and ease with using technology that is part of the daily lives of professionals in other sectors and with this generation of students. The same can be said of many of the education leaders and policymakers in schools, districts, and states and of the higher education institutions that prepare new educators for the field.

This gap in technology understanding influences program and curriculum development, funding and purchase decisions about educational and information technology in schools, and preservice and in-service professional learning. Too often, this gap prevents technology from being used in ways that would improve instructional practices and learning outcomes.

Still, we must introduce connected teaching into our education system rapidly, and for that we must rely on the organizations that support educators in their profession—schools and districts, colleges of education, professional learning providers, librarians and media specialists, and professional organizations.

Active Media Foundation

admin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:44:05 +0000

Digital Media and Learning Conference

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:53:21 +0000

The Digital Media and Learning Conference is an annual event supported by the MacArthur Foundation and organized by the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub at University of California, Irvine. The conference is meant to be an inclusive, international and annual gathering of scholars and practitioners in the field, focused on fostering interdisciplinary and participatory dialog and linking theory, empirical study, policy, and practice.

The second conference will be held between March 3-5, 2011 at the Hilton Long Beach Conference and Meeting Center in Long Beach, California. The theme will be “Designing Learning Futures.”

2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:45:26 +0000

More than ever, technology is helping nonprofits tap into and build communities to create social change. Now, more than ever, our stakeholders are able to connect, share, and act on our behalf from around the globe or around the corner.

This year’s NTC will feature 80+ stellar breakout sessions divided into Leadership, Communications/Marketing, IT Staff, Fundraising and Program Tracks.

The NTC is all about connecting and learning so that you can transform technology into social change in your work and communities.

SXSW: Interactive Week

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:42:03 +0000

SXSW® Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders, the incredible new SXSW Trade Show and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer.

AMP Summit

Belinda Rawlins — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:30:49 +0000

We called it a revolution. The people-powered movement fueled by the Internet and technology has forever changed the world of activism + media + politics. The goal of AMP Summit is to explore the ongoing, distributed conversation about this revolution.

AMP Summit is an annual forum for influentials and thought leaders in the activist, media and political spheres. Public officials and regulators, experts from think tanks, trade associations, and public relations, and members of the media will attend. This conference in our nation’s capitol is intended to bring together respected colleagues and new friends to inspire new thinking, challenge traditional strategies, and create opportunities to learn from each other.

Women Who Tech

Belinda Rawlins — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:28:11 +0000

Women Who Tech brings together talented and renowned women breaking new ground in technology who use their tech savvy skills to transform the world and inspire change. We provide a supportive network for the vibrant and thriving community of women in technology professions by giving women an open platform to share their talents, experiences, and insights. The 3rd annual Women Who Tech TeleSummit will take place on September 15, 2010 from 11AM EDT to 6PM EDT, with over 800 women from across the US and abroad in the non-profit, political and business world and featuring an incredible lineup of thought provoking panels featuring technology change makers.

Women Who Tech After Parties:
Come party with Women Who Tech and get your tech on following the TeleSummit on September 15th from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM in Washington, DC, New York City, and San Francisco.