I'll start!
I've been involved in online community work since 1997. My first project was called "Empowering Educators", a community for teachers using educational software called Zebu. I can find very little about it now online -- here's one short mention of it. But I still have a huge binder full of hand written notes and drawings from the design process. When I review that binder I realize how much I learned about online communities by just diving in and being supported by great people -- especially Esther Tiessen who was a visiting professor at SFU at the time.
That experience has repeated itself a few times. I dive in, and connect with fantastic people for support and advice. That's why I'm so excited about May 1st, and the possibility of building support network in BC. I think we could be doing a lot together to advance our work.
Leap ahead to 2009...My current role is manager of BCcampus online communities. We have a list of communities we support that is quickly getting out of date. To summarize, I need that support network now more than ever!
More about my online community work on my blog, and wiki.
Next! Who are you and what is your involvement in online communities?
I've been involved in online community work since 1997. My first project was called "Empowering Educators", a community for teachers using educational software called Zebu. I can find very little about it now online -- here's one short mention of it. But I still have a huge binder full of hand written notes and drawings from the design process. When I review that binder I realize how much I learned about online communities by just diving in and being supported by great people -- especially Esther Tiessen who was a visiting professor at SFU at the time.
That experience has repeated itself a few times. I dive in, and connect with fantastic people for support and advice. That's why I'm so excited about May 1st, and the possibility of building support network in BC. I think we could be doing a lot together to advance our work.
Leap ahead to 2009...My current role is manager of BCcampus online communities. We have a list of communities we support that is quickly getting out of date. To summarize, I need that support network now more than ever!
More about my online community work on my blog, and wiki.Next! Who are you and what is your involvement in online communities?
Hello Everyone!
My name is Leva Lee. I work with Sylvia at BCcampus where I am Manager of the BC Educational Technology Users Group (ETUG). With the help of Sylvia, I steward/moderate the ETUG Online Community, one of the online communities supported by BCcampus.
I look forward to meeting you all this week and sharing ideas and strategies on how to build stronger and more robust communities in support of our respective groups.
I love the gardening metaphor you've used Sylvia for our Online Enthusiasts meeting...How true it is that we all need to do our part in building the online community whether it is in the weeding, watering or waiting in sweet anticipation for the harvest. Not surprising to find many online enthusiasts are also gardening enthusiasts too
My name is Leva Lee. I work with Sylvia at BCcampus where I am Manager of the BC Educational Technology Users Group (ETUG). With the help of Sylvia, I steward/moderate the ETUG Online Community, one of the online communities supported by BCcampus.
I look forward to meeting you all this week and sharing ideas and strategies on how to build stronger and more robust communities in support of our respective groups.
I love the gardening metaphor you've used Sylvia for our Online Enthusiasts meeting...How true it is that we all need to do our part in building the online community whether it is in the weeding, watering or waiting in sweet anticipation for the harvest. Not surprising to find many online enthusiasts are also gardening enthusiasts too
Who am I? What am I? hee hee.
I'm Nancy White, aka choconancy and have been living a fulsome online and offline life since 1997 when I joined Howard Rheingold's Electric Minds online community and had a life changing experience. My online identity home base is http://www.fullcirc.com, but you can find digital traces of me all over the place, and all my fellow Nancy White's . (There are a LOT of them!) I have been writing and practicing all things online for many years and still am just a learner - that is how expansive the pioneering territory is in my view.
Right now I'm active on the Well, CPSquare, KM4Dev and a bunch of others. But I think the significant change in the past couple of years is that a lot of my online activity has been more network like, than community like, so I'm deeply interested in this continuum of me (individual), we( group) and the network. I think the rise of the network has significant implications for communities - and how we steward/facilitate/manage them.
I live in Seattle, Washington (yeah, part of Cascadia), I have two sons 21 and 24, garden and LOVE chocolate.
I'm Nancy White, aka choconancy and have been living a fulsome online and offline life since 1997 when I joined Howard Rheingold's Electric Minds online community and had a life changing experience. My online identity home base is http://www.fullcirc.com, but you can find digital traces of me all over the place, and all my fellow Nancy White's . (There are a LOT of them!) I have been writing and practicing all things online for many years and still am just a learner - that is how expansive the pioneering territory is in my view.
Right now I'm active on the Well, CPSquare, KM4Dev and a bunch of others. But I think the significant change in the past couple of years is that a lot of my online activity has been more network like, than community like, so I'm deeply interested in this continuum of me (individual), we( group) and the network. I think the rise of the network has significant implications for communities - and how we steward/facilitate/manage them.
I live in Seattle, Washington (yeah, part of Cascadia), I have two sons 21 and 24, garden and LOVE chocolate.
I live in Portland, a little further south in Cascadia. I probably put more time into http://cpsquare.org (my main community project) than I do into http://LearningAlliances.net (my business).
Recently I've been thinking a lot about wikis and how they connect to communities. So many tricky issues there! At the Recent Changes Camp here in Portland a couple months ago, Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the wiki, made a comment to the effect that, "To a community, 'not done' is good news." I think that's true and yet it's problematic for the organizations that support communities.
I'm excited to spend the day with the group and get to know everybody.
Recently I've been thinking a lot about wikis and how they connect to communities. So many tricky issues there! At the Recent Changes Camp here in Portland a couple months ago, Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the wiki, made a comment to the effect that, "To a community, 'not done' is good news." I think that's true and yet it's problematic for the organizations that support communities.
I'm excited to spend the day with the group and get to know everybody.
Thanks for responding to the "who are you" question! I'll add to John and Nancy's intro that they are authors with Etienne Wenger of the forthcoming book Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities. There are some great resources on the book site, like this action notebook.
And you? Who are you and what is your involvement in online communities? Don't feel you need to post a big story. Just a sentence is fine, too!
And you? Who are you and what is your involvement in online communities? Don't feel you need to post a big story. Just a sentence is fine, too!
Hi everyone. I’m Alyssa Wise, an assistant professor in the educational technology and learning design program at the Surrey campus of SFU here in Vancouver. My current involvement with online communities (or as I much prefer to think of it – online spaces that support communities) is to prepare future designers/caretakers of these spaces by helping them develop conceptual frameworks for thinking about issues of learning communities and connect these to online design practice (no small task!).
I teach a graduate course on this topic every fall and right now have several master’s students who are implementing and researching the spaces they’ve created for their theses project. I also conduct research on tools to help people engage with each other across differences in time, space and experience, and in my (non-existent) spare time consult with organizations that are looking to create these kinds of spaces to support their employees/members/etc.
I’m still relatively new to this corner of the world (originally from New York with stops in Brazil, Ecuador, Indiana and San Francisco along the way), so excited to connect with everyone on Friday.
Hi All,
I'm Barbara Berry, a long time community enthusiast. As a Program Director in the Learning and Instructional Development Centre (LIDC) at SFU, I have loads of opportunity to work with faculty in health sciences and in the TechOne Program. I support community building among faculty and facilitate a communities of practice approach whenever I can.
In my spare time, I provide consulting support to organizations and professional groups (mostly in the health sector) who are keen on learning about how to use technologies to strengthen their communities of practice. On several occassions I have showcased Scope as a great online CoP among community enthusiasts.
I'm looking forward to the gathering on Friday!
I'm Barbara Berry, a long time community enthusiast. As a Program Director in the Learning and Instructional Development Centre (LIDC) at SFU, I have loads of opportunity to work with faculty in health sciences and in the TechOne Program. I support community building among faculty and facilitate a communities of practice approach whenever I can.
In my spare time, I provide consulting support to organizations and professional groups (mostly in the health sector) who are keen on learning about how to use technologies to strengthen their communities of practice. On several occassions I have showcased Scope as a great online CoP among community enthusiasts.
I'm looking forward to the gathering on Friday!
I've worked in online/distance education since about 1998 - how times have changed! Teachers and learners in our courses now (online/distance and "regular") are much more involved and connected and supported by technology to build and sustain communities. I'm always looking for effective, innovative, or just neato ways to help them do this.
I'm currently an instructional designer for Royal Roads University, and an active member in the steering committee for educational technology users group (scetug/etug) with Leva and Sylvia.
Lately, the importance of online communities has increased for me, personally and professionally. Last fall, I moved from Victoria to the toolies in the Okanagan. This means I now stay connected and work on projects entirely at a distance. I have gone from being under-whelmed by wikis to being a huge fan of them.
One thing I struggle with is staying on top of it all - wikis here, forums there, tweets and blogs and feeds and emails, etc, etc...my current best practice is iGoogle with a whack of subscriptions, organized in tabs. I'm interested to know how others manage.
Another thing I struggle with is being primarily a lurker vs. active participant. I think it's related to the above :)
Very much looking forward to seeing you all on Friday!
I'm currently an instructional designer for Royal Roads University, and an active member in the steering committee for educational technology users group (scetug/etug) with Leva and Sylvia.
Lately, the importance of online communities has increased for me, personally and professionally. Last fall, I moved from Victoria to the toolies in the Okanagan. This means I now stay connected and work on projects entirely at a distance. I have gone from being under-whelmed by wikis to being a huge fan of them.
One thing I struggle with is staying on top of it all - wikis here, forums there, tweets and blogs and feeds and emails, etc, etc...my current best practice is iGoogle with a whack of subscriptions, organized in tabs. I'm interested to know how others manage.
Another thing I struggle with is being primarily a lurker vs. active participant. I think it's related to the above :)
Very much looking forward to seeing you all on Friday!
Hello everyone. I'm Alice MacGillivray (AKA amacgillivray in Skype and 4KM in twitter and a few other IDs) and I will be arriving a bit late from Victoria on Friday morning.
I've been spending some time thinking about who I am lately, which is partly a product of having recently completed a PhD (at Fielding Graduate U). I'm definitely a resident of Cascadia (having abandoned Ontario as soon as I could legally do so). And yet I often feel as if I am more closely tied to my online colleagues, connections and communities than I am to any specific geographic community. These "virtual" connections are much more profound than I could have guessed 15 years ago. Nancy - you will be pleased to know your influence has reached a new level: I am starting to enjoy chocolate!
I probably have many direct and indirect connections with people coming to this event. From a BC university perspective, I studied a long time ago at UVic and have taught in the CACE program there. I was a program director at Royal Roads (Knowledge Management) and was often involved with online learning sorts of things including the Premier's summit (or similar term?) where I facilitated higher ed discussions with BC Campus rep's and others. The communities of practice course in our MA (which involved John & Nancy in various ways) was hugely successful. My son was part of the kooky team that won the BC Campus Dare2BDigital contest, which was a great spectator sport. One of my online community homes is CPsquare. A current experiment is working with Smart People magazine where I am the twitter network person and the conduit between those of us working with social technologies and the Editorial Board. I'm also facilitating some connections there with Knowledge in the Public Interest (KPI) and Fielding around an education reform jam. I think conduit is a big part of my identity.
One of my push-rock-uphill projects is to try to support a CoP for leaders in park and protected area organizations. That is probably where I feel the least effective, but I'm tenacious!
Looking forward to seeing you/meeting you soon.
I've been spending some time thinking about who I am lately, which is partly a product of having recently completed a PhD (at Fielding Graduate U). I'm definitely a resident of Cascadia (having abandoned Ontario as soon as I could legally do so). And yet I often feel as if I am more closely tied to my online colleagues, connections and communities than I am to any specific geographic community. These "virtual" connections are much more profound than I could have guessed 15 years ago. Nancy - you will be pleased to know your influence has reached a new level: I am starting to enjoy chocolate!
I probably have many direct and indirect connections with people coming to this event. From a BC university perspective, I studied a long time ago at UVic and have taught in the CACE program there. I was a program director at Royal Roads (Knowledge Management) and was often involved with online learning sorts of things including the Premier's summit (or similar term?) where I facilitated higher ed discussions with BC Campus rep's and others. The communities of practice course in our MA (which involved John & Nancy in various ways) was hugely successful. My son was part of the kooky team that won the BC Campus Dare2BDigital contest, which was a great spectator sport. One of my online community homes is CPsquare. A current experiment is working with Smart People magazine where I am the twitter network person and the conduit between those of us working with social technologies and the Editorial Board. I'm also facilitating some connections there with Knowledge in the Public Interest (KPI) and Fielding around an education reform jam. I think conduit is a big part of my identity.
One of my push-rock-uphill projects is to try to support a CoP for leaders in park and protected area organizations. That is probably where I feel the least effective, but I'm tenacious!
Looking forward to seeing you/meeting you soon.
Hi there community enthusiasts!
I'm just totally thrilled to see this community enthusiasts day happening. How exciting to share our experiences and passion for bringing communities to life. Can't wait to see you all and hear what inspires you, surprises you and makes you think in online communities.
I'm Paul Stacey. I've been involved with online communities for a long time as a participant, active voice, and founder. I'm the Director of Communications, System Relations and Academic Services at BCcampus where I'm fortunate enough to work with Sylvia and Leva who are community facilitators extraodinaire. Together we host a whole network of online communities.
In fact how to create networks of communities has been on my mind over the past while. How big should a commuity be? What's the right blend of public and private spaces in a community? What connects communities to each other? What brings communities to life? I'm exploring the frontiers of these questions.
Look forward to exploring them with you too.
Paul
I'm just totally thrilled to see this community enthusiasts day happening. How exciting to share our experiences and passion for bringing communities to life. Can't wait to see you all and hear what inspires you, surprises you and makes you think in online communities.
I'm Paul Stacey. I've been involved with online communities for a long time as a participant, active voice, and founder. I'm the Director of Communications, System Relations and Academic Services at BCcampus where I'm fortunate enough to work with Sylvia and Leva who are community facilitators extraodinaire. Together we host a whole network of online communities.
In fact how to create networks of communities has been on my mind over the past while. How big should a commuity be? What's the right blend of public and private spaces in a community? What connects communities to each other? What brings communities to life? I'm exploring the frontiers of these questions.
Look forward to exploring them with you too.
Paul
Hello Everyone,
I have been involved in various Community building initiatives since the mid 90s - I have a keen interest in the software (preferably open source) available to set up dynamic COPs as well as recruitment and retention principles.
Currently, I oversee a few Communities, including at work. I use Moodle for our BSN Community at Kwantlen Polytechnic University -for all of our document sharing, announcements, voting using the poll function, forums for dialogue, workload selection using the databases, etc. I have set up another community using Drupal for our Curriulum Revisions - http://nursingpedagogy.com/BSN/
Professionally I've also used Drupal for the Canadian Nursing Informatics Association member site - http://www.cnia.ca/membersonly/ but we use Moodle for our Journal reviewing and Conference planning - http://www.cnia.ca/scholarly/
For the Community part of the First Nations Pedagogy Online site that Sylvia and I worked on, I used Joomla - http://firstnationspedagogy.ca/FNcommunity/ but Moodle was used for the Learning Centre section: http://firstnationspedagogy.ca/learning/ We also initiated a Facebook Community for this project: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9035763633
I find all three of these software excellent for community building but am very eager to hear what others use.
June Kaminski, RN MSN PhD(c)
Nursing Faculty and Curriculum Coordinator
BSN Nursing Program,
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
June.Kaminski@kwantlen.ca
I have been involved in various Community building initiatives since the mid 90s - I have a keen interest in the software (preferably open source) available to set up dynamic COPs as well as recruitment and retention principles.
Currently, I oversee a few Communities, including at work. I use Moodle for our BSN Community at Kwantlen Polytechnic University -for all of our document sharing, announcements, voting using the poll function, forums for dialogue, workload selection using the databases, etc. I have set up another community using Drupal for our Curriulum Revisions - http://nursingpedagogy.com/BSN/
Professionally I've also used Drupal for the Canadian Nursing Informatics Association member site - http://www.cnia.ca/membersonly/ but we use Moodle for our Journal reviewing and Conference planning - http://www.cnia.ca/scholarly/
For the Community part of the First Nations Pedagogy Online site that Sylvia and I worked on, I used Joomla - http://firstnationspedagogy.ca/FNcommunity/ but Moodle was used for the Learning Centre section: http://firstnationspedagogy.ca/learning/ We also initiated a Facebook Community for this project: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9035763633
I find all three of these software excellent for community building but am very eager to hear what others use.
June Kaminski, RN MSN PhD(c)
Nursing Faculty and Curriculum Coordinator
BSN Nursing Program,
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
June.Kaminski@kwantlen.ca
"Who am I?" Seems like such an innocent question...
(...hours later, emerging from his subterranean lair) My name is Scott Leslie. I work for BCcampus. My primary focus is in helping BC post-secondary educators share open content. The *lack* of community in how we've tried to do this is maybe one of the chief problems I face.
I don't know that I am "in charge" of any communities (indeed I find that phrase a bit odd) but am active with a few of the communities that BCcampus helps facilitate. I have been trying to help start up a new grassroots group of people using Wordpress in Education here in BC. I continually meddle in our own organization's "knowledge management" needs and try to inject social ways to do this better. Finally I blog at http://www.edtechpost.ca/wordpress/ and participate in the global conspiracy to open up education for all.
Mostly I'm coming because I do what Sylvia tells me to, and it would be crazy to pass up the opportunity to learn with a group like this. See you tomorrow!
(...hours later, emerging from his subterranean lair) My name is Scott Leslie. I work for BCcampus. My primary focus is in helping BC post-secondary educators share open content. The *lack* of community in how we've tried to do this is maybe one of the chief problems I face.
I don't know that I am "in charge" of any communities (indeed I find that phrase a bit odd) but am active with a few of the communities that BCcampus helps facilitate. I have been trying to help start up a new grassroots group of people using Wordpress in Education here in BC. I continually meddle in our own organization's "knowledge management" needs and try to inject social ways to do this better. Finally I blog at http://www.edtechpost.ca/wordpress/ and participate in the global conspiracy to open up education for all.
Mostly I'm coming because I do what Sylvia tells me to, and it would be crazy to pass up the opportunity to learn with a group like this. See you tomorrow!