Making sense of the technology landscapefor groups &communities

Nancy WhiteFull Circle Associateswww.fullcirc.com

Digital Habitats

Human spectrogram

Agenda/Scaffold:Agenda/Scaffold:Idea/Practice/Debrief/shared documentationIdea/Practice/Debrief/shared documentationPeople FormsPeople FormsPurpose ChecklistPurpose ChecklistPolarities and TensionsPolarities and TensionsPolarity self assessmentPolarity self assessmentOrientationsOrientationsSpidergramSpidergramRoles (especially technology steward and various Roles (especially technology steward and various facilitators)facilitators)The Looking GlassThe Looking Glass

http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Stewarding+Technology+for+Online+Communities

http://bit.ly/a2neSA

http://technologyforcommunities.com/

Tech + Social:Tech + Social:Technology has

fundamentally changed how we can be together

#1 People Forms(me, we, network)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/2918198742/in/set-72157603453505459/

Go Solo?

Pairs, triads and very small groups –

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/2167756791/

Fly with the flock?

Research teams...http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/2167756791/

South Africa's community nest spider

http://www.south-african-game-reserves.com/arachnidpics/comnestspid.htm

Roam the network?

Networked Individualism Barry Wellman

The connected researcher, teacher, consultant...

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualPersonal identity,

interest & trajectory

Bounded membership; group identity,

shared interest, human centered

Boundaryless; fuzzy, intersecting

interests, object centered sociality

(Engeström)

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualConsciousness, confidence level, risk tolerance, styles, emotion Distinct power/trust

dynamics, shared forward movement or strong blocking, stasis, attention to maintenance, language Flows around

blocks, less cohesion, distributed power/trust, change

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualBlogs, email, research portfolios, RSS readers, the Brain…

Forums, wikis, group blogs, content mgmt systems, LMS, platforms…Facebook,

Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia,etc…

purpose exercise

•What is the purpose of your community/group?

• Community Checklist

http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Online+Community+Planning+Checklist

revise?

• After hearing other people’s ideas, do you want to alter yours at all?

• Share any changes at your table - briefly

#2Polarities

TOGETHERNESS SEPARATENESS

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angerboy/201582453/

community timecommunity space

shifting engagement & rhythm...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldcafe/227358678/

Participation Reification

Vocabularies, tools, concepts, methods, stories, papers, pictures, reports…

Conversing, experimenting, practicing, learning, planning…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldcafe/227358678/

INTERACTING PUBLISHING

INDIVIDUAL GROUP

Designed for groups, experienced as individuals

Does not imply homogeneity

Multimembership

Attention

Togetherness Separateness

Participation Reification

Individual Group

togetherness separateness

participation reification

individual group

rhythm

interaction

identity

F2F Community platform

addressing inherentcommunity tensions Tools

Groupasynchronous

IndividualInteracting

Publishing

synchronousGroup

asynchronous

discussion boards

teleconference

chat

instant messaging

member directory

wikiblog

telephony/VoIP

individualprofile page

e-mail

e-mail lists

scratch pad

RSS

“new” indicators

subscription

podcast

contentrepository

presenceindicator

buddy list

security

Q&A systems

RSS aggregator

newsletter

calendar

videoconference

application sharing

whiteboard

site index

participation statistics

search

subgroups

personalization

communitypublic page

versioncontrol

documentmanagement

UseNet

contentrating

scheduling

polling

commenting

networking tools

tagging

bookmarking

sharedfiltering

geomapping

www.TechnologyForCommunities.com

Etienne WengerNancy WhiteJohn Smith

purpose exercise

•What polarities might show up with your community/group/network?

#3 OrientationsSpidergram

… meetings

… relationships

… community cultivation

… access to expertise

… projects

… context

… individual participation

… content publishing

… open-ended conversation

Community activities

oriented to …

Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for

communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

activities oriented to …

Community Name: KM4Devglobal knowledge sharing network

… open-ended conversation

… meetings

… projects

… access to expertise

… relationships

… context… community cultivation

… individual participation

… content publishing

Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for

communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

With only one meeting a year, large size and diversity, KM4Dev focuses on enabling individual participation.

Community knowledge wiki, content management system to bring together resources.

Email list is core of community activity

Once a year and only about 10% do/can participate.

When funding allows. E.G. supporting ShareFair

Informally via the email list by asking/answering questions.

Relationships mostly via meetings and core group. Strongly

external – all resources public/shared.

While everyone pays attention to the community, no centralized efforts…

activities oriented to …

Current and Future

… open-ended conversation

… meetings

… projects

… access to expertise

… relationships

… context… community cultivation

… individual participation

… content publishing

Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for

communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

Spidergram Exercise1. Determine if you are thinking about an existing or planned context.2. Fill in 3. Discuss w/ a peer you don't know so well4. Revise5. Group debrief

#4Roles

enable people to…

• discover & appropriate useful technology

• be in and use communities & networks (people)

• express their identity

• find and create content

• usefully participate

facilitators community leaderstechnology stewards network weaversIndependent thinkers

What the %&*# is a

technology steward?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dani3l3/364684710/

Nancy WhiteFull Circle Associates

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dani3l3/364684710/

“Technology stewards are people with enough experience of the workings of a community to understand its technology needs, and enough experience with technology to take leadership in addressing those needs…

What roles do you want to explore and talk about?

#5Looking forward…

In collaboration with Nancy White and John Smith

new fabric of connectivity

active technology landscapes

multiple engagement modes

reconfigured geographies

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

new fabric of connectivity

- - togetherness and separation

- - always on

- - virtual presence

- - peripherality

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

active technology landscape

- interacting and publishing

- social/informational computing

- semantic web

- digital footprint

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

multiple engagement modes

- generalized self-expression

- mass collaboration

- creative re-appropriation

- thin connections/weak ties

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

reconfigured geographies

- competing spaces

- multimembership

- dynamic boundaries

- global reach

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

don’t worry –

there will be bumps in the road…TALK about them

15% solution

Noticing and using the influence, discretion and power individuals have right now.

– Keith McCandless

Do we….

–let it happen?–help it happen?–make it happen?

Epilogue

Resources:

www.technologyforcommunities.com

http://bit.ly/a2neSA

ContactNancy Whitenancyw at fullcirc dot com

http:www.fullcirc.com@NancyWhite

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poagao/527259905/