NTC08 Session Home Resources & Processes (what we've learned) Notes from the Session
(If you'd like to edit or otherwise contribute to any of these pages, contact Elissa Perry).
"When knowledge gained somewhere doesn't move elsewhere, that's not a learning organizaton; that's just a bunch of projects."
- The Saratoga Institute
A Working Definition
Learning organizations are those that seek, apply and promote information sharing and the development of knowledge and understanding, individually and collectively towards a common vision.
Web-based Tools for Information Sharing, Collaboration and Communities of Practice
There are a great many theories out there about the subject at hand. Some have 7 principles, some have 10, some have 12. There are stool analogies, triangle analogies and iceberg analogies. We talk about action research, communities of practice, and authentic assessement.... Basically, at their root, all of these schools of thought agree that learning entities - people, organizations & systems - that seek and apply and promote information sharing and the development of knowledge and understanding are successful. The "father" of the modern day framework of learning orgnanization (and the man who coined the term) is Peter Senge. An overview of his work and a link to his book can be found in the "Documents" section at the bottom of the Resources & Processes page.
This process requires exchange, reflection, and yes, what may sometimes seem like goofing off. We know about many face-to-face "technologies" like open-space, world cafe, and peer sharing that support this way of working when in close proximity with dedicated chunks of time. Time must be built into the organizations processes, plans and structures to support this culture. We don't usually have as much time as we'd like and may even be all working across distance as well as subject area in some cases, social media tools are a logical way to augment and support this work. Much of the technology behind this next generation of the web is really about a cultural shift than it is about a new coding language, gadget, or widget. Instead, “social web” is a term used to encapsulate a growing set of web-based or web-enabled tools and an emerging philosophy on how to use them. This also has huge implications and advantages for information sharing, knowledge development and being in learning relationship internally among programs and projects and externally with partners. Our information sharing must have as it's focus mutual and continuous improvement and movement toward making the collective vision reality. Information sharing and collective learning are less "extract and broadcast" and more "conversations that matter." I've listed several tools and resources in a few different categories below. Feel free to add/ask questions etc.
Technology Resources for Nonprofits/Movement Initiatives
- Social Source Commons - this site is a great resource for nonprofit technology folks to see what's out there as far as technology tools geared for nonprofit/ngo use. Members are able to see what other organizations are using a given tool and how and to what degree of satisfaction.
- NetSquared - this project of Techsoup/Compumentor is "remixing the web for social change." Under the "learn" tab on this site is a great place to learn about various social media tools.
- TechSoup
- Nonprofit Times Online
- Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (NTEN) and Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC)
- Beth's Blog
Tools
(For periodic reviews, comparisons and "round-ups" of these tools and the uses for social movements, visit and stay tuned to Techsoup, NTEN, Wild Apricot, Netsquared...or, just the listings marked with the "nptech" tag in your favorite social bookmarking application! Ask your favorite techie how!) As you begin this process, you may want to use them internally. Where to begin really depends on your organization and is very context specific.
Blogs
Aggregators/Readers
- Technorati.com is a blog aggregator. You can search blogs on this site by keywords, tags, author, etc.
- IceRocket is good for searching blogs too.
- Bloglines.com is an RSS feed reader. It allows you to subscribe to and read your blogs all in one place.
- Google Reader is another RSS feed reader. I'm in the process of switching to it because I like how well it integrates with all of the other personal information management tools that I use.
Browsers that take advantage of social media tools
- Firefox.com - This one is by far the best and most frequently updated. It integrates well with delicious, google, stumbleupon, bloglines and just about any social media tool I can think of.
- Flock.com - I used this one for a while as it has some nice features and looks nice but it's really slow and not as well integrated as Firefox.
Photo Sharing
Video sharing
Video Round Up - This resource is an annotated round up of all the web-based video sharing sites out there. While YouTube is the best known it's not the only game (or the only good game) in town.
Social Networking Sites (Most of these sites have tools such as blogs, file sharing, images, video, messaging, etc. already built in, however some are more robust, elegant and user friendly than others. Right now, my favorite is Ning).
- Ning this site provides groups with the ability to easily create their own sites for free on their social networking platform. It's pretty powerful, good and easy to use.
For the following sites, I would only create an EP presence if your partners/staff/members are already using these platforms as a way to keep connected in the virtual world as well as what Eric Eugene Kim calls "the meatspace" or the tangible world.
Open Source Content Management Solutions that play well with others (When you are ready to move to your own internally hosted, ad-free, custom-built online community platform, one of the following would be a good tool. My personal favorite is Drupal but another might be more appropriate for what emerge as your needs.
Wikis
Tagging/Social Bookmarking
Session Home Resources & Processes (what we've learned) Notes from the Session
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