7. The proliferation of internet based tools has expanded what it means to "be
together" with others for learning, work and pleasure. How do we decide when
to focus on the individual, the group or the wider network? What are the
strengths and weaknesses of each? How does our choice inform our selection
of tools and methods? And what about all the gray area "in between" each of
these?
e#
16. Some of the roles that I’ve been looking at are community leaders, network
weavers and technology stewards. Community leaders are a more familiar
role, helping defined groups achieve specific goals over a period of time.
“Helping” may mean creating conditions, supporting the emergence of
relationships or individual and/or group identity, managing, etc. Network
weavers are a new role (See the work of June Holley et al at http://
www.networkweaving.com/blog/) – “people who facilitate new connections and
increase the quality of those connections.” In between community leaders and
network weavers are technology stewards – they show up both in groups/
communities AND networks.
Kd#
17. Ten years ago, when someone wanted to set up a set of tools to support a
community of practice, they called up IT. Install Lotus notes. “Give me a
SharePoint set up.” And that was that. Communities rarely had control of their
online environments. There was a gulf between designers and users. Unless
of course, they were coders. Now we have access to a wide variety of tools,
some of which are technically difficult to set up, and others that are available
at a click of the button. Who is paying attention to these tools?
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Ke#
18. Technology stewardship is not a solo gig, but by, of and for the community. It
is about that balance between control and emergence, between "self-
organizing" and "organizing on behalf of others." It balances the wisdom of the
group, with the reality of getting things done.
Kf#