When we set up online systems for groups the specification usually includes 'forums'. These are online places where people who share interests can gather to share and exchange ideas, information and knowledge. However, forums are rarely very active. The next generation of internet tools (aka Web 2.0) offer new ways of thinking about linking people who share interests. The screencast below gives an idea of the possibilities.
This is just an idea. We'd be really interested to hear what you think. View the slidecast.
If the presentation doesn't load (it has been known) then it can be downloaded here. The audio to go with it is here.
ruralnet|online feed
Since I posted this . . . ,
Since I posted this . . . , which had already been informed by others, including Ed Mitchell, I have been pointed by David Wilcox to another piece by Ed in which he says:
"The ‘community’ is now a ‘community defined by keyword’ rather than a login to a walled garden. The key is in aggregating all this activity from multiple locations into one space and making sense of it there, and providing a central space from which to present the group’s identity and advocate on its behalf, without ever demanding the group go there."
See http://www.edmitchell.co.uk/blog/2008/01/19/three-types-of-facilitation/
This is a long piece but well worth reading. Thanks again Ed.
I've also spotted this and
I've also spotted this and joined up http://elgg.jiscemerge.org.uk/ lots of overlap and I'm doing a blog post over there to see what cross pollination we can do (Roger Greenhalgh is there too)