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Although storytelling has been around for centuries, we are just now realizing the value that it can hold for organizations. I just read a great article about this very topic, specifically focusing on a new kind of understanding of knowledge management (KM) called ‘narrative management’. The article, ‘Narrative Patterns: Uses of Story in the Third Age of Knowledge Management’ by David Snowden, explains how we have moved from an understanding of knowledge management that juxtaposes tacit + explicit knowledge, to knowledge as a more codified form: taking what we know and converting it into a public asset.
Now we are shifting to a new understanding of KM, which looks at content, context and narrative management as three separate spheres – which, when each understood properly, make KM more effective. What do they each refer to?
• Content management focuses on the kind of knowledge that can be removed easily from the person or thing holding it;
• Context management focuses on the knowledge that is shared through connecting people, such as through social networking;
• Narrative management falls somewhere between these two, and is about, well, stories! Storytelling is a natural process of sharing knowledge that humans have done for centuries. It can be captured easily through audio or film, and directly places the knowledge holder in the middle of the story (in context).
How does this help telecentre.org? In strengthening knowledge sharing in telecentre networks, it helps us to understand the most effective ways for knowledge to be shared. And you know what? Storytelling is becoming much more popular again now with this realization. That’s why in the near future, keep your eyes on the telecentre.org website for upcoming profiles about the experiences of a number of women in telecentres, and the stories they have to share. Hopefully we will all be able to learn from these stories and gain new insight into gender and telecentre-related issues.
Reference:
David Snowden, Narrative Patterns: Uses of Story in the Third Age of Knowledge Management, Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2002) 1-6.
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March 7th, 2007 @ 10:04AM |
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Although a number of projects exist globally where community radio projects have incorporated telecentres, and vice versa, very little research – if any – has been done on the synergies between them.
Community radio continues to be an important mode of information communication, particularly in rural areas, in many countries. Moreover, telecentres represent much more than the ICTs that they house – they are places for social congregation within the community, where people can gather and support each other in gaining knowledge and learning new skills. So, what does this mean for telecentres to house community radio initiatives?
I will be blogging about this more and more while I’m researching the topic in the Latin American and Caribbean region – to see how community radio + telecentres work together. The questions I will be asking are things like:
- How might telecentres (and the technologies they provide access to) change the distribution and dissemination of radio content (ex. podcasting), particularly within a network?
- How might the community radio’s audience affect telecentre usage/ user numbers? Or vice versa (where telecentre users may represent a ‘live’ audience, for example)?
- Does the telecentre act as an extension of the radio?
- It is likely that telecentre + CR initiatives are need of specific knowledge and resources, such as in terms of sustainability, and diffusion of information within the community. What are specific training and capacity-building needs?
- What is the driving force behind the individuals who run community radio + telecentre initiatives? Often, these are the people who make things happen.
- Most importantly, what can we take away from these findings, and how can this knowledge help other community radio and telecentre initiatives? How can we promote this integration in ways that may work in other contexts?
Research will not be limited to these questions, but the above is just a brief snapshot of the things I am considering. All comments and ideas welcome.
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October 12th, 2006 @ 4:14PM |
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Currently, our partners from Fundación Esplai in Spain are visiting us at telecentre.org - a very inspiring story indeed. Apart from the other social development programming they do, Fundación Esplai supports a network of 5,000 telecentres across Spain.
A few things set them apart: essentially, the have a 'tester' telecentre network called 'Conecta Jóven' (Youth Connect), a program which recruits and trains youth volunteers from ages 16 - 18 in their last year of highschool to provide ICT capacity training to others within their social networks and other social institutions. In this sense, 'local experts' are created, and are able to disseminate their knowledge' in a sustainable way. The content and materials that are developed through Conecta Jóven are then scaled up for other telecentre networks, where scaling up is a main objective for Fundación Esplai.
What also sets Fundación Esplai apart are their ongoing efforts to bring telecentres and public services/ administration together, highlighting telecentres as a public service and a main channel to provide public services to communities in Spain. For example, one program they have created allows people to write an email in any telecentre to a friend or family member (usually in a rural area), which gets printed by the local post office and sent to that person for half the price of a regular stamp.
telecentre.org and Fundación Esplai will be working together on various global telecentre projects, including the Latin American region…
Much more information can be found about the organization here (in Spanish):
http://www.fundacionesplai.org/
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September 28th, 2006 @ 2:51PM |
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 Last week I had the opportunity to visit one of the Datamation telecentres in Delhi, where I learned about two particularly interesting services they provide:
The first of these was an ‘Open Knowledge Box’ where anyone from the community could contribute a piece of writing which gets published in the local newspaper in Hindi. So, the most recent edition of the paper had articles about dental hygiene, how the heart works and tips for a healthy heart, for example. The paper is free of charge, providing local citizens with a wealth of important information…
The other service which I was shown was the set of animated computer-based training programs about how to start your own small business, available in both Hindi and English. I watched a couple of the programs available; one about how to make your own pickles (‘hosted’ by a very entertaining talking pickle), and another about how to bind books –what materials are needed, how to go about binding, etc. They were very well done: clear, useful and fun to watch. I’m not sure how well the pickle or bookbinding industries are doing in the vicinity, I hope to find out next time.
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May 4th, 2006 @ 11:33AM |
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Today I met with eDi (e-Development Initiative), an NGO based in the Philippines who were the main 'implementers' on the ground for the MCTs in Malingao and Taguitic. They lived in both communities at the time of GEM implementation, and therefore have a great understanding of the issues at hand. Some suggested changes which they helped to come up with are:
- knowledge and experience of, and a good rapport with the community before implementation
- a more structured and 'usable' tool which is more easily understandable and more clearly related to specific telecentre needs - this may include a list of suggested evaluation indicators for example
- that GEM be implemented as part of a community-building project, rather than to be used as an evaluation tool on its own.
- perhaps most importantly, that the evaluation should focus not only on the inclusion of women, but also of men (in fact, it should include EVERYONE!). In the end, GEM is measuring changes which result from cultural changes within the community, and it takes enlightened and empowered men and women to work together to create these changes. |
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April 23rd, 2006 @ 3:30AM |
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