Monday, June 9, 2008
Final Techfast-30th May 2008
Many thanks to Fergal McGrath for his interesting presentation at our Final Techfast presentation. Fergal spoke about attitudes and motivational factors as critical to encourage take up of Technology. He said the focus should really be on the person rather than the technology. It was critical he said to find a hook, something which people were interested in, as opposed to encouraging Technology for Technology sake. Once people were interested, the nature of the technology as exploratory would encourage and entice to further explore and use. The learning curve with Technology is small, it is the relevance which is critical. The challenge is less how to use the Technology and more why would people want to use the Technology.
Fergal also spoke about the need to foster and rekindle a culture of giving back to the community. He gave examples of places in the USA where he spent considerable time working within communities. He was delighted by the spirit of volunteerism and community spirit which prevails in parts of the USA. He noted that people love to give back especially when it comes to information to share. It was suggested from the floor that volunteerism in Ireland should start in the schools. It is important to learn the idea of community service and involvement at a young age. The culture of volunteerism can be contagious and thus encourage others to get involved. There is never a shortage of opportunities to give back and the key is to match up passions with opportunities. Fergal encouraged the group to experiment and keeping trying new ideas especially with the changing nature of Technology.
Acquiring familiarity with computers and adapting to Technology depends not only on individual attributes, but crucially also on contextual factors. People come in contact with digital technologies via their family and friendship networks as well as at their workplace, colleges and schools. Informal advice and support are crucial to acquiring basic computing skills, and where neighbours and friends use internet, this can facilitate the learning process. Every computer literate individual in a disadvantaged area constitutes a valuable resource for the local community, as he or she can potentially help others to overcome their fears and difficulties in relation to the new digital technologies. Thus creating a critical mass of web users can create an e-community where many opportunites may arise.
Fergal also spoke about the need to foster and rekindle a culture of giving back to the community. He gave examples of places in the USA where he spent considerable time working within communities. He was delighted by the spirit of volunteerism and community spirit which prevails in parts of the USA. He noted that people love to give back especially when it comes to information to share. It was suggested from the floor that volunteerism in Ireland should start in the schools. It is important to learn the idea of community service and involvement at a young age. The culture of volunteerism can be contagious and thus encourage others to get involved. There is never a shortage of opportunities to give back and the key is to match up passions with opportunities. Fergal encouraged the group to experiment and keeping trying new ideas especially with the changing nature of Technology.
Acquiring familiarity with computers and adapting to Technology depends not only on individual attributes, but crucially also on contextual factors. People come in contact with digital technologies via their family and friendship networks as well as at their workplace, colleges and schools. Informal advice and support are crucial to acquiring basic computing skills, and where neighbours and friends use internet, this can facilitate the learning process. Every computer literate individual in a disadvantaged area constitutes a valuable resource for the local community, as he or she can potentially help others to overcome their fears and difficulties in relation to the new digital technologies. Thus creating a critical mass of web users can create an e-community where many opportunites may arise.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
