Digital Arts Service Corps - training

Earthdate 10.2009

John Dorman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:27:47 +0000

It is mid-October and we are still hoping to shoot more video training sessions in the field before winter. Currently we have two of them shot. The goal is for three. We have also talked about shooting a total of four, possibly doing one in the spring. These instructional videos will be about 20-30 minutes in length. The first one is on Equipment training (mainly how to run a small farm walk-behind tractor), the second is Irrigation of crops. I'm learning lots about small farming! More about the economics of this type of business..the things that people should learn before venturing into their own business. The third field training that we hope to shoot is on Pest control or weed management. We have also been shooting 'farmer to farmer' interview moments that will be used in the on-line distance learning modules. We have captured one of these already, interviewing a recent graduate who is now successfully farming in N. Reading. Lydia, the recent grad, runs her own CSA (Community supported Ag.) with members. She distributes to her shareholders in Somerville MA and also in N. Reading. We hope to shoot one more 'farmer to farmer' moment this month. Also, the promo slideshow is done and now posted on youtube.com/NESFP

My agency has old VHS training videos from various farm organizations. I am in the process of transferring these to DVD. These films and videos are part of their existing lending library. Converting to DVD will squeeze more life out of the tapes, and make it possible for more people to use at home. This will be an on-going project throughout the year.

Coming up in the winter months, I'll mainly be editing the training videos. There is also a plan to help some undergrad students with their senior project film, by contributing existing video footage and access to our farm sites. It is going to be about sustainable agriculture in MA. This will give NESFP more visibility with a short documentary film release next spring.

Passing on our knowledge

Denise Cheng — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:36:24 +0000

Our year's coming to a close, and not all of us are staying on with the CTC VISTA Project, but wouldn't it be nice if we could pass on our wisdom to the incoming class? I propose we create a hashtag on Twitter and tweet advice up till July 27 (I think that's the official start date). The field reports are a rich resource but take a significant amount of time to sift through. Probably several of us will be kicked off the listserv come July 11.

For anybody who's up to it, let's go with #ctcvista. Invite any former CTC VISTAs you know to tweet, and let's keep it constructive!

UPDATE: Twitter's great for bite-sized advice, but for those who don't use it, the Facebook discussion thread would be an accessible place to leave advice.

Month 11: Final Workshops and Facility Recommendations

Stephen Fonzo — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:12:05 +0000

In May/June, I offered several training workshops, likely the last round of dedicated sessions as my year of VISTA service comes to a close. The remainder of my year will be devoted to compiling the training materials I've written, and writing the manuals I haven't had time to compose yet.

Of the three video production workshops I led, one was an interactive session with students from the READY School in Champaign, IL. After an initial tour of our facilities and those of Urbana Public Television, the students checked out free camcorders and videotaped a day at their school, with interviews and shots of classrooms, art, bulletin boards, and the building itself. Our training session covered the fundamentals of cutting, arranging, and editing scenes, using Adobe Premiere Pro. The students, whose school year is finished, now have two local resources for continued learning where they can finish this and other films if they would like.

Many of the training sessions were about A/V data backup, transfer, and duplication, as members of the IMC get ready to work more independently after I have finished my service. Beyond these and other basic recording and editing tips, two of the audio workshops addressed key issues for citizen journalists - 1) posting to the web and 2) understanding the principles of digital audio and their application. Finally, I have been working with our community radio station WRFU, to ensure that members are knowledgeable about making PSAs, news stories, and updating their Drupal site. In the last month, I will compile and share these resources; for now, I have been revising the manuals as I go, and sharing with smaller working groups.

Though we often use commercial software like Premiere at the IMC, the only real expenses that any artists or journalists should ever have to face are time and hardware (cameras, mics, computers, a/v equipment, etc.). I encourage everyone I train to use and tell others about free and open source software (FOSS), and this month I continued my research into these tools. Specifically, FOSS operating systems can be installed (easily and for free) and used to keep older and slower computers running quickly and efficiently - especially important for organizations with small budgets. Operating systems I recommend are Ubuntu (which has many variants, including one with media production applications called Ubuntu Studio), Puppy Linux, Dyne:bolic, and Pure:dyne. There are others, but these systems have familiar desktop and window environments, can be expanded to include office productivity and media software, and some even run off of live CDs, so no installation is necessary. We received a donated laptop that was quite slow, running Windows 98 - now with the most recent version of Xubuntu, it is much faster and is available for IMC members to use for on-location recording, broadcast, and web publishing.

A critical component of documentation is not just manuals or progress reports, but recommendations. The final aspect of capacity building requires communicating to your organization what they can do to grow after the absence of VISTA staff. At the IMC I am in the process of troubleshooting and listing improvements that could be made to the production facilities - via hardware that will need to be purchased, and software that is free. Luckily for us, we just hired some summer youth employees through the Champaign Consortium, and each individual has his/her own project to use as a learning experience and as a service to the IMC - adding to the continuity and capacity built so far with VISTAs.

Month 9: Curriculum & Program Development

Stephen Fonzo — Sat, 09 May 2009 20:40:53 +0000

Through March-April, a very intense month, I guided several initiatives to create new training programs for youth and adults, to build volunteer activities at the IMC, and to make general improvements to our facilities. The most involved of these is the Champaign, IL Don Moyers Boys & Girls Club (DMBGC) Teen Computer Lab project, a partnership between the Boys & Girls Club, the Independent Media Center, the University of Illinois, and the local, private computer consulting firm SupporTech. During the first month of planning, the partnering organizations agreed to a vision and mission for the new computer lab and training program to be offered by the DMBGC, which will be an ongoing program available to youth ages 6-18, throughout the year. The IMC has led the development of surveys, curriculum, and budget, informing the design and staffing being organized by the other partners. Our Program Development Intern Jason Keist wrote the surveys to assess the children's experience and interests, and I have been composing the lab budget and compiling a variety of technology and media tutorials and activities, all of which will also be stored with the IMC as documentation.

Along with IMC member Danielle Chynoweth, I presented a workshop on producing radio news for Free Speech Radio News (FSRN), a grassroots independent half-hour newscast available online and syndicated to over 100 stations worldwide. Please see the attachment for the training guide I wrote (geared towards Audacity, though any audio editor is appropriate). Anyone can pitch a story, headline, or feature to FSRN, and once you produce the content, FSRN pays you and includes your piece in one of its daily newscasts. I strongly recommend that other VISTAs encourage members, customers, and trainers in your organization(s) to learn and participate in FSRN as a resource for citizen journalism, media reform, smearing the digital divide, and earning income for a job well done.

I also participated in a roundtable discussion on social media presented at the University of Illinois by Chicago's Community Media Workshop (CMW), a group devoted to training news producers and journalists, and strengthening ties between media and populations in Chicago and the midwest. I recommend CMW as a useful resource to anyone working in these geographic areas. They inspired me to create a Twitter account for the IMC - simple, but necessary.

Spring was productive in even more ways at the IMC, and I organized three volunteer workdays - one for the Shows/Booking group to troubleshoot, repair, and re-organize the PA, mixer, stage, and cables; one for WRFU 104.5FM to produce new station IDs and clean and paint the studio; and another for just plain spring cleaning of the building. Along with volunteers in the Librarians and Tech working groups, Nicole and members of the Community Connections group, I setup a staffing desk with a computer workstation, IMC merchandise tables, and staff storage space in the entry to the main space of our building.

For the Production group, I offered three more workshops on video editing, wrote Terms of Use and Borrowing for our production room and public equipment, and upgraded one of our video workstations with funds we raised during the Film Festival. Finally, following Nicole's hard work to obtain summer youth (ages 14-24) positions at the IMC through the Champaign Consortium, I defined one of the positions, a WRFU Audio Trainer and Archivist, who will join us soon to produce regular on-air content, update our public affairs automation, train members on live and studio broadcast, and archive our existing audio materials.

And then there was all the planning for another major fundraiser, the IMC Fest... (see next month)

Month 6: Training, Event Planning, and More

Stephen Fonzo — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:22:08 +0000

I feel pretty bad that keeping up with these field reports has been so difficult - and because I have the flu... but that gives me some time to catch up and explain what kinds of things I've been doing at the IMC, one month at a time:

The IMC is in a college town (Champaign-Urbana), and a lot of our volunteers are students, grad students, and professors. Even though Dec-Jan was quiet, with many out of town, I had plenty to do.

The month started with an interview. To clarify, I was the one being interviewed, by two DJs whom I had trained, and whose semester project - as interns at our community radio station - had just ended. Maggie and Alex, AKA "The Amplified Librarians," asked me about all aspects of CTC VISTA, AmeriCorps service, and the Independent Media Center. It provided a great opportunity to reflect on my work and to share my observations with our listeners.

With a target date of the first IMC Film Festival looming in the near future (early February), this month was largely devoted to the intricacies of event planning. The Film Festival was something that fellow VISTA Nicole and I brainstormed earlier in the winter, and with help from our VISTA Supervisor, we solicited film submissions, arranged scheduling, format, promotion, sponsors, and a web site all in the course of a couple months. This gave me the opportunity to utilize and better acquaint myself with Drupal, as we developed the IMC Production Group and IMC Film Festival web site.

Despite the cold, empty climate, there was considerably demand for training, and I ended up delivering nine sessions to individuals or small groups, on audio editing for radio (in Audacity and Reaper); live radio broadcast; digital photo editing; field audio recording; and mastering. As much as I have wanted to stick to the goals of "training trainers," this is in part dependent on the attitudes and goals of those being trained. In our organization, in which everyone is volunteering whatever free time he or she has, most people just want to quickly be empowered with the knowledge and tools to accomplish some aspect of media or technology. They do not often have the time to train others after I have trained them. I suspect that other VISTAs in training positions have observed this scenario in their workplaces. It's not necessarily bad or good, but just the reality of working with busy and ambitious colleagues.

By the end of this period, we welcomed a new Program Development Intern to the IMC, and oriented him. I also continued to coordinate volunteers who produced IMC Video News for Urbana Public Access Television, and updated radio training materials, including a draft plan to revive IMC Radio News, which had been a successful project several years before I began my service.

Month 5: Independence + Collaboration = Success

Stephen Fonzo — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:54:12 +0000

The past month was probably the most successful for my VISTA project so far. While this was due in no small part to the groundwork of the previous months, over the course of only the last few weeks I trained (trainers and students), recruited volunteers, made new community contacts, and produced media. I credit this productivity with a) working independently and b) communicating frequently about my work to others to involve them and get their feedback.

Mid-November started slowly, as I helped the Shows group (books concerts and events for the IMC) assume their own responsibilities, by helping to draft a new contract with the IMC Finance group, updating their Drupal site and web calendar, and training a volunteer on meeting facilitation, sound, and web/calendar administration. Having that particular group grow to be more independent and capable frees me from a lot of extra, small tasks, and saves the rest of the IMC time and effort, as well. With more time to focus on the broader goals of my assignment, I have been gradually giving closer attention to the Production group that I helped start in the summer. The Production group (site in development) manages the IMC’s media production room, loans equipment to community projects, produces original content, and offers training on multimedia. Along with Production volunteers, Nicole Pion and I started planning an IMC Film Festival for February 6-8, 2009, which will last three days and showcase a variety of genres, especially work by local/regional filmmakers, and will also include art, music, and food from local sponsoring restaurants.

Other accomplishments of the Production group, which now contains a core of six independent journalist/producers, were four new videos (a total of 3.5 hours) that we have shared with Urbana Public Television and which will also be available online at our site and YouTube channel. Coverage ranged from stories about a local activist, IMC concert footage, People’s Potluck Thanksgiving, and a Proposition 8 protest. A group of 3 volunteers filmed performances and interviews at a benefit concert for our radio station. I have also started helping the IMC’s Books to Prisoners program with a video project that they will begin shooting and editing in the New Year to highlight their presence in town, their training, and the prison libraries that they staff.

In the course of recruiting volunteers to produce new media, I did quite a bit of editing myself, especially audio, and it turns out that this is a modest source of extra income for the host organization, which makes it worthwhile. More valuable, however, is the opportunity to instruct others on how to edit. Between Shows, Production, and Books to Prisoners members, I trained three individuals who will now be ready to train others on the basics of production and got them to think about how they can utilize media technology to further their groups’ goals. Over the next few months, I will be compiling my tutorials (and other online sources) for a wiki that our VISTA supervisor Josh King is developing for the IMC (Josh has chosen Twiki, as it has revision control and is used by the global Indymedia network).

There was quite a bit of interest in learning audio recording and editing this past month, with IMC members attending a variety of public lectures, discussions, or wanting to produce their own interviews or radio commentaries. I offered a series of three one-on-one tutorials on recording field audio (using a Zoom H2); compiling a musical set list (ala the quickly arcane term, “mix tape”) for radio; and recording and editing speech for use on radio or film. I chose the free and easy Audacity for the training, and even though I know a lot of people are familiar with how to use it, I’ll attach my quick guide here just in case anyone is interested. There are many more tips and tutorials here.

The final area in which I feel I made great progress was at the IMC’s community radio station, WRFU. First, I revived the station’s Tech group, which had been inactive since before I started as a VISTA. The Tech group maintains studio equipment, updates and repairs software and Internet connectivity, and offers technical guidance for membership training. After a few e-mails about the lack of tech support, a core group of 4-6 of us decided to set up a new computer at the DJ desk, fix and label cables and mixer inputs, and begin a construction plan for more shelves, storage, and a patchbay. In September I had been responsible for training dozens of airshifters, but in the process of bringing back the Tech group, we realized that we were training more trainers (and training ourselves to be better experts and instructors at the station). Two University of Illinois graduate students in the Library Sciences department finished their radio automation and music library training manual, which I had been supervising since the fall. This manual, now available in our office next to the studio, gives DJs and tech support step-by-step instructions on how to add local music, PSAs, and other pre-produced shows to our non-live rotation, how to classify content as clean, and how to edit it if it is not clean. The system is based on ZaraRadio, iTunes, and the Juice podcast player, and the volunteers used Karen’s Directory Printer to generate a station inventory. Nicole and I visited the Library Science department for presentations on their projects and to represent the IMC, and while there we learned about other great community engagement/technology instruction programs that are going on in our town. Earlier this week the librarians even thanked me by having me on their final show of the semester for an interview about my role as a CTC VISTA.

Reporting is Like Building With LEGOs

Morgan Sully — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:24:35 +0000

This is a post from a class demonstration where I showed some of our new VISTAs how to navigate the field reporting interface.

Accomplishments: showing new VISTAs how to navigate the site

Challenges: it's really, really hot (but we had some nice air conditioning)

Here's a link to my project.

Spread the word...May digital storytelling training

danielle martin — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:00:31 +0000

You're invited to a unique opportunity to combine hands-on multimedia training and community program capacity building. The program is called Spreading the Stories (sponsored by MassIMPACT) and it's a 3 full day hands-on workshop where you'll create a digital story and discuss how to implement it in your own organizations. The workshop will be held at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center on May 1, 8, & 9th from 9-5pm (with an orientation on Friday April 27th from 10-12noon).

Digital stories are a tremendous resource for community-based organizations. Most community efforts use stories to build relationships, to connect with others, and to advocate for themselves. Often, those who are effecting change on the ground lack knowledge of basic media skills that can capture and represent the images and voices behind these stories.

Spreading the Stories is a four-day intensive professional development workshop, where participants create digital stories -- brief multimedia narratives combining voice, imagery and video. Through the creation of digital stories, organizations can reflect upon, learn from, document, and share stories that emerge through their practice. The workshop is free, and is intended as both a production and a train-the-trainer event, where participants leave with their own digital stories and the skills necessary to teach others the process.

To expand the reach of digital storytelling, MassIMPACT, along with Creative Narrations, launched Spreading the Stories in the fall of 2005. Twelve organizations’ staff from the Boston area was trained in 2005-6, and many of these organizations have since used digital storytelling to self-produce promotional materials, enhance programming, and secure grant funding. In addition to gaining practical skills, participants found inspiration in the creative process and unique networking opportunities among the participating organizations.

In this next phase of the program, MassIMPACT intends to focus workshops on new communities, including (but not limited to) Asian, Latino, Cape Verdean, & Haitian groups and others in Western Massachusetts. In coalition with Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (IBA) and Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, the workshop in March 2007 focused on incorporating digital storytelling into community programs in the South End to foster partnerships and inter-organizational programs and events.

The workshop is FREE for selected organizations, contingent that you vow to go back to your organizations and share 3 stories you help create over the next year. You can down the application here or on the MassIMPACT website http://www.massimpact.org/projects/digital_storytelling/spreading_stories.shtml , due by April 17th.

Just how smart IS your rural community?

Colleen Kelly — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:33:37 +0000

Just How Smart IS Your Rural Community?

Creating People-Centered Community Knowledge Networks
http://lone-eagles.com/smart.htm
To survive in a world of accelerating change, all communities must quickly learn how to effectively create community learning programs to keep as many citizens as possible up-to-date on that new knowledge which creates new opportunities - on an ongoing basis. Community learning programs can start with something as simple as "live" online presentations of the best replicable innovations from other communities. As more new knowledge is put online for convenient access by the community, common sense use of appropriate knowledge sharing tools can have a dramatic impact by providing a means for everyone to contribute to keeping the whole community informed. In the knowledge age, fueled by an innovation economy, the quality of our community knowledge networks will determine the adaptability and survivability of our rural communities.

Inexpensive community knowledge networks are one easy way that everyone can work together to gather and share that new knowledge which creates new opportunities. Below are recommended first steps that do not require outside funding. As citizens and community leaders become aware of the replicable innovations already working in other communities, as included in the self-quiz and web tour below, the benefits for supporting ongoing community learning will become clearer. At issue is nothing less than preservation of our cherished rural lifestyle.

The following very short non-technical self-quiz on community "smartness" is recommended as a first group activity for community leaders. Consider "What’s the best your rural community can do for itself based on new knowledge of the best successful innovations already working for other communities?" As you review the suggested innovations below, make a list of which innovations make sense for your community and consider the potential benefits of routinely gathering and sharing the best innovations from other communities as they emerge, on an ongoing basis. At the very least your community can save hundreds of hours by simply borrowing the gathered links from other community sites.

Following the quiz is a short web tour of examples of great community knowledge networking innovations, and a recommended reading list to better understand what your community can create, even without grant funds. You'll find extensive community planning resources such as community action plans written as grant templates, K12 community service projects, and many more useful resources. Lone Eagle Consulting provides all the following resources for unrestricted use to support creation of more lone eagles and sustainable rural communities.
Creating community learning programs is everyone's responsibility and our challenge is that we have so many diverse communities within each community that could, and should, be players: K12, Higher Education, elected community leaders, unofficial community leaders, business leaders, parents, youth, disabled, faith-based organizations, non-profit organizations, etc. Each "community within the community" has their own agenda and typically none of them are yet focused on Internet empowerment or community learning. Each such community needs to understand how they will benefit by supporting a community knowledge network that integrates knowledge sharing across our "community of communities."

Quiz:

1. ___Y/N Do You Already Have Local Web Business Directories?
Are all local business web sites listed on one web page to support local online shopping and to generate awareness as to which local businesses are now doing business on the Internet?

Bethel, Alaska Business Directory
http://www.deltadiscovery.com/Shopping/shoppingalpha.html
An elegantly functional business directory to facilitate local online shopping. All local businesses are displayed on one page with all businesses with web sites easily identified by their names as blue hyperlinks.

Joseph, Oregon business directory
http://www.josephoregon.com/business_directory.htm
A database is one way of presenting a business directory but this model doesn't lend itself to convenient browsing and it can be tedious to shop around town.

2. ___Y/N Do You Already Have Your Local Media Engaged Raising Ecommerce
Awareness?

Does your local media regularly celebrate local Ecommerce success stories,
- or are they ignored?

Bethel, Alaska
http://www.deltadiscovery.com
Citizens regularly share their news on this regional community network. One can quickly see than many citizens are directly involved in regularly generating local news for this community information site.

Caithness, Scotland
http://www.caithness.org
An exceptional model of a community web site that is well maintained. This community makes sure all local businesses receive help establishing an ecommerce web page and that new information appears daily. A review of the diverse array of information reveals that this community truly "owns" the responsibility to make this site a true reflection of the community's spirit and citizenry.

3. ___Y/N Do You Already Have Local Peer Mentoring Programs?
Are local experts and community mentors celebrated for the value they bring to the community and engaged in local peer mentoring programs?

Ask A+ Mentoring Roster
www.vrd.org/locator/alphalist.shtml
A simple model for a local mentors roster. While this national mentors site is dedicated to K12 students and educators, this serves as a simple mentoring model any community could easily use to connect those with specific skills with those needing friendly mentorship to attain new skills. Mentors should be listed both by topic and by name, and by free mentoring offered and/or for-profit mentoring services. A mentoring program is described at
http://lone-eagles.com/mentoring-mission.htm

4. ___Y/N Do You Already Have An Integrated Ecommerce Incubator?
Are all local Ecommerce support businesses listed on one web page so anyone can easily find the expertise they need to bring their business online?

Lone Eagle Self-Employment Incubator
http://lone-eagles.knet.ca Inexpensive open source content management systems (CMSs) can streamline the flow of essential information in communities and serve as the public hub for skills mentoring and the proliferation of fast-track web-based self-employment businesses. Offering robust content and peer-training resources, this incubator was created to support peer mentoring for the “Montana Choice” five-year demonstration project funded by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment policy as described at http://lone-eagles.com/montana-choice.htm One innovation for emphasizing the people-centered focus of this project is demonstrated through the photogallery slideshows of co-op crafters in Idaho, aboriginal artists in Australia, Jamaican visionaries, Alaskan Natives and soon, many others.

5.___Y/N Do You Already Provide Accessible Ecommerce Training?
Are entry-level Ecommerce education training opportunities (such as eBay) and peer mentoring programs readily available online in your community?

A Beginner's Guide to Profiting from the Internet
http://lone-eagles.com/ecom.htm
A train-the-trainers program to support local peer mentoring programs with ten two-hour hands-on lessons to raise awareness on "what's working for others like you." Lesson one includes an overview listing of many other Ecommerce online courses and resources. Provided through the Idaho State University College of Technology Workforce Training Office, this course is being used in Idaho and for the "Montana Choice" project described at http://lone-eagles.com/montana-choice.htm.

6. ___Y/N Do You Already Have Ongoing Access to the Best Innovations as They Emerge?

Are successful innovations from other rural communities readily gathered
and shared locally by any means?

Association for Community Networking http://www.afcn.org If you have innovations to share, please feel specifically invited to do so, and join the Association for Community Networking for $25. Register online.

Lone Eagle Consulting http://lone-eagles.com/articles/articles.htm
A regular short newsletter focused on rural knowledge network innovations is planned for 2005.

E-Commerce

Colleen Kelly — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:37:05 +0000

Training for Essential Skills Development and Entry-Level E-commerce

Resources selected for CTC VISTAS are at http://lone-eagles.com/ctcvista.htm

A Seven Successive Skills Model
http://lone-eagles.com/essential-skills.htm
Briefly, as Email skills are developed, citizens become more connected to the community. As searching skills are developed citizens gain the ability to gather resources of benefit to themselves and the community. As basic web-authoring skills are developed, citizens gain the ability to share these resources with the community in a convenient public manner. As mentoring skills are developed, citizens gain the understanding of how to combine email, searching, and web-authoring skills to share knowledge effectively to make a real difference in the lives of others. As value is demonstrated, the entrepreneurial potential of instructional entrepreneurship, as well as opportunities for traditional Ecommerce, will become dramatically clear. Learning to record cultural wisdom via multimedia will serve to preserve it for future generations and will allow it to be shared as appropriate. Finally, leadership and innovation skills will create role models for productive social behavior and creativity to assure future survival in a changing world.

Seven Essential Survival Skills
1. Email Skills as Essential for Electronic Citizenship
2. Search Engine Skills as Essential for Self-directed Internet Learning
3. Web Self-publishing Skills as Essential for Local and Global Ecommerce and Expression
4. Mentoring and Teaching Skills as Essential for Sharing Knowledge in Your Community
5. Entrepreneurship Skills as Essential for Individual, Family, and Community Sustainability
6. Cultural Preservation and Expression Skills as Essential for using technology to preserve the knowledge of our elders and culture for future generations.
7. Leadership and Innovation Skills as Essential for Becoming a Role Model for Your Community for Adapting to Change.

Easy E-commerce Web-Raisings
A brief example community event:
Sept. 22nd, 2005, in a community of 200 (Winnett, MT) a community web-raiser event was held, and after a 1-1/2 hour presentation... 30 adult attendees created a beginning community website with 16 free ecommerce sites...in only 45 minutes. (At tripod.com) After this initial ecommerce awareness event everyone can now continue to develop their own free password-protected ecommerce web sites. The community website is http://winnett-webraiser.tripod.com The tripod tutorial is at the end of the Ecommerce successes webtour at http://lone-eagles.com/pcna1.htm

Suggested next steps would be to engage citizens in online learning via online lessons designed for rural citizens that have never taken an online class before. “A Beginners Guide to Profiting from the Internet” http://lone-eagles.com/ecom.htm Ten two-hour lessons provide a hands-on overview of what’s working for others like them with Ebay, Ecommerce, and Telework. The only skills necessary for these lessons are “point and click.” The first lesson lists multiple other online ecommerce courses to choose from.

Lone Eagle Entry-Level E-commerce Resources
http://lone-eagles.com/future-proofing.htm Extensive resources.

Techsoup, everything you need to know about Web 2.0 http://www.techsoup.org/toolkits/web2/

Additional Lone Eagle Curriculum for Collaborative Skills and Web Authoring
http://lone-eagles.com/webdev.htm
http://lone-eagles.com/collab.htm
http://lone-eagles.com/curr4.htm
http://lone-eagles.com/articles/tencollab.htm
http://lone-eagles.com/teacherstools.htm