Re: FW: [Winona] WOD Goals

Wed, 28 May 2003 21:19:27 -0700

If one informs one's subjects of their participation in an academic research project or goes so far as to explain the study's objectives to them, one can reasonably expect the results of the study to be unnecessarily colored, perhaps even to the point of negating the study altogether.
-Spencer Madsen

Charles, Ruth wrote:
[Winona Online Democracy]

The difference is that this is a group discussion-you have to join it and you have to use your full name for all of your responses.  Yes, anyone can use anything from it, but for critical ACADEMIC research you must inform people that you are going to use the information.  --Ruth Charles

----------
From: 	Phil Carlson
Reply To: 	[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 	Tuesday, May 27, 2003 8:39 AM
To: 	[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: 	RE: [Winona] WOD Goals

[Winona Online Democracy]

I must respectfully disagree with Ruth's assertions that someone has to
inform us if they will be using our WOD postings for research. In the age of
e-mail, everything you put out onto the internet is available to almost
anyone, and can and may be used by someone for whatever purpose they want.
It 
is out in public.  It is similar to having a letter-to-the-editor printed
in the newspaper.  A researcher does not need to inform everyone of his or
her purpose, nor does the newspaper need to tell everyone - the researcher
merely needs to get copies of the paper and start compiling whatever they
want.  This is not against "research ethics", this in fact is how research
is almost always done.  Writer beware!

- Phil Carlson, Mpls

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
Behalf Of Charles, Ruth
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 9:06 AM
To: Steve Kranz; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Sharon Ropes
Subject: RE: [Winona] WOD Goals


[Winona Online Democracy]

	My m
ain issue with the research that was presented was that no one knew the
postings on WOD were a part of a research project.  This goes against all
research ethics and I would hope that the list serve managers would watch
out for this.  When the managers needed information, they set up a survey
for everyone to do!  They didn't hide and collect opinions without anyone's
knowledge of it!
	If someone wants to do research on a group- they need to post a message to
everyone that they are doing this and get permission. (I know many people
who have done this and gotten excellent results.)  Since names have to be
attached to each message, rules of confidentiality in research need to be
observed.
	During the school year I do not post a lot, but I thoroughly enjoy the
discussion!  I like hearing how other people present their opinions and I
learn a lot from it.  Thank you for this forum!--Ruth Charles

----------
From: 	Sharon Ropes
Sent: 	Saturday, May 24, 2003 12:23 PM
To: 	Steve Kranz; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: 	 [Winona] WOD Goals

[Winona Online Democracy]

Hello Everyone,
    We are having a hearty discussion as a result of a paper about Winona
Online Democracy presented by Steve Schild this week.  The conversation
began with Steve Kranz's clarification about a newspaper quote.  During
the
course of two days, the thread titles have changed several times.  This
causes a little confusion for readers who want to follow the discourse
from
beginning to end.
    Interestingly, conversation on this same subject has had these titles:
            Winona Daily News Quote
            Another Side of the Story
            Research on WOD
            Isn't It Strange?
            Methinks They Doth Protest Too Much
            Another Term for Lurker

    While all these titles characterize the content of a post related to
the
Schild presentation, the direct connection to the original issue is lost.
     At this point, I will recommend we change the thread name to "WOD
Goals."  Let's stick with that one for a while since the original
conversation has moved away from the Schild presentation itself to ways we
might improve WOD. As a natural extension of the original discussion,
Steve
Kranz has posted a visionary list of organizational goals to improve the> 
participation, diversity and efficacy of community voices in civic issues.
    Continuous improvement is a strategy that the WOD steering committee
unanimously endorses.  Hence, the recent online survey. (BTW, Jim Sjoberg
asked about survey results. We are currently compiling them.  I imagine
that
they should be ready for our Thursday, May 29 steering committee meeting,
then published via WOD for the readership.)
    Keep this discussion going with your ideas on 'what's working' and
'what
can improve'.
Thanks!
Sharon



----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Kranz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 9:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Winona] methinks they doth protest to much


[Winona Online Democracy]

Greetings,

In order to give people some idea of how we've tried to address Winona
Online Democracy's shortcomings over the past few years, I thought I'd
"pull
back the curtain" and share a grant proposal that Randy and I prepared
through the Winona Council for Quality last year and discussed with
various
funding organizations -- but failed to secure funding for.

It was for the Community Voices Initiative (you'll recall the discussion
on
alcohol use), but included a much more expanded approach that focused
quite
a bit on increasing the diversity of voices on the list.  As it was, we
didn't get the  funding and had to do Winona Community Voices
(www.winona.org/voices) on a "shoestring", so we weren't able to
achieve>
our
more ambitious participation goals.

I've also included "12 goals" we developed for ourselves in 2001.  This
includes a number of things we've worked on, with varying degrees of
success, over the past few years.

Both these items might provide some insight into our underlying
motivations
in working on Winona Online Democracy.

-Steve Kranz

---------------

The Winona Council for Quality
Community Voices Initiative

The Winona Council for Quality seeks funding to staff and implement a
Community Voices initiative with the goal of enhancing (and creating an
infrastructure for) community problem solving, increasing civic
involvement
by traditionally "unheard" voices of youth and low-income individuals
and
helping leaders develop the skills of effective public engagement and
citizen involvement.

Specifically, the Council would like to leverage Winona's high Internet
adoption rate and existing community networks to create an online and
face-to-face network that will increase contact between elected
officials,
the media and government administrators.  The project will specifically
seek
to increase the quality and constructiveness of dialogue used in the
community problem solving process, while engaging demographic groups
that
are traditionally absent from the process.

1.  Build on the success of Winona Online Democracy to improve and
Expand
participation so that it more accurately reflects the demographics of
Winona.

2.  Partner with Study Circles and Blandin to organize live and online
community events that address, discuss and develop solutions for
specific
community problems

3.  Recruit high school students to learn about online dialogue and take
leadership roles in engaging in constructive, multi-generational
discussions
about local civic issues.

4.  Pilot the use of inexpensive Email Appliances that will allow low
income
individuals who cannot afford computers to participate in an ongoing
online
dialogue with elected officials and policy makers.  Provide training and> 
support to facilitate their participation.  Compare with only public
access
kiosk. Compare with used computers.

*** Increase Blandin involvement and League of Woman Voters, Project
Fine,
Poverty Roundtable, Volunteer Services

Hire a .6 time (25 hours/week) Project Manager
$30/hr * 25/hrs-week = $750 * 12 months = $36,000

Purchase Email Appliances and Email Internet Access for 10 low-income
individuals (group leaders).   Purchase an additional appliance for the
Project Manager (to assist with training and troubleshooting)

Appliance $100 * 11 = $1,100
Access $10/month *11 = $110/month * 12 months = $1,320

Office Supplies, Postage and Printing = $500

Mileage Reimbursements = $330

Stipend for two additional facilitators ($100/month) = $2,400


Total Direct Funding Needed: $41,650
Initiative Contribution: $30,000 (75%=$31,238)

Other Sources Needed:  $11,650

In Kind:  City of Winona - Use of Server ($1,000); HBCI - Co-Location
and
Technical Services ($5,000); Kranz Media - Email List Hosting and
Management
($1,200); Volunteer Hours (Schenkat, Morse, WAPS, others?) - $5,000?


Measurable Outcomes

1.  The correlation between the demographics of Winona County and the
demographics of Winona Online Democracy will change from XX to XX

2.  200 individuals will participate in face-to-face Community Voices
events, 300 individuals will participate in online Community Voices
events.
3.  Twenty High School Students will complete training in Face to Face
and
Online Facilitation, Ten high school students will directly participate
in
facilitation activities.

4.  10 Low Income families will be trained in civic participation and
use
of
technology and will participate directly in online civic discussions
with
policy makers.

Outcomes:

1. 250 community members will participate in discussions

2. 40 community members will be trained as facilitators

3. Membership of Winona Online Democracy will correlate with
demographics
of
community

4. 70% of participants from low income families will report improved
access
to the community.

5. 10% of Community Residents will report increased knowledge about
issues
discussed.

6. 35% of solutions developed by discussions will be adopted by
identified
organizations.

7. 40% of participants will report that they are likely to participating
in
future dialogues with other community members on local issues.

-------------------

12 GOALS

We developed the "12 goals" below back in 2001 and made some progress in
some of the areas -- it culminated in the grant proposal shown above, as
well as the Community Voices Effort.

1) Understanding the motivations of posters and lurkers.

2) Documenting the impact of current configuration of onlinedemocracy -
both
directly and secondarily.

3) More intentionally sharing the impact of Winona Online Democracy in
our
community through other media outlets (television, newspapers, etc.),
the
website and other available sources to increase participation.

4) Carefully discerning perspectives of elected officials and working to
facilitate their more overt participation.

5) Developing, implementing and testing tools that can enhance
participation
being especially mindful of "going to scale" issues.

6) Studying the discussion archives from a "ways of knowing" perspective
to
establish a baseline from which the discussion can be compared and
analyzed> 
over time.

7) Developing discussion management techniques that are more congruent
with
"connected and constructed knowing" -- initially through pilots of
willing
participants who will develop coaching and feedback skills.  Also,
explore
the use of Internet tools to help guide and improve the discussion.
Possibly, involve the following groups: Supt/City Mgr Leadership Group,
Blandin Youth Leadership, and Educator Action Group on Teen Employment

8) Exploring the use of databases, planned experimentation and GIS to
give
participants chances to build knowledge.  Explore the role of Cold
Fusion,
CGI and/or PHP.

9) Utilizing the capacities of Knowledge Forum to test the efficacy of
forming "action" groups.

10) Exploring the optimal use of volunteers

11) Continuing the experimentation with online events and face to face
meetings around community issues.

12) Developing the learning from goals one through eleven into a
proposal
that continues this in-depth learning approach of "ways of knowing" and
Online Democracy.

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 http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org


_______________________________________________
This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy
All messages must be signed by the senders actual name.
No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list.
To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit
http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona
Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page
at
 http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org

________________________________
_______________
This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy
All messages must be signed by the senders actual name.
No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list.
To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit
http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona
Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at
 http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org



_______________________________________________
This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy
All messages must be signed by the senders actual name.
No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list.
To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit
http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona
Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at
 http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org

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