Oct
Virtual conversation on “digital democracy or a new source of disenfranchisement?”
25th October 2013 at 4pm BST 3pm UTC 8am Pacfic via Adobe Connect, and from now on twitter #ofu13 & #virtualinclusion.
Digital democracy or a new source of disenfranchisement?
Session Host: Orla Cronin
Given these new ways of enabling individual’s voices to be heard, how can we ensure that we are not inadvertently perpetuating power imbalances? How do we ensure that “digital poverty” and technological illiteracy do not compound existing imbalances e.g. between voices in the global North and those in the South, between those who are literate and those who are not, those who Anglophone and those who may speak 5 or 6 languages, of which English is a long way down the list.
From small examples, such as which time zone dictates the meeting, and whether participants are welcomed with a good morning or a good afternoon, to major barriers such as bandwidth limitations in rural Africa, every decision we make has implications for who is heard and who is silenced.
Participants in this reflective and solution oriented session will share specific stories of where virtual conversations mitigated or amplified structural power imbalances of various kinds, and use these to generate practical suggestions for maximising inclusion in virtual activities.
Register at Eventbrite. http://virtualinclusion.eventbrite.com/
This session will run via Adobe Connect. You will need to run the diagnostic here: http://admin.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm and accept download of any small apps requested. In particularly, you will need to accept the most recent version of Adobe Flash. Adobe Connect runs on XP, Mac, IOS and Android platforms. You will need a dedicated headset, an internet connection, and a ‘clean computer’ which has been restarted, and does not have any applications running in the background, particularly email, online backup software or software updates. Skype will be used as an emergency backup – please connect with orlacronin.
The adobe connect link is http://top.adobeconnect.com/virtualinclusion/
PLEASE TRY TO ENTER HALF AN HOUR BEFOREHAND TO CHECK YOUR COMPUTER SETUP. Once you are onboard, you can then either chat or do something else until the meeting starts.
The session will also run asynchronously via twitter from now on @croninorla twitter account with hashtags #ofu13 and #virtualinclusion.
Contact orla@orlacronin.com with questions
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