Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity in Mauritius - Day 4, 12th July 2012

Day 4 started with some announcements made by the facilitator of the workshop, who informed the participants that the workshop certificate will be given to them during a ceremony to be held on 27th July 2012 at 14:00, together with the second batch who will be trained from 23-27 July 2012.

The participants had an assignment to do for Day 4, which was to create a blog post on their experience at the Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity. All of them did their homework and some of them really impressed the trainers! 

Please Click Here to find the links of the newly created blogs by the workshop participants.

All questions and concerns related to Blogger were answered and clarified by the facilitators before moving to the next session.

Micro-Blogging

Micro-blogging was introduced to the participants through a presentation and video. Twitter was used as example of micro-blogging. Some participants already had a Twitter account, but most of them did not know the importance and power of using this tool. An existing Twitter account was shown to the participants and they were amazed to discover how many things one can do on Twitter to be up to date with latest news on our subject of interest.

Trainer giving examples of micro-blogging sites

A volunteer, who did not have a Twitter account came forward and together with the other participants, a Twitter account was created. The facilitators made sure that all participants were moving at the same pace so that they are not lost in the process. Tips were given to participants on how to choose their Twitter handle and write their Bio. 

When all participants had an account on Twitter, the main features of Twitter were explained: Tweets, Following, Followers etc. They were asked to follow the person sitting next to them and  it was also shown how they can search for individuals/organisations/groups of their interest. Once each had a follower and was following something, participants were ready to send a tweet. 

Their first tweet contained just a text. In the following tweet, they added the #web2MRU to it and they were explained that on clicking on this hash tag, they will find all the tweets related to the workshop. While practising, they also understood the function of the "@" abd they could reply to a tweet or mention someone in a tweet. The participants also followed the @CTAflash and @web2fordev. 

Other things covered on twitter were the settings, where they could change the background and look of their Twitter account, link their Twitter account with a Blog or Facebook and they could also customise the privacy settings since some participants did not want their tweets to be public.

With some practice, the participants understood the basics of Twitter and were requested to keep on tweeting for them to get used to it. 

Google Maps

Another very interesting session for Day 4 was Google Maps. A presentation on Google Maps was delivered by one of the facilitators to explain the concept of Google Maps. 

Presentation on Google Maps

It was quite a lengthy session with some exercises. Before starting with the exercises and giving examples, participants were given some time to get used to the interface of Google Maps and try to drag the different places with their mouse. When this was understood, the facilitator went forward with the practical part.

In the first exercise, participants were shown how the direction from one place to another one  can be obtained on Google Maps, and also the distance and time taken for the proposed routes by the means selected (walk, car etc.) is provided.

First exercise on Google Maps

 The the next exercise which was a very interesting one, participants were asked to create a map, where there are directions on how to come to the Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity at the Faculty of agriculture in Reduit. In this exercise, each participant created a map. After having located the University of Mauritius on the map, the following were done:

• Put a placemark on the bus-stop at the University of Mauritius and they also named it and added a description
• Put a placemark at the Venue, which is the Faculty of agriculture and described it, with a text and also added a picture to it
• Using Lines, a trail was made from the Bus-Stop to the venue
• Using shapes, The cafeteria of the university was highlighted, which had a text and video as description

An example of a participant's Google map that was created can be accessed by clicking HERE.

Participants were amazed by what they could do with Google Maps!

Second exercise on Google Maps for indicating direction to a venue

After this session, as usual, the participants wrote on meta cards and also on the democracy wall. Day 4 was one where the participants had a lot to practice, but they also discovered a learnt many features on Twitter and Google Maps!

Please find in the Slideshow below pictures of Day 4:

Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity: A trainer's overview

It is the last day of the Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity training at the University of Mauritius. Someone has  said that all good things have an end. But when they end, like the wheel that is rolling, there is a new start. A new cycle begins.

As trainer and administrator of MAISNET I have been a privileged position to witness the unfolding of this capacity building programme. The participants have been very active and have been bombarding trainers with questions and have been requesting additional tips all the time.

The democracy wall, has seen the number of suggestions drop down drastically (yesterday their were only 3), meaning that we have been able to take on board suggestions so that focus of participants remains on the training, and indeed they have been successfully completing their assignments. A list of the blogs they have created in the short time that they have been here is listed below so that our readers can have a taste of their achievements, their potential and the opportunity that Web 2.0 provides.

But does that mean that the training has been a success? Is success judged by leaving the training with a certificate? As a trainer, I believe that success depends on change after training. On the impact in the daily life - personal, community or institutions we belong to. On the improvement in communication. In the manner we will be managing Information, Communication and Knowledge tomorrow.

So I hope that our participants will be able to contribute and bring positive changes within their communities and institutions. But at the same time, I hope that they will also be given the opportunity to express themselves.

Like the Director General of FARC has said in his speech at the opening ceremony, MAISNET is a concrete example of national and regional collaboration and we hope that the participants will find our activities and engagement in the agricultural sector appealing and join us for a common cause.

Enjoy the blogs for the time being.
Pictures and videos of the training will be be posted on our platforms at a later stage.

http://productivity-issues.blogspot.com
http://knowursocialworld.blogspot.com
http://mauritius-broiler-production.blogspot.com/
http://foodfanadia.blogspot.com/
http://agribusiness-mauritius.blogspot.com
http://fanrpan-mauritius.blogspot.com
http://www.pesticides-agric.blogspot.com/
http://www.chandasa-koyelas.blogspot.com/
http://varshajadoo.blogspot.com
http://reenabhoyroo.blogspot.com/
http://rbedacee.blogspot.com
http://chandranee.blogspot.com/
http://pooja48.blogspot.com/
http://rbrizmohun.blogspot.com/
http://web2-4dev-learn-share.blogspot.com
http://agriculturerodrigues.blogspot.com/
http://hbnaujeer.blogspot.com
http://shomasauba.blogspot.com
http://mauritiusforestnews.blogspot.com
http://faryazhotee.blogspot.com/
http://agriknews-mauritius.blogspot.com/
http://sugarcaneextensionandtraining.blogspot.com/
http://mauritiuspotatoandonion.blogspot.com
http://dashinia.blogspot.com/
http://vipin-kailash.blogspot.com/

Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity in Mauritius - Day 3, 11th July 2012

Like each day, Day 3 started with an over-view of the topics covered on Day 2.  During this process, the facilitators responded to the concerns or questions that the participants had for Day 2 and also circulated reading materials in the room, so that they get a better idea of how the tools that are  being taught are used in different context in Agriculture by various individuals or organizations. 


The facilitators went through the meta cards on "wiki", which was the last activity of the previous day. Each card was read and discussed with the participants. From the meta cards, it was noted that most participants were giving a description of the tool, rather than giving examples on how they would use them, On the other hand, there were also participants who had a clear vision on how they will use these tools. For example, one of the participants who is from the extension services wrote that he plans to create a wiki and integrate a Google Map in it, to have field location of sugarcane planters in Mauritius.

Facilitator reading meta cards

The 2 main topics that were on the Agenda for Day 3 were Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Blogs. 

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
The Concept of VoIP was explained through a Power Point presentation and video projection. Also, examples of different devices connected to the internet and the software used were given. For the purpose of the training, 2 examples of VoIP were given, explained and demonstrated. The first example was Skype, which is one of the most popular VoIP being used in the world. A participant who did not have a Skype account volunteered to create his account live and others who did not have an account followed the different steps shown in the demonstration. 

Participant signing in on Skype after creating his account

The different features of how skype works were explained and demonstrated; search and add contacts, chat, make a call, make a video call, share files, share screen etc.

Demonstration of video call on Skype

In the context of VoIP itself, participants were shown how they can chat on their gmail or download Gtalk, where they can chat and even call the persons who are online. 

While these tools are more or less familiar to most of them (as they are already using these in their daily activities), it was observed that participants limited the use of these tools with chatting or just making calls. For example, they were not aware of the possibility to share screens in a Skype conversation and they were amazed by this discovery!

Before moving to the next topic, the participants were provided with meta-cards on how they will use VoIP and and also wrote their comments for the Democracy wall.

Participants and Facilitator at the Democracy wall

Blogs
Another major topic for Day 3 was Blog. Almost all participants had visited a blog, but did not have a blog of their own or contributing to a blog. The concept of Blogging was explained using Power Point Presentation and video projection. Concrete examples of Blogs being used in Mauritius were also given and the participants were really enthusiastic to learn how to blog.

The blogging software used as example was "Blogger", which is recommended for beginners. A volunteer who did not have an account on Blogger was asked to come forward and he created his account. For each step, the participants were also doing same and we moved forward after ensuring that each participant had completed a step together with the volunteer.

Once an account on Blogger was created, they were directed to a page, whereby they were asked to give a name to their Blog, describe the blog and choose its address. Examples were given on what kind of name or description can be used for a blog, and almost all the new blogs that were created were Agriculture related.

Different features of Blogger were explained and participants created a new post and learnt how to write a text, change the font size, colour etc., add pictures and other media to the blog post, naming and tagging of the post, preview and publish a post. They were also shown how to add gadgets to the blog (labels after each blog post for example).

The volunteer proudly showing his first blog post

It was also shown to the participants how they can choose a template for their blog, to make it more appealing to get a greater audience. Facilitators also gave the participants some tips on how to make their blog post more interesting and "neat". One example is the choice of the size of a picture in the blog post; if the "extra large" size is selected, the picture goes outside the space allocated for the post and covers part of the sidebar. 

After going through all the features of Blogger, participants were given some time to practice and get used to the Blogger interface. Before the end of Day 3, they wrote their comments on how they will use blogs and were also provided with meta cards for the democracy wall. Participants also had an exercise to complete for Day 4, which was to write a blog post entitled "Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity - My personal Experience". The address of all the blogs (also email address, skype, twitter name etc.) were documented in a GoogleDoc (Spreadsheet), which was shared with all participants.

With this, it was the end of Day 3, also referred as the "Blogging Day"!

Please find in the Slideshow below the pictures of Day 3:

Web 2.0 Learning opportunity in Mauritius - Day 2, 10th July 2012

The second Day of the Web 2.0 Training in Mauritius started with a recap of Day 1, whereby participants were exposed to Introduction to web 2.0, advanced search on Google and RSS. By the end of Day 1, they were asked to practice some exercises on RSS feeds (for example adding RSS widgets to iGoogle). 

Most of the participants had done their "homework" and there were many questions from the floor. Some even went a step further and tried feed burner to combine RSS feeds from different sources. Since they wanted to know about how to combine feeds, a very brief explanation was given to them by Mr. C.Sembhoo, one of the trainers. 

The trainers also went though the comments on the democracy wall together with the participants and discussed on the different sections (I learnt, I discovered, I suggest, I felt, I noticed). The democracy wall proved to be very efficient since it was a way for the trainers to get feedbacks from participants on how they are finding the sessions, how much they have grasped, what are their concerns etc. and their suggestions have been taken into consideration while conducting the training on Day 2.

Trainer with the participants at the Democracy wall

Before starting with Day 2, a Group Photo of the participants with the Facilitators was taken.

Group Photo

On Day 2, training was delivered on GoogleDocs and Wiki. Each session started with a Power-Point Presentation and video to introduce the topic. For GoogleDocs, practical examples on how different types of Gdocs (word, spreadsheet, powerpoint, forms etc. are being used for various purposes (team working on research paper, organising an event, survey, sharing presentations etc.).

Once they got an idea on how these tools can be used, the facilitator demonstrated to the participants how to create a GoogleDoc, insert content, share the document, download it in the format they want it to be (word, pdf etc.). Participants were also shown how to upload an existing document (which can be in any format: word, excel, powerpoint, image etc.) as a GoogleDoc, edit and share it. The participants were fascinated with what they could do with GoogleDoc to simplify their work and save time. They practised different exercises on creating and sharing GoogleDocs and were assisted by the facilitators. There was a lot of question and confusion coming from the participants, who required assistance from the trainers and were gradually were getting used to the concept of GoogleDocs with practice.

It was also shown to participants that a form can be created by using GoogleDoc. An existing form that was created using GoogleDoc was used as example and together with the facilitator, they created a form, select the type of question they want to add (open-ended, multiple choice, check-box etc.), select a template and share it with other participants. After getting a response they were also shown how to view their form in different formats and see the responses in a spreadsheet or as summary. After this session on GoogleDocs, participants wrote on how they would use the tool meta-cards, which they pinned on the wall and the facilitator went through them and commented before moving to the next topic, which was on wiki.

The session on wiki started with an energising activity which was proposed to the participants, and brought back some energy in the room. The concept of a wiki was explained through a presentation and video. Then a concrete example of how a wiki is being used in Mauritius was shown to the participants. Also, the difference between GoogleDocs and a wiki was highlighted by the facilitator. Each participant had to create an account on pbworks.com, create a workspace and invite people to collaborate. All participants learnt how to edit the front page, insert text, image, Links (internal and extertal) and creating pages and link them to the front page. They were assisted by the facilitators during this process.

Day 2 was full of new discoveries for the participants and they had been very enthusiastic in learning the tools which were new to most of them. It was also realised that to master these tools, a lot of practice is needed!

Please find in the Slideshow below the pictures of Day 2:

Web 2.0 Learning opportunity in Mauritius - Day 1, 9th July 2012

The Web 2.0 Learning workshop organized by The Technical Centre for agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture (FOA-University of Mauritius) and the Food and Agricultural Council (FARC) was officially launched by Dr. the Hon. Rajeshwar Jeetah, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology on 9th July 2012 at the R.Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre, University of Mauritius, Reduit.

Present at the launching ceremony were 

• Prof. Y. Jaufeerally-Fakim, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, 
• Prof. H.C.S Rughooputh, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius,  
• Prof. S.Jugessur, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, 
• Mr. J.Ramkissoon, Director General of the Food and Agricultural Research Council

Deans of other Faculties of the University of Mauritius, academic staffs of the Faculty of agriculture, Director of Agricultural organizations, NGOs, the private sector and students were also present at the ceremony.

The Dean of FOA addressing the audience

The ceremony started at 09:15 with the welcome note of the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Fakim, who explained about the importance of web 2.0 tools in Agriculture today and why we should adopt these tools. 

In his speech, Prof. H.C.S Rughooputh, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, highlighted that the training on web 2.0 is being organised at the right moment since Mauritius will soon be benefiting better internet connectivity with the establishment of the LION2 submarine cable system in Kenya. Through the web 2.0 training, the Vice-Chancellor believes that the participants can make the best from this opportunity and contribute to Agricultural Research and Development.

The Vice-Chancellor addressing the audience

Prof. H. Jugessur, the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius said that it is now time for us to go back to the soil and forget about white-collar jobs. According to him, we are seeing fewer youth being engaged in agriculture and hence should encourage kitchen gardens etc. for the sustainability of the sector. He also mentioned that the Agricultural research and Extension Unit (AREU) and other Agricultural stakeholders should adapt to change and use open source and web 2.0 tools to collaborate, share information and transfer our knowledge to farmers in the field.

The Pro-Chancellor of UoM addressing the audience

The Director General of FARC, Mr. J.Ramkissoon, gave an over-view of the activities related to Web 2.0 tools that have been supported by his organization for past years.  He mentioned that the FARC and FoA collaborated in 2010 to run a similar training, the first time ever, for the benefit of the agricultural community. At that time he was the focal point of former ICART Project of the SADC FANR. He stressed on the importance of impact and the need to come out with something from the training. 

He gave the example of the MAISNET (Mauritius Agricultural Information Specialists Network) being created in 2010 and how this network had been active to exchange information, collaborate and to interact with the agricultural stakeholders. He also mentioned that MAISNET had put Mauritius on the global map as its articles are read worldwide. He gave as an example the breadfruit technology week coverage which was read by people from Europe, USA and the Carribean. He expressed his support to MAISNET and invited participants to join the network. 

He thanked the FoA for helping FARC organise and host this event. He concluded by thanking the CTA, in particular Mr Giacomo Rambaldi, and the trainers Mr Kamleshwar Boodhoo of FoA and Mr Chandrabose Sembhoo of FARC for making themselves available to run the course.

 He mentioned about how the Mauritius Agricultural Information specialists Network (MAISNET) was established, and encouraged all stakeholders present to join the network and work in collaboration.

The Director of FARC addressing the audience

In his speech, Dr. the Hon. R.Jeetah was direct to the point: We have a problem of excessive use of chemicals (fertilisers and pesticides) in the country and the food we are consuming is not safe for our health. "It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to critically look at what we are doing", said the Minister. According to him, the University has an important role to play in bringing positive change in our society and he officially declared that his Ministry can make available to the University of Mauritius land, situated at Pamplemousses and Montagne Blanche, for research purposes. He also emphasized that research needs to be multi-disciplinary and different sectors (Agriculture, health, education etc.) should collaborate and work together. He declared the workshop open and requested the participants to make the most of this web 2.0 learning opportunity in making positive change.

The Minister addressing the audience

Mr. K.Boodhoo, lecturer and Head of Department at the Faculty of Agriculture delivered a short presentation on web 2.0 tools and how they can be used for Agricultural Research and Development. The minister then launched a Blog post on the Faculty of Agriculture Blog.

The media coverage of the launching ceremony can be viewed in the video below: 

There were 25 participants selected for the training on web 2.0 for development and they were from different organizations and fields: Research, Extension, Fisheries, Forestry, private sector, agriculture graduates among others.

Workshop participants

The training started with an ice-breaker session whereby the participants had to talk to the person sitting next to him/her for 5 minutes and then introduce that person. 

The trainers introduced the democracy wall, which was in the corridor next to the room, whereby the participants had to share their ideas/opinions/thoughts on the training based on the following:

• I learnt
• I discovered
• I suggest
• I felt
• I noticed

Participants were provided with meta cards and were required to write on the above and share their views on the democracy wall twice a day.

Participants sharing their opinions on the democracy wall

The training on Day 1 was based on the following:

• Introduction to Web 2.0 for Dev
• Selective access to information using Google as search engine for advanced search
• Alerts and RSS (Google Alerts, Google Reader, iGoogle)

Before each session, there was a video projected to introduce the topic. Then the trainer would ask the participants some questions about who is using this tool and how they can benefit from it. The general observation was that apart from sending emails and have a Facebook account, very few participants use other web 2.0 tools.

The trainers in action

For each session, the trainers explained what the tool is about, what is the objective of using it, how does it function, giving examples and after demonstration, participants had time to practice different exercises.

After each session, participants were provided with meta cards (2 colours) and they had to write on the following and pin it on the wall:

• Do you Think you can make use of Web 2.0 Tools? If so, How? (Yellow Cards)
• What are your concerns (Pink Cards)

Before starting a new session, the trainers went through the meta cards and discussed on the issues raised before moving to the next session.

Participants pinning the meta cards after each session

According to the comments made by the participants, Day 1 was interesting and they discovered many things that would help them in their daily activities!

All Tweets for the launching ceremony and the training can be found with #web2mru

Please find in the Slideshow below the pictures of Day 1:

Follow live Tweets and training coverage on the Web 2.0 Learning Workshops in Mauritius from 9-13 July 2012 and 23-27 July 2012 on our Channels

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture (University of Mauritius) and the Food and Agricultural Research Council (FARC) is organising 2 workshops on Web 2.0 Learning opportunities in Mauritius on 9-13 July and 23-27 July respectively. For each workshop, 25 participants have been selected.

The Learning Workshops would consist of the following:

• Introduction to the participatory World Wide Web (Web 2.0) 
• Search Magic: How to conduct advanced multilingual online searches;
• Information Self Service: How to get selected information served to you via alerts and RSS feeds;
• Remote collaboration: How to develop content remotely using wikis and Google Docs; 
• Online mapping: How to locate your organisation and your projects on a online Map;
• How to communicate voice over the internet at no cost;
• Online publishing (micro-blogging and blogging);
• Professional / corporate social networking (LinkedIn and Facebook);
• Web 2.0 self-instruction (introduction to iMARK) 

The workshop will be launched officially on Monday 9th July 2012 at 09:15 (GMT+4) in the R.Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre (RBLT), University of Mauritius, by the Hon. Rajeshwar Jeetah, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology. 

This event, as well as the activities of the workshop will be tweeted live!

Follow us on Twitter with Hashtag: #web2MRU

Also follow MAISNET on Twitter: @mru_maisnet

Live tweets on MAISNET will be relayed on our blog (on top right hand side-REGIONAL FLASH NEWS & TWEETS) and also on our Agriculture News Channel on Facebook.

If you are not on Twitter, you can also view the tweets on the Faculty of agriculture Blog (on the sidebar on the right): Link to FOA Blog

Please feel free to interact with us and share your opinions on Twitter!