priority area

Sorry for the delay, but here’s the notes from the last Digital Media group call on November 3rd.  As a whole, a lot of our conversation centered on the challenges of working with youth media projects, such as lack of equipment, youth motivation, developing handouts and guides.  Subsequently, AJ followed up by volunteering to gather any curriculum and handouts people are willing to share.  [Check out the archives of the discussion list at http://www.ctcvista.org/forum/] In future calls, we plan to center on topics such as web design techniques (Dreamweaver or Drupal), video editing help and youth development. Our next call is scheduled for Friday, December 15th at 2pm EST. …read more

Welcome to the draft frontpage of the new CTC VISTA Project resource portal.  These resource portal pages are merely aggregators of content created, posted, and bookmarked by CTC VISTAs and supervisors.  Content will include: Blog entries by VISTAs and Project HQ staff Project newsletter, the Digest, and ComTechReview articles Sites bookmarked by CTC VISTAs on Delicious Photos uploaded on Flickr tagged "ctcvista" Videos submitted by CTC VISTAs on Blip.tv And more! Why the resource portal? Check out our proposed "vision statement." …read more

Community Networking area includes infrastructure or service projects, such as community ISPs or wireless community networks, and information focused projects such as community portals (websites that connect people with community resources and encourage civic participation). …read more

Technology Assistance to Non-profits: projects which develop tools or provide services which help small non-profits use technology to build their capacity. CTC VISTAs working in area will consider challenges such as: Technology assistance models/approaches Range of services provided by TA to NPs Difference between TA for organizations vs. for individuals Decision making process for CTCs to consider providing TA to nonprofit organizations Steps to successfully provide technology assistance to a community technology center, including assessing need, understanding impact on community, and management challenges that affect tech integration Ability to assess an organization's stage of technology capacity: infrastructure, integration, or innovation. Technology benchmarks for organizational technological literacy. How do you use the IT Service Capability Maturity Model to assess an TA Provider's place on the spectrum from ad-hoc services to continuous improvement? Approaching technology assistance in a holistic/transformative way (as a coach) rather than just in a symptomatic/transactional way (like a doctor), by tackling technology programs by addressing the health of the whole organization, with a holistic focus on solving a problem but creating/building/supporting excellence overall.   …read more

Digital Media focused projects include programs that empower individuals and organizations to effectively communicate their values using media and advocate for their communities. These projects engage both youth and adults in media making as means of providing technology training and media education. CTC VISTAs who are focused on digital media projects are building the capacity of programs that strive to: Use new, inexpensive and good quality digital video, animations, and web tools to engage community members and groups Discuss media literacy topics, including copyright and fair use, censorship, and social activism Increase computer literacy, including the necessity to stay current with constant developments in technology Focus programs based youth development research, including characteristics as age, social development, and life experiences, shooting for core youth needs and positive outcomes and ways to assess these levels and use this knowledge to shape curriculum. Identify instructional techniques to build upon the interests of each participant to motivate/enrich projects and encourage use of digital media as a form of self-expression, such as project-based learning or digital storytelling Identify techniques of quantitative and qualitative assessment and evaluation to benefit program development

  Community Organizing activities involve bringing people together to act in common self-interest, in the pursuit of a common agenda, with populist goals that build upon the ideal of participatory democracy.   There are a few central questions for CTC VISTAs as we focus our work in community organizing: How do we define "community"? What are the power centers and interest groups? How does government work, in relation to organizing the community? How are civic values at the core of community organizing? What are the ongoing, central issues at a local and neighborhood level? How can the Internet be used as a resource to engage community members civically? What can we do as community activists online? These resource portals are collaborative efforts to organize existing information and build new tools for VISTAs (and the organizations they serve).