Nancy White 8 Competencies A Ucompressed[1]

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Knowledge Bank 2006 Online Conference: Stories in the Digital Age

The 8 The 8 Competencies of Competencies of Online InteractionOnline Interaction

Nancy White – Full Circle Associates

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Who is the story teller?

Nancy WhiteFull Circle AssociatesOnline facilitatorBloggerLearnerChocoholicSEEKERLiteral picture, figurative imageIDENTITY online shows up in many ways

I'm an online interaction addict who fell down the rabbit hole in 1996 with Howard Rheingold's Electric Minds. Since then I have dedicated myself to understanding and practicing how we can successfully connect online.

Oh, I'm also a chocoholic. When I do this presentation live, everyone gets chocolate. The drawing of me in this slide is by Honoria Starbuck. I took the picture.

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Context

•We live in interesting times•Boundaries of mind and not place•Map your network on the globe… how far does it spread?•Breadth spread of internet connectivity •Internet – move information fast and lots of it

•Connection•Possibility•Globalization•Speed – change•Blogs & wikis have accelerated this•You have probably heard that proverb "may you live in interesting times." So many of us hopped online thinking wow, this is going to be great. But we didn't see what lurked beneath the surface. We have this huge context: opportunity, global reach, the ability to theoretically "do things fast" electronically, new expanded boundaries of mind, not place. But there are a few surprises.•Trolls under bridges… So knowing a few things can be useful.

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At first the online world feels totally familiar. Then something is odd…But it is a world where we are Working, Learning, Shopping, Convening, Conversing,….across time and distance via the ‘net.What felt familiar right away?What quickly became familiar? What practices have felt productive?Who have you learned them with and from?

•We care about competencies for this new, distributed world we live in because they are both heaven and hell. We want more heaven, less hell.•We start by looking inward.•UNPREPARED FOR POSSIBILITIES AND CONSEQUENCES of a connected world. Blogs and wikis have accelerated this•We can’t expect to lead or design for these competencies for others without having them ourselves. •When we remix online interaction with diverse offline contexts, what happens?•What if the bird flu takes hold and we must curtail travel and many F2F global activities? Are we ready to move more fully online?•How do our competencies with online technologies mesh with our competencies with mobile phones?•Note added after NorthernVoice presentation: consider how people use the word “competencies” differently in different settings.•This is important because the opportunity offered by online connection deserves a chance to come to fruition. Blogging has greatly increased the number of people interacting online, so the need to understand how we "do this stuff" is even more urgent.

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Picture courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/rollerboogie/

• Worried about your competency? What do we see when we look in the mirror?

• What did you find? What did you do?• How do we measure our competency for online teaching, learning, working in

this online world?• What does competent mean?

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•This online world is ruled by the "Goddess of Small Annoyances." She is powerful, passionate, colorful, forward moving, but full of little things that trip you up. The one sock missing... She is forcing us into a new life. After milleniaof hardwired communications patterns, we have been challenged to quickly develop NEW ones. To translate our offline learnings into this new space.What are the challenges?•Lack of skills•Organizational barriers•Scientist collaboration story•Groups with insufficient practices to work and learn together online•Challenges of boundary crossing

we are tested by challenges. Our poison apples may be thought of as things like:* Speed = success and quality* We are working with tools designed for a group, but experienced by an individual* Our actions are not mediated by a group as they are F2F* Organizational barriers (and feeling threatened by technologies that more often support horizontal action rather than top -down)* Professional barriers (think of scientists asked to collaborate in a "publish or perish" culture?)* Lack of skills (reading, writing, etc.)* Ego, jealosy, all those "7 deadly sins" (grin) can also trip us up online. Just like offline, we need to

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/umbrellagurl/

…with heart…

But… do it with heart

The other interesting thing is this perception of technically-mediated communication as somewhat less than human. I believe we can fully bring ourselves online; mind, heart and soul. So I'll try and tag the "heart" element of each of these competencies. (See heart icon)

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…Emergent

•meld the theoretical with the practical•For…individuals… learning community members…designers…Leaders?•How to learn them?•Design for them?

•What are they?•Same?Different?•Learn them?•The future? •These competencies are emergent. They reflect my experiences and those of people I have worked with. You may have other competencies; other experiences and perceptions.

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2. Online Communications

F2F communication skills – ability to interpret and respond to non verbals now translated in a new environment. VolumeMulti literaciesAbility to improviseAbility to listenHow do we learn to scan and comprehend? I WANT TO KNOW

FluidFluentNot flummoxed

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DrawWRITE!

See patterns

Image-inate

Vocalize

Intuit

….Scan…..http://www.flickr.com/photos/naveenjamal/57877623/

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Listen…

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/179390341/

"To receive everything, one must open one's hands and give”Taisen Deshimaru

3. Learning Together

Statue in Boston, info http://flakmag.com/misc/parkman.html

•Really.You can’t do this alone. So get used to it. REALLY.•Huge design implications. Tools are designed for a group, experienced by an individual•Large practice implications

•Open hand…•Learning as a practice•Gift economy•Collaboration•Networks

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Ramalingam: 6 Network Functions• Filters• Amplifyers• Convenors• Facilitators• Investors• Community

builders http://www.odi.org.uk/Rapid/Projects/PPA0103/Functions.html

Value of networks: Ben Ramalingam ODI working paper http://www.odi.org.uk/Rapid/Projects/PPA0103/Functions.html

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Togetherness Skills• Filter

– Search – Tag, bookmark – Annotate– Blog

• Be un-knowing• Reciprocate

Notice networking shows up again.What role of technology?What is role of practice?

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4. Facilitation

• Relationship• Identity/Reputation• Presence• Flow

Now more than ever

What from offline moves online?How is this practice evolving?How do we get the question right?Network vs. hierarchyBoundary spanningGroup variation

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Facilitation Skills

• Space-holding • Improvisational• Creatively

abrasive(Leonard)

Meaning makingRole modelingTalking about itClassics informed by ICT

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Convening Conversations

• Invite• Name the question• Design for local

choice• Nurture

Block, P (2003) The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters Berrett-Koehler

Convening conversationsNaming the questionInitiating new conversationsSticking with strategies of engagement and consentDesigning strategies that support local choice

Some of this belongs in facilitation

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5. Intercultural Antennae

http://www.stc-jamesriver.org/King%20STC%20Jan04.pdfEveryone needs cultural antennaeThe cost of not having them is highProfessional and organizational culturesBroadly defined Beyond“Default” cultureBiggest challenge?SenseUnderstand (not all, can never)

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Duck or fish?

Stories in different culturesLook ..readLive/work/play Fala! (speak!)Bridge

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Get used to itControl is an ILLUSION

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6. Tolerance for AmBiguitY

Move forward without certainty

A huge survival skill is being ok with ambiguity. Of small, incremental changes for feeling secure, but knowing big leaps can happen and throw us off balance. There is an element of faith here, to move forward, even in uncertainty.

OK with “not in control”not knowing

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Ambiguity Dancing Skills

• “Yes, and”• Ask • Shift• Flow

Dancing with Ambiguity at the Online BallroomImpro book link

New advocacy

Doing this dance is about having some roots to hold you when the wind blows, like your values and self awareness. The other part is about being open to whole new worlds of possibility. We can connect with people so different, we have to be able to open the window to their views, which may be very different than ours. We have to shift from an advocacy of "my ideas" to the opening to a weaving together of "our ideas." Winning means something collective. It means that what we know as "right" today might be modified tomorrow not because we are fickle and inconsistent, but because what we learn tomorrow changes our understanding and world view.

A person who viewed these slides online said dancing is about losing your balance and being able to find it again.

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Engineer Economist

Artist

How are you balanced between these three?What do you need to strengthen? Tone down?Engineer – problem solving, logic, clarity, knowingEconomist – cost benefit, measurement, fair exchangeArtist – heart, relationship, feeling, outsider

IDENTITY

Most of us identify with one domain, but in the online world, we benefit from building our strengths in other areas as well.

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7. Ability to switch contexts

• Multi-membership • Connectors• Networkers• Multiple perspectives• Outsiderness

Beta and the VHS example

While we may have a strength in one area, we may be the engineer, we have to be able to both build up our inner economist and artist AND to be able to embrace the different approaches of people who come from different contexts.

Let go!CultivaterelationshipsKnow/use/ditch modelsBe the jesterRemix

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8. Technical Skills

• Love it or leave it

• Know enough• Be curious• Experiment • Have friends

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Finally…1. Self-Awareness

Most important – online and offline. When I do this presentation F2F, I do this one last as a launch into a conversation. But since we are unfolding our competencies over 10 days, I thought we might put it back at #1. What do you think, Tony?

The most important competency is self awareness -- online and offline. If we cannot stop and see ourselves, we cannot see others. Nor "hear" them!

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So what?

• Undeterred by failure

• Care for the whole• Willing to be

vulnerable• Value the human

system firstBlock, P (2003) The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters, Berrett-

Koehler

•Name the debate•Focus on the human, whole system!

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There are two ways of spreading the light:

To be the candle or the mirrorthat reflects it.

- Edith Wharton

Finally, when we think in terms of blogging, we can be the candle, sharing what we know, or the mirror, reflecting attention and light on to others. Both are , in my view, necessary. We can build on the knowledge of others.

Date post:	07-Nov-2014
Category:	Education
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Nancy White 8 Competencies A Ucompressed[1]

Education