Global Innovations for Digital Organizing: Technologies for Transparency, Accountability, and Democratic Change
Technological innovation has resulted in the development of new channels of communication which are democratizing access to and production of media. The impact on social dynamics is evident from the Obama campaign’s youth mobilization efforts to the ongoing uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa. This four-week online professional development certificate course will evaluate case studies where new technologies have been used for activism and what factors and contexts are most influential on outcomes. It will also provide participants with strategies for maximizing the impact of new media and train them in the effective use of analysis and message management tools.
Course Topics:
- Understanding the New Media Landscape: Charting a Course for Social Change in a Digital Era
- Strategies to Achieve Offline Organization and Change through Online Mobilization
- The Data Driven Organization: Metrics for Results Driven Organizations
- Censorship, Privacy and Security in the 21st Century
Guest Experts:
- Sean Carroll, Chief Operating Officer, USAID (Bio)
- Daryn Cambridge, Director for Knowledge & Digital Strategies at the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict (Bio)
- Richard Graves, Founder and Executive Director of FiredUp Media (Bio)
- Bill Siemering, President of Developing Radio Partners and the first Director of Programming and Founding Board Member of National Public Radio (Wiki)
Dates: May 14th – June 8th, 2012. The course is offered over a four-week period.
Teaching Method/Class Format: The entire course is delivered online. The total time commitment is a minimum of 7-9 hours a week. The course is designed to be highly interactive and social, but we also work hard to ensure that the majority of content can experienced in a self-paced manner. We do feature real-time interactions each week such as live discussions, live expert interviews, and live simulations. In order to accommodate busy schedules of learners from around the world we’ve set up a learning environment where participants have plenty of options and can choose the ones they’d like to be involved with depending on their availability and interest. Participants can also access all course content up to three months after course completion so if you get pulled away at the last minute for part of the course you can still revisit the material afterwards.
Lead Facilitator: Christopher Neu, TechChange (Bio)
Course Objectives: The course is designed for working professionals to assist them in understanding the roles of technology in organizing. Participants should have an interest in the role that technology plays in the peacebuilding, development and humanitarian arenas. No specific technical skills are required for the course.
- Participants will be able to critically analyze both the opportunities and the pitfalls that emerge when working with technology for organizing and advocacy.
- Participants will be able connect relevant development, humanitarian and peacebuilding theories to the technological strategies and tools discussed in the course.
- Participants will be able to manage specific software platforms and utilize various technological tools for digital organizing.
- Participants will be able to design dynamic and effective strategies and tactics for using technology platforms and tools to launch and sustain campaigns.
- Participants will be able to work collaboratively with others by participating in dynamic group exercises and simulations.
- Participants will develop confidence and critical self-awareness in working with technology to facilitate digital organizing
Cost:
- $495 if application and payment is submitted by May 4th
- $595 if application and payment is submitted by May 14th
