SoSI News

[Alan Webb]

Hi everyone!

A few quick updates on SoSI:

Current Round of Courses

This semester has been a great experiment in different ways of combining online and in-person learning.  Take a look at how different each of these examples have played out:

- Women as Social Innovators has seen citizen circles come together in four cities where each have created actually very different learning plans.  The group has used additional virtual check-ins as needed, but the emphasis has been on the face-to-face work.

- Conflict Resolution has formed both virtual study groups and in person groups.  They have found that the online groups are a good medium for understanding and discussing conflict management theories, while local groups are essential for actually practicing and improving skills.  The local citizen circle formed through that course, in Washington D.C., is planning to do that through simulations and volunteer consulting to local groups.   The organizer of that the course, Emily, tells me she hopes to organize a second round of the course.

- Local Open Government Innovation has more than 80 participants and has found ways to accomodate both in-person project teams as large as 12 people and also smaller groups through organizing google groups around specific roles people have taken in each group.  

- And the Sustainability Studio has had a really great run of guest dialogues with experts related to each of our individual projects.  We have even created some badges and are participating in the badge pilot.  We are planning a potluck in two cities next week to celebrate progress on our projects so far, invite others, and plan our next steps.

(Education Politics in America is on hold, but planning to go ahead in the next round.)

A few lessons:

- Local launch parties were a great way to get started.  We plan to keep doing these.

- Some people were really intimidated or confused by the technology.  We would be happy to share ideas and get more involved in the site redesign!

- We have had some interesting debates about how to handle conversations around hard topics which wish to be private (sexuality).  We are looking forward to testing our ideas for sharing the experiences of private group discussions in the form of field notes and through people who play the role of "community animators," who help pass on experiential knowledge from one group to the next. (see our research proposal below)

- We have only scratched the surface of ways to combine in person and online learning teams, but even so have been seeing a lot of anecdotal confirmation of the value and importance of those face to face interactions for this type of learning.  Some methods have not worked, some have, but we're building up some great collective wisdom about how to do this which will be hugely beneficial for all who come along next.

Research

We are proposing an open research to explore in detail the many different ways and methods through which peer to peer courses are design and created, and looking for you to join: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1keZ1RefAMVfLnnEU_4NDLmUH9CjQKeRywzRcBbta8i4/edit?hl=en&authkey=CITtmeEL.  Would there be any interest in helping organize a cross-listed "research studio" to coordinate research groups for this summer?

Microgrant

We are happy to have submitted a microgrant proposal to allow us some time to grow this work.  You can read the proposal here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JcGhYiWJ0-yaaYxQ8XQRqSEgMxnu52Rx88IC7QnkrpM/edit?hl=en&authkey=CPPRtMsH

Preparation for next round of courses

We are working on drafting some language for a SoSI email blast about next round of courses.  We are waiting on confirmation of the microgrant so that we can include in it an advertisements for a SoSI community animator position and a special prize!  

Question: Every one of the SoSI courses currently running, to my knowledge, is either considering or has already planned to run well into May.  Does anyone have a course they are eager to start in April, or do we want to hold off a month or two and build up a bigger offering for, say, June or later?

Seeds / Titles for potential courses

We have been collecting some really cool proposals for SoSI courses and citizen circles.  Do you want to help make any of these happen?  Do you have any others to add?

Research Studio (cross-listed working group for research?)

Facilitator Studio (ongoing community of practice?)

Competencies for Social Innovation (working group, informing future badge work and the design of the living transcript)

Grand Strategy Theory

Community Organizing

Developing Social Imagination through the People's History

Clean Energy for Margainalized Communities

Service Learning

Giving Voice to Values

Obstacle Course for Social Innovators

Asset Mapping and Time Banking

Impact Investing

Engineering in the Community Setting

Writing for Social Change

Public Speaking for Social Change

Creativitiy as a Vehicle for Changemaking

Sustainability in the Fashion Industry

Drive and Motivation

Best,

Alan