COMMUNITY NETWORKING


AN IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING GUIDE

Prepared for
The NIE/NSF "Network Montana" Planning Grant
by Frank Odasz, franko@bigsky.dillon.mt.us
Western Montana College, August 15th 1995

PLANNING GRANT ACTIVITIES

Since receiving the NIE/NSF planning grant October of 1994 Western Montana College, of the University of Montana, has been creating a community resources Internet-accessible archive. The Big Sky Telegraph staff has continually been gathering information and strategies which are reflected in the final NIE/NSF proposal. The following is a review of key considerations in the implementation of community networks with an emphasis on school/community synergies.

THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY NETWORKING MODELS

Ironically, at a time when federal funding opportunities are becoming increasingly uncertain, the costs of technology are dropping. Locally-funded telecomputing initiatives are becoming increasingly necessary and feasible.

Optimal online collaboration needs to be modeled and sustained, between regional, state, and local initiatives and organizations with the benefits of sharing updates from ongoing research, and continuous information collection and organization, clearly demonstrated.

The need exists now to promote widespread citizen awareness of the verifiably "appropriate and affordable" methods of initial networking implementation, with an emphasis on using local funding. The need exists now to provide citizens, schools, and communities nationally with accurate, summative information about their self-directed connectivity options from the lowest-cost entry level, to the most elaborate high bandwidth systems.

The successively expensive, and beneficial, connectivity options need to be clarified for all citizens through first hand experience allowing citizen evaluation of the possibilities, with an emphasis on how to get started with minimal cost and effort.

Readiness to benefit from full Internet connections can be developed through many successive connectivity models in both cost and required skills.

THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE ART OF COMMUNITY NETWORKING

The term "community networking" does not appear in the literature prior to 1992. Though the term has immediate appeal, many misconceptions exist.

For example; most activity on community networks is independent browsing by individuals, not purposeful group activities that help build community relationships and produce benefits. Despite 250 recorded public access networks, no community can boast even 15% community participation. Most community networks are more communities of networkers rather than networked communities.

"Community Networking" means different things to different people. There are two basic orientations toward community networking:

  1. The "Internet" model of community networking is providing free Internet access to citizens to access the benefits of the Internet. More recently, this has taken the form a WWW home pages interface. Critics argue that this does little for the community as a whole and nothing to build relationships among community members.

    Problems have arisen from University-based community networks due to complaints from commercial vendors about unfair competition using public funds. "Restraint of Trade" counter arguments attempt to check this complaint, but differing options are common. State and University support for community networking has thus come under fire.

    National online service providers also claim they can do a better job of providing centralized community specific services while opponents claim local control is the only way to assure a communities best interests are kept foremost in mind.

    Modem banks can quickly become overwhelmed and prohibitively expensive once large numbers of citizens begin using the networks. Hardwired infrastructures like cable TV and fiber optics are considered the only long term solution for mass utilization of community networks. Wireless solutions may well pre-empt even these hard-wired solutions.

  2. The "Inner-net" model of community networking is providing free local access to community based conferences and information resources. Nebraska's Community Networking Institute (CNI,) project argues that the greatest need is to build better relationships within communities and between communities. CNI argues that anyone that wants Internet can buy their own for under $5/hour from services such as Netcom.

BUILDING CITIZEN-TO-CITIZEN CONNECTIONS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

The success of the National Information Infrastructure depends on citizens learning to use telecomputing for purposeful group interaction. Ubiquitous entry-level opportunities are needed to help citizens understand the merits of the successively greater bandwidth connectivity options. Eight-five percent of the American populace has yet to take their first step toward the electronic pathways. Until citizens can begin to assess the potential of the National Information Infrastructure (NII,) firsthand, and assist one another in learning to evaluate and derive these benefits, adoption of interactive technologies will suffer.

The online medium represents the first mass interactive medium in human history, and inherently holds the promise for inexpensive mass teaching, learning, and collaboration. Successful text-based interaction is not dependent on high bandwidth, high costs, or extensive training. Mass collaboration, the most important component of a scaleable NII, is possible today with inexpensive technologies.

THE IDEAL SOLUTION:

While a local bbs can be an economical first level for a community network, WWW conferencing systems and continuing advancement of programming environments, such as HotJava, will soon make it possible to have the best of both Innernet and Internet features.

The ideal sociology would be for citizens to have access to self- directed online lessons, mentored by other citizens, until they are confident enough to offer mentoring help themselves. Citizens would ideally learn how to conduct purposeful group activities within the community as well as through global communities of interest via Internet. Bringing the best information available globally, home, to meet specific community needs, would be the ideal online behavior for citizens.

The issue of how to prohibit access to obscene materials by minors has created a flurry of new firewall and censorship products such as SurfWatch, and Cybersitter. No foolproof options exist. K12 Authorized Usage Policies (AUP's) are vitally important for liability protection for schools and network sponsors.

RAISING AWARENESS OF THE BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY NETWORKING

The biggest single barrier to community networking success is economic sustainability, which requires establishing a widespread vision with a community of just what community networking is, and can become. Successively more involved strategies are listed below as recommended components for a "Community Teleliteracy Program."

For the public support necessary for sustainable community networking, the "real benefits for real people" must be clearly understood. An ongoing mechanism for citizen evaluation of the verifiable benefits of community networking is needed, with the results widely disseminated on a regular basis. The following are specific strategies for raising community awareness of the benefits of community networking.

1. PROMOTING BASIC AWARENESS OF OPTIONS AND BENEFITS
GOAL:
Inform citizens as to their present and emerging telecommunications options for creating their own opportunities for self-directed learning and employment in a knowledge-based economy.

STARTING SMALL CAN HELP FACILITATE LONGTERM GOALS

Where high-end community networking infrastructure is not yet available, important awareness raising opportunities can be realized from implementation of low-end community networking "starter" configurations, such as bulletin board systems.

Longterm goals of leveraging greater capability with greater connectivity can be facilitated through initial use of low-end systems because "Expectations increase with connectivity" and low-end systems give a community a place to start, a place to discuss and review the potential benefits online, available locally at minimal cost. Most skills learned on low-end systems transfer directly to high-end systems such as online conferencing, file sharing, etc.

Communities with high-bandwidth systems need to partner with communities with low-bandwidth systems so the advantages can be better understood. While perhaps many Montanan communities may be technically and economically able to implement a high-bandwidth network, many need more awareness-raising activities before they will be able to garner the support of their citizens.

2. PROVIDE ENTRY-LEVEL FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH THE OFFER OF FOLLOW-UP TRAININ G
GOAL
Provide ongoing "low-threat" minimal-cost teleliteracy learning opportunities to build skills, awareness, and engage citizens in online group activities.

3. CLARIFY IMPLEMENTATION CHOICES
GOAL
Summarize known models and evaluate technical features, maintenance overhead, and social implementation strategies. Identify quality evaluative metrics. Broker expertise.

SUCCESSIVE CONNECTIVITY LEVELS:

4. SHARE THROUGH MULTIPLE INFORMATION CHANNELS:
Demonstrate how multiple community, and institutional, entities can support one another through ongoing development, integration, and sharing of resource collection/dissemination and training programs via distributed conferencing, listservs, newsgroups, gopher menus, FTP and WWW. (NOTE: Both low-end and high-end systems can benefit through these communications methods!)

4.1. COMMUNITY RESOURCE SHARING PROGRAM
GOAL
Create a continually-updated clearinghouse of the highest value resources possible relevant to community needs, to include online training opportunities.

4.2. FACILITATE ONLINE DIALOG
GOAL
Developing online communities of interest between multiple geographic communities. Listservs and Newsgroups will facilitate ongoing dialog among community groups, and between communities, demonstrating the benefits of collaborative dialog and ongoing information sharing.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES; A TOP DOWN MODEL

The National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN,) advises a formal advisory council consisting of strategic partnerships from the four cornerstones of any community; the business community, the educational community, the healthcare community and the governmental (local/county) community. Establishing support from each of these communities is vital to sustainability. The problem in the past has been each constituency has attempted to create their own independent networking plan. Their key to sustainable networking is to partner with the other constituents to share costs and benefits.

A BOTTOM-UP MODEL

The 1993 report "Making Government Work; Electronic Delivery of Federal Services," strongly recommends citizen minigrants as stimulus for widespread innovation. "The diversity of applications necessary for a successful National Information Infrastructure can only come from the citizens themselves."

The following is a general outline of guidelines to consider regarding the recommended methodology for establishing a community network through the top-down strategic partnering model. The Community Networking Institute's RFP packet reflects this approach.

A Community Networking Methodology Outline:

COMMUNITY NETWORKING FEATURES CHECKLIST:

The following is a expanded checklist of technical decisions that will need to be made regarding the specific features and function to be engineered on a specific community network:

Operating System:

Interface:

INTERNET OPTIONS:

PROMOTING COMMUNITY-WIDE SCIENCE, MATH AND TECHNOLOGY LITERACY THROUGH SCHOOL/COMMUNITY OUTREACH NETWORK TESTBEDS:

Synergy with the following is inevitable:

To turn around the rural economic decline we need to identify specific opportunities for our own kids to find meaningful employment locally. To sustain our communities requires an initiative to find out just what the known benefits of Internet and community networking might be for rural citizens, specifically.

K12 science and math education should reflect synergy with what's known about applying math, science and technology education to employment through telecomputing. Internet access to satellite photography, federal research and development archives, global niche markets, community networks, and vast resource archives, all relate directly to success in an rapidly emerging information economy.

Public understanding of networking benefits is vital for the public support necessary to sustain any school networking effort. Community awareness and involvement in networking is necessary for the success of school networking initiatives that apply to students integrating their science, math, and technical knowledge toward community issues and eventual personal employment.

Educational reform must include programmatic approaches which link science and math teacher training, classroom activities, community science and math literacy, and school/community networking as necessary integrated components for lasting educational reform.

In our electronic society, students are being taught to be citizens, and citizens are being taught to be lifelong learning students. School and community networking efforts on inevitably on a convergent course.

Our shared mission, of some urgency, is to find what works employing citizen's through telecommunications and teaching how to do it through K12 education, using various telecommunications technologies to the home, as well as to the school, on an ongoing basis. Within this context, the tangible benefits of science and math education need to be showcased with an emphasis on creating employment opportunities, and other community benefits.

Multiple, diverse public access testbeds are needed to "research" methods for online teleliteracy training and showcasing science and math resources gleaned from the Internet, in a "community benefits" context. Articulated as follows:

The Clearinghouse for Rural Excellence at Western Montana College of the University of Montana exists to foster connections, communication, and cooperation between rural entities including schools, libraries and businesses. The Clearinghouse seeks to develop in every community catalysts to promote sustainable connectivity/networking and to champion economic development, enhance access to information, and further lifelong learning among citizens.

K12 ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING IS NEEDED

The greatest need for citizens is how to earn a living to replace rapidly disappearing traditional vocations. The opportunity exists to kickstart the proliferation of online jobs and small business "win-win" relationships, globally, without having to wait for the natural evolution of such opportunities to unfold.

An online teaching model similar to Mind Extension University is needed. Minigrants will be used to sponsor demonstration online telepreneurial enterprises, with sponsorship of additional course creation projects.

A model is needed for a "Entrepreneurship Cooperative" to provide training, certification, and joint marketing of skills and entrepreneurial online services for citizens. Model online interactive instructional methods will be demonstrated for both K-12 and Higher Education Entrepreneurial replication.

K12 ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND K-100 LIFELONG LEARNING:

Lifelong learning has become an employability survival necessity. The distinctions between what should be taught in K12 schools, and in the current workplace, are blurring, as more powerful connectivity and information management tools are proliferating at every more affordable prices, and with easier to use interfaces. As mentioned, K12 students have an attitudinal mindset that allows them to typically outlearn adults, if given hands-on access to the appropriate technologies. In short, what's good for K12 is good for training the current workforce in most instances; basic literacy, teleliteracy, and infoliteracy.

The need exists to create initial free entry-level training materials, and create a "for profit" series of instructional courses centering on entrepreneurial skills and models for success in the emerging knowledge economy. Citizens need an affordable means of learning how to create online courses and services, and to potentially market them.

SUPPORTING COMMUNITY-WIDE ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING

A entrepreneur training, support, and co-marketing online cooperative will help deliver citizen-created, non-credit lessons, and service delivery models exploring how citizens can learn-to-earn, to stimulate even greater interest among citizens in creating their own ventures. The goal will be to create self-fullfilling knowledge-economy models that respond to existing needs.

ENTREPRENEURIAL COOPERATIVE'S BENEFITS and GOALS:

CONCLUSION

Lack of community-wide awareness of the options and benefits of "Inner-net" and "Internet" telecomputing is the biggest barrier to proliferation of community/school networks. The economy and convenience of self-directed, mentored online learning opportunities has yet to be exploited for ongoing training of citizens. Specific benefits, particularly those related to income producing opportunities, must be identified and widely promoted to generate interest in the online participation by citizens.

Today's technologies make it possible for everyone to get involved in networking at some level. Since "Expectations increase with connectivity," we need to focus on ubiquitous engagement of all citizens with multilevel testbed projects measuring the benefits associated with the successive connectivity models. The prevailing themes in support of widespread community networking are:

  1. Widespread awareness raising of networking options and benefits
  2. Development and promotion of self-help training models
  3. Local control and economic sustainability

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