Welcome to Episode 6 of the Technology in Human Services podcast!

In this episode, I’m speaking with Fei Tang, who helped create and run CultureLink’s very successful Massive Open Online Course/Community (MOOC).

If you’re not a familiar with MOOCs, Wikipedia defines it as “an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web.” As you’ll hear from Fei, the idea of building community within the course was as important as sharing the curriculum to CultureLink.

Interestingly, the notion of community in massive open online courses isn’t new. In fact, it’s something Canadian researcher and open education proponent Stephen Downes has been an active proponent of.

To read up on the differences between a typical and a community MOOC, and why if you’re considering a MOOC, you should consider a “cMOOC,” read this article by Downes.

For some more details about CultureLink’s first MOOC, check out the infographic they created below the Shownotes.

Shownotes:

* CultureLink doesn’t just use MOOCs as an education tool, but also as a social engagement and community building tool.

* They got into MOOCs to leverage the scale, openess and accessibility of online courses, as well as to build connections among newcomers.

* They took work and content they already had and moved them into a new service channel. They weren’t trying to offer something they don’t have subject matter expertise in, or not part of their core services.

* Creating online services has to be aligned with organization strategic goals. Anyone thinking about creating a MOOC needs to align the project with organization goals, service strengths and client trends. That means also defining success in those terms.

* While the technology of hosting the MOOC was free, it’s not free to produce. There is still an allocation of human resources and much time to create a MOOC.

* It’s still hard to get government funders to support MOOC development in human services. If you want to do something innovative, the funding source is not usually your typical government funders. Most innovative projects at CultureLink have been through seed grants from the private sector and foundations. You can build on that, to provide evidence to traditional funders to get their support, but they’re not necessarily the go-to funders for innovation. Yet.

* The experiment means that CultureLink is looking at how MOOC innovation can be built into their service delivery. With a vulnerable clientele, most clients need one-on-one and service on a smaller scale. MOOCs are a good supplement to existing services, but won’t replace the existing work, which is still personal and individualized.

* Technology is already incorporated into our every day service delivery, with a focus on tech that clients are familiar with. For example, with Syrian refugees, staff have started using WhatsApp because clients are. They’re not using email. They rely on WhatsApp, as it has been a useful tool for them. It also allows clients to use voice messaging, for clients who aren’t literate in their own language. They’ve been able to use WhatsApp groups to connect and include many clients with one message.

* MOOCs are also useful to be used as professional development tools for human service workers, across the country. Fei’s insight here builds on Dave Montague’s comments on professional development as a key tool for building onli...

Welcome to Episode 5 of the Technology in Human Services podcast!

This episode is part 2 of a look at how the City of San Gabriel transformed its community outreach and engagement with local Chinese-language residents (listen to part 1 here).

As I mentioned in the previous post, Walter Yu wrote a simple call to action in 2013: Five ways organizations could engage Chinese immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley:

* Jump on to China’s social media

* Go mobile

* Chat it up

* Get some face time

* Learn some Chinese

In this episode, I speak to Walter about how his simple idea became the foundation for the City of San Gabriel, and others, including local police departments, to broaden their connections with Chinese-language residents.

Shownotes:

* Share your thoughts and ideas! Walter had no idea how his call to action would be received. But, it was worth making.

* Online efforts resulted in changes in how the Chinese-language community and government institutions interact, and their sense of inclusion in the community.

* Reaching out in a way that works for the community can have a transformative impact on community relations. It can change their perception about your organization and its reputation.

* Online efforts can translate into tangible success offline as well.

* Social media can provide a human face that can build trust over time. It may be counter intuitive that the online space builds higher levels of trust and a connection. But, the reality is, if that’s how your audience/community is connecting and wants to be communicated with, meet them there.

As always, thanks so much for listening. Let me know what you think, or what you’d like more of.

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Welcome to Episode 4 of the Technology in Human Services podcast!

In this episode, I explore the idea of going to where your audience is and connecting with them there. For most nonprofits, getting on social media tends to mean setting up a Facebook page, Twitter account, maybe LinkedIn and Instagram. Many do it even before figuring out if their audience or clients are there.

But, what if the people you’re really trying to connect and engage with aren’t on those platforms? What if they don’t speak English (or your native language)?

In 2015, the City of San Gabriel, in California, jumped onto Sina Weibo, a Chinese language social media network. They were the first city government in the U.S. on the network.

They did it because it made sense.

It’s paid off.

I originally interviewed San Gabriel City Public Information Officer Lauren Gold for a Cities of Migration article. It was great to hear about their success reaching out to local Chinese language-speaking residents. It was even better to hear how their efforts have created a deeper sense of connection, trust and inclusion with the community. It’s what we all kind of dream of when we think about the possibilities of social media.

I also wanted to connect with Walter Yu. Walter wrote a simple call to action in 2013: Five ways organizations could engage Chinese immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley. It became the foundation for the City of San Gabriel, and others, including local police departments, to broaden their connections with Chinese-language residents.

This is part 1 of my discussion, with Lauren. In the next episode, part 2, I speak with Walter.

(note: the audio is a bit off. That’s totally my fault. I’ll post about learning about podcasting technology soon, and what went wrong. But, I’ve also learned a lot about editing audio! The audio is as clean as I could make it (with some help from an audio editor), so I hope you won’t be too put off by it and take the time to listen to the amazing advice)

Shownotes:

* Lauren gave me a bit of background about the demographics in San Gabriel and what hat led to their decision to start using Chinese language social media.

* Lauren talked about what outreach to the Chinese language community looked like before using Chinese language social media.

* The City of San Gabriel was the first American municipality to set up an account on Sina Weibo, but they learned from other public organizations who went before them.

* The fact that Sina Weibo actually had a local office helped them get set up the right way, including setting up a “verified account.”

* We talk about Lauren’s experiences using Weibo, in particular how it’s impacted community relations with the local Chinese-language population.

* Importantly, Lauren discussed how online success has led to offline, in-person success in community engagement as well. They’ve been able to increase the quality of interactions among residents, connecting them to their own community. Lauren says the subscriber numbers aren’t as important as this outcome.

* Lauren talked about how they manage a Chinese-language social media account, in practical terms.

* Having support of city council and the city manager was very important for the City to move forward using Weibo and...

On this episode I’m talking with friend and colleague, Dave Montague.

Dave and I worked together at the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) twice. Once as colleagues, and once with him as my boss (yes, we’re still friends). He’s the heart and soul of some important online projects serving new immigrants to Ontario, such as Settlement.Org, SettlementAtWork, InMyLanguage, OCASI’s Online Client Management System (OCMS),  and more.

In this episode, I wanted to explore the human service worker side of things.

If we’re going to talk about technology in human services, we can’t leave the service agencies and workers out. To be aspirational is great. But, what does it take to make it work, practically, day to day?

We know that workers embrace technology in their daily lives. It’s in their hands, pockets and handbags in the form of their phone or smartphone. They’re online, when it makes sense to be. They use technology like most of us use it, to connect, collaborate, learn, share, buy, and waste time.

If technology is painful for them at work, what could make them willing to work through perceived social and technical barriers to embrace technology as a viable tool or channel for service delivery?

Last year, Dave presented a great perspective about how one sector, the immigrant settlement sector in Ontario, has grappled with something that seems so important, building communities of practice, and how technology can help facilitate those communities. I talked to Dave a bit about that, recapping what he learned and the ideas he has to get the sector embracing the potential of technology in their client service.

We spent the rest of our chat discussing use of technology by workers, and how Dave sees uptake of technology trending in the immigrant service sector and beyond.

I hope you enjoy episode 3 of the Technology in Human Services podcast.

You can watch Dave’s presentation here:

 

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Welcome to Episode 2 of the Technology in Human Services podcast!

On this episode, I’m talking with Jason Shim, described by TechSoup as a Nonprofit Technology Rockstar. I definitely share that opinion. I’m so excited to bring his insights, energy and experience to all of you.

Jason’s a connector, an innovator with an insatiable curiosity. As you’ll find in this episode, he shares his experience, learning and knowledge freely, humbly, and with insight and analysis.

I wanted to talk to Jason for a number of reasons, which you can imagine from all that I just described. But, in 2012, he wrote a specific article that really caught my attention. He shared his and his organization’s experience using Facebook as a tool to better communicate with the youth they serve. Not market to. Not solicit donations. Not for the Likes and Shares. But to serve them better. It’s always been a seminal article on the topic for me. There’s just not been enough written about it. So I wanted to catch up with him to see how it’s going, 4 years later, and to have him distill even more learning from his experience.

I had a lot of fun interviewing Jason. And also learned so much. On his LinkedIn profile Jason writes: “How can we harness technology to make a difference in the world? That’s the question I love to answer for organizations.” I think you’ll enjoy hearing how he’s been able to answer it for his own organization.

Selected links

* From Phones to Facebook: How to Engage Youth on the Front Lines of Social Media

* Exploring the possibilities of digital media marketing: Jason Shim [profile]

* Jason’s LinkedIn profile

* The 2014 NTEN Award: Jason Shim

* Nonprofit Technology Rockstars: Jason Shim

* @JasonShim

* Pathways to Education

* Canadian Nonprofit Technology LinkedIn group

* Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don’t Work

* Nonprofit Technology Network

Show Notes

* Be where your clients are when it comes to technology

* Make technology a priority in your organization. Technology can play a significant role in advancing your mission.

* Integrate technology with your organizational strategy, not as an afterthought

* Quantify the efficiencies of using technology – make your case about how technology can be helpful. Be able to answer this question: “Does it solve a problem, or is it a solution looking for a problem?”

* Frontline workers/champions are essential. They have the direct connection with clients. They have the data, which is essential to make your case. The more specific you can be, the better.

* Don’t focus on technology for technologyR...

Welcome to my new podcast!

I’m going to bring you ideas, initiatives and individuals doing interesting and unique things with technology in their human service work.

There are thousands of human and community service non profits that want and need to use technology, especially social media, in their service work. That’s what I’m interested in and am going to explore in this podcast.

I’ve got lots of ideas and opinions on all of this and I’m happy to share them. But I think this podcast will be most useful and interesting talking to other people. Practitioners using or struggling with technology in service delivery, experts on particular areas of technology, such as encryption or community management. Sector leaders moving their organizations forward on officiating online services. Sceptics who think that technology use on human services is a mistake.

I want to talk to people doing interesting things with technology in human service. People struggling to figure it out. People doing it, but not really talking about it. There’s a lot going on below the radar. Lots of frontline workers use technology with their clients, and that’s great. But I also want to explore the ethical, privacy, confidentiality and other important service issues associated with technology use.

I want to look at policies and processes that some organizations have in place to guide their staff and clients.

Because I have mainly worked in the immigrant and refugee settlement services sector, I’ll be talking to many people there about what they’re. But, I’m also going to talk to people in other sectors. I think we all have much to learn from each other.

This is a short first introductory podcast. I hope you find this of interest as well.

If you’re listening, thank you! Let me know what you think and what you want me to explore. If you’ve got something to share, get in touch! If you’re working on a technology project, or want to be, let’s chat!

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