It’s great to see Leeds Federated HA, who take pride in being a ‘people’ organisation, highlighting the important role that e-learning @mbassadors can play:

Leeds Federated is proud to announce that Sue Howlett an involved tenant has taken on the role of E-Learning Ambassador for TPAS to promote Easy-Learning online.

Sue is part of a team of trained E-Learning Ambassadors who will continue to work with TPAS to explore new technologies and develop innovative new courses, content and ideas for the E-Learning programme.

Congratulations to Sue, her hard work and commitment has led her to take on opportunities at the cutting edge of tenant involvement.

Read the full article here: Putting Tenants at the Heart of TPAS E-Learning Programme

A new dawn in tenant empowerment!

And we wanted to find out:

How can TPAS eNetwork help empower tenants and residents?

We asked members how they might want to use TPAS eNetwork and what features they’d like to see. Here are some of the ideas that came up:

Some uses for TPAS eNetwork

• Good for tackling social isolation
• Good for connecting with young people
• Use it to address both providers and tenants
• Use photo & video evidence to ‘name & shame’ providers
• Put paperwork online instead – but think about security
• Slogan: ‘inclusive not exclusive’
• Useful for community cohesion
• Address disability access issues
• Buddy system
• Silver surfers
• Intergenerational – young and older users offering mutual help – e.g. adopt a granny/grandad
• Self-moderating groups will develop with tenant involvement in the TPAS eNetwork
• Make sample policies available for others to use/adapt to avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’

Features wish list

• Jargon buster
• Links to BBC security site/info, e.g. Staying Safe, and CEOP
• Web page (form) to assess users’ skill levels (computer/internet literacy)
• Functionality for iPhones & mobiles
• Make it clear: What’s private? What’s public?
• Site user policy – code of conduct
• Facebook plugin? – a possible future development?
• Creative commons – using copyright-free/open media – e.g. photos on Flickr
• What about Twitter feeds – tweeting?
• Linkedin network?
• Link to FixMyStreet.com – highlight this online service
• Link to TPAS Flickr group (plugin feeds from… install widget?)
• Link to TPAS YouTube channel (plugin feeds from… install widget?)
• Linking to many other relevant sites & organisations is very important
• Web conferencing – a future development
• Highlight useful web conferencing services/tools:
  • Skype
  • dimdim
  • Flash Meeting (online video conferencing), part of LearningSpace from the Open University
  • Moodle & TPAS e-learning

Other issues

• Training for newbies – face 2 face & online – e.g. BBC raw: Introducing the internet and BBC Webwise Guides
• How to involve those without computers?
• Moderating online conversations – how will this work?
• Open to non-members?
• Promote security of TPAS eNetwork site (i.e. compared to other big social networks which would be more attractive to hackers and scams)

Thanks to the TPAS e-learning @mbassadors, who are the key member bloggers at TPAS eNetwork, for helping to facilitate the workshop and their great contributions to the lively discussions.

Use arrow buttons to navigate through the presentation. Rollover ‘More’ for fullscreen option.

• Regenerative commerce

• User-centred governance

• Community-based maker economies

Here are more resources from the NLab workshop:

Download Amplifying Businesses and Communities for Resilience [Powerpoint]

Download Amplifying Businesses and Communities for Resilience SUMMARY [PDF]

Download Are you amplified [PDF]

Are you amplified? [Quiz]

My friend, Kirsty McGill, recently blogged some enlightening thoughts about using the web and social networking tools to amplify public events:

Online amplification is basically any live, online activity which gives a digital dimension to the proceedings thus enabling remote participation and creating an online record of the event.  There are therefore two parallel aims – to generate conversation/interaction and to archive.

Any social networking tools could be used to amplify an event, although some are perhaps more suited to this purpose than others.  Twitter is fast becoming the mainstay, but it is by far the be all and end all.  Blogs, video streaming, live chat rooms, slide sharing and services such as Cover It Live all have a role to play and can effectively allow multiple entry points to the event so participants can engage through whichever single or combination of services best suit their needs.

But how do you co-ordinate all of this stuff? Should you try to co-ordinate it?  And how do you get your flesh participants involved without distracting them?

For some potential answers to these questions, read more here: Big Digital Feet