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The Hawaii Centers for Independent Living’s

 

New Vision for Broadband Best Practices For All

 

 by Frank Odasz,  frank@lone-eagles.com

 

Online at http://lone-eagles.com/pacrim1.htm
 

RE: Presentation proposal for the Innovation Track of the International Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities showcasing HCIL’s vision and Web 2.0 E-learning and Collaboration Methodologies:
Conference Web Site: http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/submissions/

 

Presentation Title and Short Abstract:

Upturn in a Downturn Economy: Harnessing the Power of the individual and Communities in the 21^st century
By Frank Odasz, Shawn O’Donnell, Scott Cooper and Gordon Fuller
In this rapidly developing Information Society, harsh realities remain; there is a pervasive digital divide, reflecting social, economic, cultural and accessibility gaps, which often leave persons with disabilities behind, excluded or marginalized. This workshop will share ideas on how to reduce the digital barriers for persons with disabilities, and best practices in using ICT for communication and integration so as to provide community social and economic inclusion and justice for persons with disabilities. Be a part of a stimulating conversation and help formulate an action plan on broadband, media justice, crossing the digital divide in Oceania and rural areas, claiming our voices through 21^st century tools and much more. It is time to claim our place in the future and we must do it now.

Alternate Title and Abstract: Aloha-Reabling – Broadband Training Best Practices for All

The promise of Broadband is for everyone to connect to something life-changing, empowering, motivating, and meaningful; collaborating as global citizens. The potential is “Everyone Both Learner and Teacher, both Consumer and Producer.” The Hawaiian Centers for Independent Living will present a plan for a Hawaiian-Spirited Innovative People-Centered Initiative.

 

Most Americans are “Digital Learning Disabled.”  Most Americans do not really know what broadband is, or how it can best be used to sustain individual and family health, incomes, and lifestyles. The Obama administration has heralded a new day whereby all Americans will engage in learning new 21^st Century skills for civic engagement, learning-to-earn, and for helping others, anywhere, anytime. It is now necessary for all Americans to become both learner and teacher, both consumer and producer.  Missing however is an action plan capable of motivating all citizens to participate in a fast-track initial broadband innovations training program that can truly deliver measurable short-term outcomes.

 

HCIL is proposing a National 21^st Century “Re-Abling program” to provide online peer mentors to help all those Americans currently unable to engage in Internet Self-directed learning due to fear of technology, literacy limitations, lack of PC’s and broadband access, and the lack of accessibility tools.

 

One of the greatest needs to address is the lack of human bandwidth – access to someone who understands and is willing to help citizens gain self-confidence with the necessary skills to become self-directed life-long Internet learners.  Needed is a train-the-trainers short course that we all can take which arms us with useful knowledge that we can be paid to impart to others in a mastery learning format with authentic measurable outcomes. Followed by another short course, and all focused on the best skills delivered in the fastest and easiest way possible customized for our individual learning abilities and needs.

 

There is a role for all Americans to participate, to revitalize the human learning landscape. The National Call to Action is for “Everyone to be Both Learner and Teacher, both Consumer and Producer, All the Time. The recent boom of E-learning and social media innovations, such as Wikipedia, Facebook and Youtube allow citizens to collaboratively self-publish in ways that empower everyone. “If we all share what we know, we’ll all have access to all our knowledge. “No one knows as much as all of us.”

 

The Core questions facing America and all Americans:

1. What Matters Most? The answer is highly individual and whether broadband innovations yet exist heavily depends on who is leading defining the best innovations. Americans themselves or big companies, big government, and the politics of control?

2. What's the best people can learn to do to help each other? Whether using broadband for themselves, their local community, the nation, and/or the world?

 

As federal agencies and local and state governments are now themselves learning to provide E-government services more efficiently using new tools such as social media and online videos, it is every bit as important that citizens also learn to self-publish and to help others learn these essential new skills.  In fact, the reality behind the new transparency and openness to public input is the realization that the needed innovations are already proving to be coming from innovative Americans, not universities, corporations or government agencies.

 

Creating a social mutual support community, with a peer mentoring emphasis will be at the core of HCIL’s new initiative. Unique metrics are needed to authenticate positive outcomes in new motivation, self-esteem, skills, and the enhanced ability to assist others. Those who volunteer to help others, will be eligible to receive fast-track Broadband Entrepreneurship training and support services. HCIL will create an online clearinghouse of “Broadband Training Best Practices for Sustainable Families.”

 

Hawaii’s educational “digital best practices” strategies to prepare students to be globally competitive in the 21st century ideally will include such topics as global awareness, civic literacy, health and wellness awareness, and financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy.  The emerging opportunity is a digital literacy and digital inclusion program showcasing E-learning-for-all “best practices” and essential online resources to help Hawaiians deal effectively with 21^st Century challenges.

 

Growing an entrepreneurial culture among Hawaiian youth with emphasis on stemming youth outmigration and creating more stable and sustainable local rural economies is becoming more feasible due to Hawaii’s growing rural broadband connectivity.  A youth E-entrepreneurship program is proposed to rapidly stimulate growth of sustainable local entrepreneurship, ecommerce and telework businesses and jobs.

 

The Hawaii Center for Sustainable Rural Families offers an elegant grassroots peer-mentoring platform that maintains an efficient clearinghouse of the best skills transfer instructional videos, screencasts, and friendly mentors, which allow Hawaiians to quickly gain the skills to deal effectively with their urgent dire needs and to engage meaningfully in the global information society and economy.

 

It is proposed that the above Hawaiian partnership will begin by inviting all Hawaiians, and particularly students, to identify best practices and resources for the six categories above to be peer evaluated and to begin populating this web site with their perceived best practices and best resources, By Hawaiians, For Hawaiians, using new social media efficiencies and building a collaborative community of communities. 

 

In essence, all Hawaiians can begin to become citizen video journalists using new web tools which allow anyone anytime to create a narrated video of what they show on their computer screen, which can be instantly posted online to inform others on what’s new and exciting regarding success stories focused on new Web tools and applications. 

Mirroring the trends toward renewed interest in local news is the need to identify local mentors who can help you either learn new skills yourself, or assist you in keeping up via services that compensate for whatever you are unable to learn to do for yourself.

Hawaiian youth, given the tools, broadband and initial training, can grow an entrepreneurial culture in Hawaii in 3-5 years.

 

Social Quantum Theory: If one person can create self-directed online learning resources that can benefit an unlimited number of citizens, anywhere, anytime, then the future of nations may depend on how quickly we can unlock the inherent potential of large numbers of citizens. The potential socio-economic benefits are exponential – which means the more people engaged, the greater the overall potential impacts.