Just How Smart IS Your Rural Community?
Frank Odadz
http://lone-eagles.com/smart.htm
Smart rural communities
recognize that realizing the promise of broadband depends on how well the majority of citizens learn to use broadband. In the current “innovation economy” community success depends increasingly on facilitating microenterprises. Rural entrepreneurship in conjunction with Internet Ecommerce opens unlimited opportunities.
What’s the best your rural community can do for itself based on new knowledge of the best successful innovations already working for other communities?
What’s the best way to routinely gather and share the best innovations as they emerge to benefit all communities?
If your community is “learning disabled” and without effective ways of continually gathering and sharing that new knowledge necessary to create new opportunities you’re invited to explore the resources of the Association for Community Networking http://www.afcn.org/ and Lone Eagle Consulting http://lone-eagles.com/articles/articles.htm
If you have innovations to share, please feel specifically invited to do so, and join the Association for Community Networking for $25 at www.afcn.org
Here’s a Self-Quiz: Do You Already Have…
Local Web Business Directories?
Are all local business web sites listed on one web page to support local online shopping and to generate awareness as to which local businesses are now doing business on the Internet? Y/N
Your Local Media Engaged Raising Ecommerce Awareness? Does your local media regularly celebrate local Ecommerce success stories, Y/N - or are they ignored? Y/N
Peer Mentoring Programs? Are local experts and community mentors celebrated for the value they bring to the community and engaged in local peer mentoring programs? Y/N
An Integrated Ecommerce Incubator? Are all local Ecommerce support businesses listed on one web page so anyone can easily find the expertise they need to bring their business online? Y/N
Accessible Ecommerce Training? Are entry-level Ecommerce education training opportunities (such as eBay) and peer mentoring programs readily available online in your community? Y/N
Ongoing Access to the Best Innovations as They Emerge? Are successful innovations from similar communities to yours readily gathered and shared locally by any means? Y/N
Community Network Models.
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On-line Resources
The Four Levels of Community Networking http://lone-eagles.com/afcn4levels.htm
A short article detailing successively more elaborate community networking models from simple informational pages to fully integrated use of diverse content creation and collaboration tools.
Joseph, Oregon http://www.josephoregon.com/
A very nice basic informational web site. While nicely designed and rich with community information, this site might be maintained by one person, leaving in question whether citizens are using their community network for collaboration beyond these general postings.
Joseph, Oregon business directory
http://www.josephoregon.com/business_directory.htm
A database is one way of presenting a business directory but this model doesn't lend itself to convenient browsing and it can be tedious to shop around town.
Joseph, Oregon panoramas
http://www.josephoregon.com/panoindexpage.htm
A wonderful example of an innovation to promote the local beauty.
Free software is available to create panoramas and they are easy to make.
Bethel, Alaska http://www.deltadiscovery.com/
Citizens regularly share their news on this regional community network. One can quickly see than many citizens are directly involved in regularly generating local news for this community information site. Bethel is the hub community for 28 small Alaskan Native villages. All have high speed Internet and 2-way video capabilities.
Bethel, Alaska Business Directory http://www.deltadiscovery.com/Shopping/shoppingalpha.html
An elegantly functional business directory to facilitate local online shopping. All local businesses are displayed on one page with all businesses with web sites easily identified by their names as blue hyperlinks.
Caithness, Scotland http://www.caithness.org/
An exceptional model of a community web site that is well maintained. This site is based on open source content management software (postnuke) and shows lots of regularly updated content. This community makes sure all local businesses receive help establishing an ecommerce web page and that new information appears daily. A review of the diverse array of information reveals that this community truly "owns" the responsibility to make this site a true reflection of the community's spirit and citizenry.
Outer Hebrides Islands, Scotland Telework Initiative http://www.work-global.com/
The Outer Hebrides Islands - a Radical Business Solution; Work Global, Live Local
Representing six villages this site serves as a global model for telework success.
Over 300 telework jobs have been secured with many more now requested by European corporations. This is the result of ten years hard work by grassroots champion, Donnie Morrison.
Canadian Tribal Community Sites http://smart.knet.ca/international
A profoundly interesting indigenous community network initiative using postnuke open source content management software.
Deer Lake Tribal Site http://deerlake.firstnation.ca/
A model tribal community web site based on open source content management system software, created www.knet.ca
Costs are $300 for installation and a small amount per month.
Lone Eagle Self-Employment Incubator http://lone-eagles.oldcolo.com/
See the photogalleries. Use the Internet explorer browser to view. Another postnuke open source content management software system. Registered users will find a growing array of multimedia tools they can use to self-publish their own content. This site is planned as a training hub for ecommerce and telework skills training for rural citizens as part of a five-year demonstration project funded by the US Dept. of Labor. Details at http://lone-eagles.com/montana-choice.htm Rich content is evident with emphasis on supporting self-directed online learning with the option of friendly peer mentoring.
Community Networking Clearinghouse http://lone-eagles.com/community.html
Extensive international resources.
Community Networking Reading List http://lone-eagles.com/cn-readings.htm
Select readings for those who would like to better understand the benefits of community networks.
Rural Ecommerce and Telework Strategies http://lone-eagles.com/eguide.htm
A Beginner's Guide to Profiting from the Internet http://lone-eagles.com/ecom.htm
Ten two-hour hands-on lessons to see what's working for others like you.
Ask A+ Mentoring Roster www.vrd.org/locator/alphalist.shtml
A simple model for a local mentors roster. While this national mentors site is dedicated to K12 students and educators, this serves as a simple mentoring model any community could easily use to connect those with specific skills with those needing friendly mentorship to attain new skills.
Community Technology Centers National Organization http://www.ctcnet.org/
Ten years of experience. Lessons and resources to share, and a manual, too.
Association for Community Networking http://www.afcn.org/
Expertise and resources on community networking.
The Community Inquiry Labhttp://inquiry.uiuc.edu/cil
An easy-to-use, free, community network incubator. A good place to start for those who are unfamiliar with how a community network actually functions using collaborative tools to gather and share new knowledge. A youth project based on use of these community networking tools is at http://lone-eagles.com/inquiry.htm A major community grant template model which includes use of these tools to initially raise awareness as to how to progress toward the use of more robust open source content management systems is at http://lone-eagles.com/seeds.htm
See also http://inquiry.uiuc.edu/ for an educational approach to the use of these "Inquiry Lab" systems. Two Example "Inquiry Lab" Applications
SisterNet: Participatory Design
http://sisternetonline.org/ourinquiry.html
A model project using the community inquiry lab above.
Puerto Rican Community Projects
http://www.prairienet.org/pbclp/community_inquiry_lab.htm
This page describes how this group is using the community inquiry lab.
Community Networking Self-Study Reading List:
The Four Levels of Community Networking http://lone-eagles.com/afcn4levels.htmIncludes collected resources from the Dec. '03 National Community Networking Conference held in Austin, Texas is recommended reading.
Reinventing Community Networks as Economic Development Solutionshttp://lone-eagles.com/solutions.htm
Community Networking - Why Should I Care? http://lone-eagles.com/whyshouldIcare.htm Good reasons why you should understand what's at risk.
Community Networking Primerhttp://lone-eagles.com/articles/networking.htmA good first article on the practical function and applications of community networks. Written for AT&T's 1996 Community Guide.
The Future of Community Development; Making the Living You Want, Living Wherever You Want http://lone-eagles.com/comdev.htm Written for a book on rural community development to be published by TechnoPress "Future Courses; A Compendium of Thought about Education, Technology and the Future.
The New Gold Rush; Are You Ready?http://lone-eagles.com/mining.htm
Part II: http://lone-eagles.com/goldrush.htm
Themes from the Frontier of Rural Community Development, written for theJournal of Municipal Telecommunication Policy, March 2001 Making the Missing Connections…A Wake-up Call Regarding True Community Internet
http://lone-eagles.com/wake-up-call.htm
Empowerment...A realistic view of issues to be considered when implementing community projects.
An Executive Overview for Project Planners on the Hard Questions for Community Internet
Empowerment http://lone-eagles.com/overview.htm A hard look at what's not obvious for planning a successful community project.
Implementation Action Plans:
The Bootstrap Academy http://lone-eagles.com/academy.htm Do it yourself! Specific low-cost, short-term youth-driven citizen engagement Internet awareness activities. Includes three online mini-courses for citizens, and local web-raisings.
Community Grant Templates
Recent (2004) Lone Eagle Ecommerce Entrepreneurship Grants:
SEEDS - Sustainable Ecommerce Entrepreneurship Development StrategiesA Rural Community Future-Proofing Program...A youth leadership community project.
http://lone-eagles.com/seeds.htm
Rural Ecommerce and Telework Incubator Centers
http://lone-eagles.com/intelligent.htm
AMIGO - Awareness Mentoring Integrating Group Outcomes
http://lone-eagles.com/amigo.htm
Ecommerce and Telework Incubator CentersLonger most readable version http://lone-eagles.com/top-expanded.htm
Shorter 9 page submitted version http://lone-eagles.com/top.htm
Community Bootstrap Project - Learning to Do for Ourselves; Together!http://lone-eagles.com/boot2.htm Please feel free to use in your grants: without restriction. Boilerplate text for YOUR community networking grant!!
Alpine, Texas Grant Templatehttp://lone-eagles.com/alpine2.htm
Grantwriting Tutorials
Community Network Funding Sources and Grantwriting Tips Specifically for rural community development.
http://lone-eagles.com/granthelp.htm
Includes A Simple Proposal-writing Tutorial
http://lone-eagles.com/mira2.htm
And an online lesson on grantwriting at
http://lone-eagles.com/asdnl8.htm
Addressing the Ecommerce Equation
Homesteading the Ecommerce Frontier Real and profound opportunities.
http://lone-eagles.com/ecommerce-homestead.htm
The Idaho Ecommerce Homesteaders' Cooperative
http://lone-eagles.com/montpelier.htm
Big possibilities for the small community of Montpelier, Idaho. A story in progress defining how to seed and grow community involvement and capability building by focusing on replicable successes and measurable outcomes.
Montpelier successes detailed at:
http://lone-eagles.com/montpelier-story.htm
Ecommerce Successes from Idaho
http://lone-eagles.com/connect-idaho.htm
The Big Picture and Key Global Issues
Authenticating Rural Internet and Broadband Benefits - A Reality Checkhttp://lone-eagles.com/wings.htm Required reading for rural citizens and leaders.Written for the Australian Government for national empowerment of all their communities.
Big Skies and Lone Eagles:Lending Wings to Others, online - A Rural Perspectivehttp://lone-eagles.com/history.htm A 20 page history of Frank Odasz written for an upcoming book as a history of online learning from a rural perspective.
Authenticating Rural Internet and Broadband Benefits - A Reality Checkhttp://lone-eagles.com/wings.htm Required reading for rural citizens and leaders.Written for the Australian Government for national empowerment of all their communities.
Realizing Cultural and Community Sustainability Through Internet Innovations in Alaskan Native Villages http://lone-eagles.com/village-sustainability.htmA detailed review of strategies for community involvement to produce measurable outcomes. Many grant templates and online self-directed resources are listed at the end.
Good Neighbor's Guide to Community Networking http://lone-eagles.com/cnguide.htm Eleven chapters, including a bibliography of guides.
Community Networking Clearinghouse http://lone-eagles.com/community.html The best ideas and resources from dozens of community networks and related organizations.
Community Network Funding Sources and Grantwriting Tips http://lone-eagles.com/granthelp.htm An easy tutorial on grantwriting is at http://lone-eagles.com/mira2.htm A short lesson on grantwriting is at http://lone-eagles.com/asdnl8.htm
Alaskan Community Grant Templates
An Alaskan Village Bootstrap Academy
http://lone-eagles.com/northstar.htm
A grant for a six-month intensive community Internet awareness raising program.
An Alaskan Native Model Village Pilot Projecthttp://lone-eagles.com/yukonkoyukuk.htm A short term community learning initiative showcasing satellite Internet and wireless for education and Ecommerce.
Alaskan Native Youth Cultural Community-building
http://lone-eagles.com/bartsgrant.htm A grant template for a comprehensive three-year community Internet empowerment program.
Seventh Generation Community Initiative http://lone-eagles.com/articles/7gc.htm A concept paper for a Native American Community Building Initiative
Culture Club
http://lone-eagles.com/cultureclub.htmA youth-driven instructional entrepreneurship program where youth learn-to-earn by demonstrating effective online mentoring and multimedia skills instruction to youth in other cultures. (Native Alaskan, Maori, Hawaiian, and select Native Americans.)
Community Learning Resources
Echoes in the Electronic Wind: A Native American Cross-cultural Internet Guide http://lone-eagles.com/nativeguide.htm Same resources as Common Ground, (above) but with the addition of over 20 pages of carefully reviewed Native American web resources listed by topic.
Common Ground: A Cross-Cultural Self-Directed Learner's Internet Guide
http://lone-eagles.com/guide.htm Created for USAID, AT&T and the ERIC clearinghouse. An instructional brokerage resource with emphasis on pointing to the best online tutorials, and educational resources, on the Internet for self- directed learning. This is the text for the online course below "Making the Best Use of Internet for K-12 Instruction."
The Good Neighbor's Guide to Community Networking
http://lone-eagles.com/cnguide.htm Contains 11 Chapters on Ecommerce, youth-based community development, model sites and URLs,
plus a bibliography listing the best community networking guides and resources.
Online Graduate Courses for Educators
These guides support the following two graduate credit online classes:
1. ED 597 4L - Making the Best Use of Internet for K-12 Instruction
Alaska Pacific University Three Semester Credit Version
http://lone-eagles.com/asdn1.htm A hands-on course on how to broker the best resources for your classroom.
2. ED A597 6L - Designing K-12 Internet Instruction
Alaska Pacific University 3 Semester Credit Version
http://lone-eagles.com/currmain1.htm
A hands-on course on how to easily create Internet hotlists, web-tours,
lessonplans, project-based learning activities (Webquest, Cyberfair,
Thinkquest) and complete online courses using online web tools.
An Online Ecommerce Course for Beginners
A Beginner's Guide to Profiting from the Internethttp://lone-eagles.com/ecom.htmA shorter easier version of the online course "Rural Ecommerce and Telework Strategies" designed for youth in particular.
Rural Ecommerce and Telework Strategies http://lone-eagles.com/eguide.htm A 200-page self-directed overview of what's working for rural entrepreneurs. This resource includes ten two-hour lessons for an online course by the same name at http://lone-eagles.com/ecommerce.htm
A new shorter version for youth http://lone-eagles.com/ecom.htm (above) and a new course on Essential Internet Skills http://lone-eagles.com/essential-skills.htm
A
laskan Native and Native American Internet Empowerment Resources
Alaskan K12 Web Innovations http://lone-eagles.com/alaskan.htm and Empowerment Resources http://lone-eagles.com/alaskan-resources.htm
Community Internet Empowerment Resources for Alaskan Natives and Native Americans http://lone-eagles.com/nativeresources.htm
Alaskan Native and Native American Empowerment Guide
http://lone-eagles.com/empowerment.htm A tribal leadership guide.
E
xamples of Native American Web Innovations
http://lone-eagles.com/expressions.htm
Twenty pages of exceptional cultural models
Major U.S. Native American Internet Projectshttp://lone-eagles.com/adec.htm
Native American/Alaskan/Hawaiian K12 Innovations Report and Clearinghouse http://lone-eagles.com/native.htm 1999
Articles, Grant Templates, and Online Courses for 'Building Learning Communities' by Frank Odasz
Non-commercial use of the following is strongly encouraged!
Big Skies and Lone Eagles:Lending Wings to Others, Online - A Rural PerspectiveA 20 page history of Frank Odasz written for an upcoming book as a history of online learning from a rural perspective. http://lone-eagles.com/history.htm
An Updated Master listing of articles related to Community Internet Empowermenthttp://lone-eagles.com/ruralempowerment.htmThe first article is a Authenticating Rural Internet and Broadband Benefits - A Reality Check Written for the Australian Government for national empowerment of all their communities.
An Updated Master Listing of articles related to Indigenous Empowermenthttp://lone-eagles.com/alaskan-resources.htmThe first article is a chapter which has not yet been published Realizing Cultural and Community Sustainability Through Internet Innovations in Alaskan Native Villages A detailed review of strategies for community involvement to produce measurable outcomes. Many grant templates and online self-directed resources are included in the appendix.
An Updated Master Listing of articles related to Rural Ecommerce Success Storieshttp://lone-eagles.com/connect-idaho.htm The first article is Rural Ecommerce Successes in Idaho An ongoing collection funded by the USDA through the Rural Development Council of Idaho. See also Two Years of Montpelier Events Awareness-raising events and ecommerce success stories from the two-year effort to create Idaho’s first community success story - in Montpelier, Idaho.
International Community Networking Clearinghousehttp://lone-eagles.com/community.html
Internet Satellite and Wireless Solutions http://lone-eagles.com/wireless.htm
