I found it a little odd, but incredibly inspirational, to find that communicating through Web 2.0 was actually helping folk in rural communities, especially those working in agriculture, share and improve their practices.The full report can be downloaded from the IAALD blog ( http://tiny.cc/aNGS ) and covers issues such as literacy and connectivity, as well as describing the results from specific case studies.
Peter Ballantyne (the IAALD President) concludes:
"Where information and knowledge in agriculture once comprised rather linear processes managed by specialists, tomorrow’s harvests will spring from more organic approaches where innovators of all types become active creators and managers of information and knowledge. This is already happening as researchers and farmers become bloggers, extension workers build wikis, and librarians become film makers. Underlying it all, the new ‘social’ Web 2.0 acts as a catalyst for people to interact, for knowledge sharing and communication to flourish and for innovators to connect and act together." (p. 19, The Participatory Web -
New Potentials of ICT in Rural Areas)
Well worth a read if you are interested in ICT enhanced learning and teaching, literacy, the potential of Web 2.0, or anything to do with climate change and sustainability.
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