Report on the Poplar Hill Community Engagement Workshop
January 21 - 25th, 2002

TeleCommons Development Group

361 Southgate Dr.,
Guelph, Ontario N1G 3M5
519-822-8385
www.telecommons.com

Background

The TeleCommons Development Group (TDG) is supporting K-Net in the implementation of the SMART project by facilitating community engagement workshops and developing and implementing a monitoring and evaluation methodology. This report addresses both of these activities. The following summary describes how these two components belong together. The monitoring and evaluation methodology includes three levels of analysis:



Level of analysis

Tools to track changes

Remarks

Community

This level will show how the community as a whole is using the technology; comparisons among communities, and through time will be possible.
  • Annual survey of all households (August 2000, August 2001)
  • Annual survey of all organizations and businesses (August 2001)

The surveys use standard indicators to track changes in the use of information and communication technology (ICTs).

TDG and K-Net chose the indicators.

Services

This level will show how community services have improved.

  • Community engagement workshops on Health, Education, Local Government and Economic Development to learn about communities' dreams and expectations of improved services

TDG and K-Net to ask communities about what to measure to verify how services have improved.

Feedback from both providers and users of the services will be collected (and organized into a result based management framework)

People

This level will show how people's knowledge and skills using the technology have improved.
  • Needs assessment tools on applications
  • Self-assessment tools on knowledge and skills

TDG will provide the E-Centre managers with the tools, and will work with them to adapt them as necessary

The central theme in this effort is to document how ICTs help communities achieve their own goals.

Purpose

Galin Kora of TDG traveled with Les Meekis of K-Net Services to Poplar Hill and Fort Severn, between January 21 and February 1. Several other K-Net and KO representatives joined the trips. The purpose of the trips was:

  1. To share information with the communities on the progress with the SMART project (K-Net) and the monitoring and evaluation effort (TDG).

  2. To feedback the results of the 2000 and 2001 household and business surveys in each community, hear reactions and comments, and gather ideas about further data to analyze.

  3. To facilitate community engagement workshops on Health, Education, Local Government and Economic Development and learn about communities' dreams and expectations of improved services.

  4. To ask communities about what to measure to verify how services have improved.

  5. To provide the E-Center managers with tools assess people's training needs and track how their knowledge and skills improve using the technology.

Products provided with this report [Galin to add more with file names.]

  • Summary of the Poplar Hill 2000 and 2001 household survey findings (Excel file, PowerPoint presentation and Word commentary)

  • Training needs assessment tools (knowledge and skill assessment, needs assessment)

  • File with photos taken by TeleCommons during the workshops

First Telecom Survey for Organizations and Businesses and Second Telecom Survey for Houses [insert brief?]

A start up meeting was conducted on the evening of January 21 2002. The objective of the meeting was to introduce the community members to the agenda of the workshop, update them on the status of the SMART Project, and share with them some of the findings from the house and business surveys conducted during 2000 and 2001.

At the beginning, Susan Owen (E-center manager) introduced the participants

After each of the participants introduced her/himself, Les Meekis informed the participants about the suggested agenda for the following three days, and Brian Beaton (K-Net services) and Dan Pellerin (K-Net services) informed the participants about the progress made with the SMART Project.

Les Meekis