Tools for Catalyzing Collaboration: June 2009

There are an overwhelming number of online tools that promise to help you collaborate more effectively. How do you know which ones are right for you? How do you tailor those tools for your organization? And most importantly, how do you use these tools most effectively?

Blue Oxen Associates principal, Eugene Eric Kim, will be leading an intensive, four week online workshop that explores these questions. In this workshop, you will:

You will be working with your fellow participants in a Blue Oxen Collaboratory, where you will have the opportunity to play with tools such as microblogs and Wikis for real learning and collaboration. At the end of this workshop, you will understand how to think strategically about online tools, even as they continually and rapidly evolve.

Topics

There are a number of other online tools available for catalyzing collaboration, and we will not even attempt to cover all of them. However, this course will help you develop fundamental skills that will apply to all online collaborative tools.

Format

The workshop consists of four, one-hour teleconferences and a shared screen. Each session will be recorded and made publicly available. The teleconferences will be on Mondays from 9-10am PT, starting on June 1, 2009 and ending on June 22, 2009.

Additionally, there will be assignments throughout the week that will require using a variety of online tools. You'll be expected to devote at least a few hours a week to these assignments, although the more time you put into the work, the more you will get out of it.

We will also hold regular online, real-time office hours once a week where you can ask questions and participate in real-time discussions.

Participation and Pricing

The workshop will be limited to 10 participants in order to keep the conversations focused and interactive.

If you'd like to participate, fill out an application. We want to get a sense of who you are, why you're interested in this course, and how committed you are to learning. Once your application is approved, you will decide the maximum that you will pay for the course. Payment will be required up-front.

That's right: You will be required to pay something, but you will decide what that amount is.

Typically, we would charge $995 for this style of workshop. However, we were inspired by our friend and colleague, Lisa Heft, to experiment with a different pricing model. Our main goal is to work with people who are passionate about learning and collaboration, especially those who want to apply these tools to better society. Once we've reviewed your application and invited you to participate, you will name the price and pay the fee.