CTA Book on Stories of Change - Alumnus Ms N. Hosenally Story

Ms. Nawsheen Hosenally is an Alumni of the University of Mauritius. Her story will surely unravel inspirations and motivations for our students. Lately, her story was published in stories of change published by CTA. Her blog posts can be seen at Nawsheen World. She is currently employed by CTA, in Netherlands on a full time basis.

"She is a change agent who is passionate about Agriculture, youth leadership and ICT for Development (ICT4D). She holds a BSc (Hons) in Agricultural Extension from the FAculty of Agriculture, and is presently working as ICT4D intern at CTA. She has more than 2 years of professional and volunteering experience in the area of Youth and Agriculture and has previously worked with organisations and networks like YPARD, FANRPAN, PAEPARD and AIESEC. Nawsheen has a particular interest in social media and Web 2.0 for Development. She is a trained Social Reporter and the 1st prize winner of the Youth in Agriculture Blog competition (YoBloCo Awards) organized by CTA in 2012." Extracted from YPARD website.

Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity - Final Training Workshop

Participants of the third and final Web 2.0 Training Session, January 2013

A Wonderful Experience in Use of Web 2.O Tools

3 training workshops on the use of Web 2.0 tools were held during the following periods: 9-13 July 2012, 23-27 July 2012, and 14-18 January 2013, at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius. They were organized jointly by the University of Mauritius (UoM) and the Food and Agricultural Research Council (FARC) and were fully funded by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), Netherlands.

The Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity has been a wonderful experience for participants, trainers and the organisers. The success of uptake of these Web 2.0 tools will depend on how the trainees will put them into use in their daily activities to contribute to agricultural development.

From the trainers’ point of view, upon completion of the training, the participants were confident in their ability to develop and exchange and disseminate contents, to increase their contacts with peers around the world, and are more confident in using online applications.

The series of practical based exercises had enabled them to grasp skills in the way information could be created, organised, shared and accessed. Their parent organisations will undoubtedly benefit from increased work efficiency, lesser communication costs and boosted outreach. While this is the start of a capacity building process in Web 2.0 technologies, it is expected that agricultural and allied institutions in Mauritius will appreciate the effectiveness of such tools and adopt them strategically for their own benefit and that of their stakeholders. The trainees have generally shown a keen interest in acquiring skills and knowledge on Web 2.0 tools. The Faculty  and the participants thank the CTA for their sponsorship and giving us an opportunity to discover Web 2.0 tools.

Training in WEB 2.0 Tools in January 2013

DEAR VALUED GRADUATES, PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS

The Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Mauritius in collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Research Council (FARC) will be holding the third and final training workshops on the use of Web 2.0 tools Agricultural and allied sectors on the 14-18 January, 2013.  The aim of the workshop is to help our stakeholders to better manage information, improve its dissemination as well as improve collaboration among various stakeholders. 

I consider that your exposure to web based tools will consolidate YOUR capacity to facilitate information exchange and sharing in the agricultural and associated area at the national, international and regional level.

I therefore wish you will avail of this opportunity to get trained in this fast moving area.

Warm Regards and Best Wishes.

 Professor Yasmina Jaufeerally FAKIM

Dean of Faculty

APPLICATIONS

How to apply

If you are interested in applying, please click on this link to complete the online form.

Deadline for applications: 3 December, 2012

Feedback

The organisers will inform successful applicants about the status of their application two week before the commencement of the course. Successful applicants will receive confirmation emails and others will be duly informed of the results of their application.

 TRAINING DETAILS

Venue: Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius

Dates: 14-18 January, 2013 (9:00 - 17:00)

Technological innovation is taking place at a breath-taking pace. Simple, open source internet-based applications and services designed to enhance on-line collaboration are now available to the wider public at little or no cost at all. These new online technologies known as Web 2.0 and Social Media enable people to collaborate to create, share and publish information.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation EU-ACP (CTA) has a mandate to facilitate access to and dissemination of information in the fields of agriculture and rural development in 78 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). Supporting the adoption of Web 2.0 applications represents a great opportunity for meeting it.

The Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius (UoM) in collaboration with CTA and the Food and Agricultural Research Council (FARC) will host a 5-day  Web 2.0 and Social Media Learning Opportunity on 14-18 January 2013. Participants will be introduced to selected web 2.0 applications including social media and will learn how to use them hands-on.

The Learning Opportunity will cover advanced online searching, getting information served via alerts and RSS, collaborating remotely using wikis and Google Docs, using VoIP, online mapping and social networking. Participants will get a chance to see what others have done, get hands-on experience on how to use innovative applications, and assess how they could adopt these innovations within the context of their work and organisation.

This Learning Opportunity forms part of CTA initiatives that support development partners in networking, accessing and disseminating information more effectively.

Programme of the Learning Opportunity

·         Introduction to the participatory World Wide Web (Web 2.0)  and to social media;

·         Search Magic: How to conduct advanced multilingual online searches;

·         Information Self Service: How to get selected information served to you via alerts and RSS feeds;

·         Remote collaboration: How to develop content remotely using wikis and Google Docs;

·         Online mapping: How to locate your organisation and your projects on an online map;

·         How to communicate voice over the internet at no cost;

·         Online publishing (micro-blogging and blogging);

·         Professional / corporate social networking (LinkedIn and Facebook);

·         Web 2.0 self-instruction (introduction to IMARK)  

Participants - Eligibility and responsibilities

Participation in the Learning Opportunity is free of charge, but subject to acceptance by the organisers. 

Eligibility criteria

·         be computer literate and conversant with browsing the Internet;

·         have regular access to a computer (ownership of a computer is an advantage);

·         be competent in  the use of the English language;

·         have an active personal e-mail account;

·         be actively engaged in agriculture and rural development / natural resource management / biodiversity conservation in the domains of ICT for development (ICT4D), policies, markets; publishing, communication and media; and

·         be resident in the Republic of Mauritius.

Responsibilities

Accepted participants will be responsible for all costs related to their travel to and from the venue at the Faculty of Agriculture, their accommodation, breakfast and supper and their daily subsistence allowances.

Entitlements

During each event, the organisers will provide access to computers, lunch and refreshments, and distribute copies of CTA publications and instructional material.

Day 4 of Web 2.o Training Workshop

Day 4 started with some announcements made by the facilitator of the workshop, who informed the participants that the workshop certificate will be given to them during a ceremony to be held on 27th July 2012 at 14:00, together with the second batch who will be trained from 23-27 July 2012.

The participants had an assignment to do for Day 4, which was to create a blog post on their experience at the Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity. All of them did their homework and some of them really impressed the trainers! Please find below the Links to the newly created blogs by the workshop participants:

http://productivity-issues.blogspot.com

http://knowursocialworld.blogspot.com

http://mauritius-broiler-production.blogspot.com/

http://foodfanadia.blogspot.com/

http://agribusiness-mauritius.blogspot.com

http://fanrpan-mauritius.blogspot.com

http://www.pesticides-agric.blogspot.com/

http://www.chandasa-koyelas.blogspot.com/

http://varshajadoo.blogspot.com

http://reenabhoyroo.blogspot.com/

http://rbedacee.blogspot.com

http://chandranee.blogspot.com/

http://pooja48.blogspot.com/

http://rbrizmohun.blogspot.com/

http://web2-4dev-learn-share.blogspot.com

http://agriculturerodrigues.blogspot.com/

http://hbnaujeer.blogspot.com

http://shomasauba.blogspot.com

http://mauritiusforestnews.blogspot.com

http://faryazhotee.blogspot.com/

http://agriknews-mauritius.blogspot.com/

http://sugarcaneextensionandtraining.blogspot.com/

http://mauritiuspotatoandonion.blogspot.com

http://dashinia.blogspot.com/

http://vipin-kailash.blogspot.com/

All questions and concerns related to Blogger were answered and clarified by the facilitators before moving to the next session.

Micro-Blogging

Micro-blogging was introduced to the participants through a presentation and video. Twitter was used as example of micro-blogging. Some participants already had a Twitter account, but most of them did not know the importance and power of using this tool. An existing Twitter account was shown to the participants and they were amazed to discover how many things one can do on Twitter to be up to date with latest news on our subject of interest.

Trainer giving examples of micro-blogging sites

A volunteer, who did not have a Twitter account came forward and together with the other participants, a Twitter account was created. The facilitators made sure that all participants were moving at the same pace so that they are not lost in the process. Tips were given to participants on how to choose their Twitter handle and write their Bio. 

When all participants had an account on Twitter, the main features of Twitter were explained: Tweets, Following, Followers etc. They were asked to follow the person sitting next to them and  it was also shown how they can search for individuals/organisations/groups of their interest. Once each had a follower and was following something, participants were ready to send a tweet. 

Session on Twitter

Their first tweet contained just a text. In the following tweet, they added the #web2MRU to it and they were explained that on clicking on this hash tag, they will find all the tweets related to the workshop. While practising, they also understood the function of the "@" abd they could reply to a tweet or mention someone in a tweet. The participants also followed the @CTAflash and @web2fordev. 

Other things covered on twitter were the settings, where they could change the background and look of their Twitter account, link their Twitter account with a Blog or Facebook and they could also customise the privacy settings since some participants did not want their tweets to be public.

With some practice, the participants understood the basics of Twitter and were requested to keep on tweeting for them to get used to it. 

Google Maps

Another very interesting session for Day 4 was Google Maps. A presentation on Google Maps was delivered by one of the facilitators to explain the concept of Google Maps. 

Presentation on Google Maps

It was quite a lengthy session with some exercises. Before starting with the exercises and giving examples, participants were given some time to get used to the interface of Google Maps and try to drag the different places with their mouse. When this was understood, the facilitator went forward with the practical part.

In the first exercise, participants were shown how the direction from one place to another one  can be obtained on Google Maps, and also the distance and time taken for the proposed routes by the means selected (walk, car etc.) is provided.

First exercise on Google Maps

 The the next exercise which was a very interesting one, participants were asked to create a map, where there are directions on how to come to the Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity at the Faculty of agriculture in Reduit. In this exercise, each participant created a map. After having located the University of Mauritius on the map, the following were done:

• Put a placemark on the bus-stop at the University of Mauritius and they also named it and added a description
• Put a placemark at the Venue, which is the Faculty of agriculture and described it, with a text and also added a picture to it
• Using Lines, a trail was made from the Bus-Stop to the venue
• Using shapes, The cafeteria of the university was highlighted, which had a text and video as description

An example of a participant's Google map that was created can be accessed by clicking HERE.

Participants were amazed by what they could do with Google Maps!

Second exercise on Google Maps for indicating direction to a venue

After this session, as usual, the participants wrote on meta cards and also on the democracy wall. Day 4 was one where the participants had a lot to practice, but they also discovered a learnt many features on Twitter and Google Maps!

Please find in the Slideshow below pictures of Day 4:

Day 5 of the WEB 2.0 Training Workshop

Day 5 was the last day of the first workshop on Web 2.0 Learning opportunities in Mauritius. The training started at 09:00 and the facilitator went over the programme for the day. On the Agenda, there was a session on Social Networking, whereby participants would be exposed to Linkedin and Facebook, and the other sessions were on Dgroups and IMARK. 

Day 3 of the WEB 2.0 Training

Like each day, Day 3 started with an over-view of the topics covered on Day 2. During this process, the facilitators responded to the concerns or questions that the participants had for Day 2 and also circulated reading materials in the room, so that they get a better idea of how the tools that are being taught are used in different context in Agriculture by various individuals or organizations. The facilitators went through the meta cards on "wiki", which was the last activity of the previous day. Each card was read and discussed with the participants. From the meta cards, it was noted that most participants were giving a description of the tool, rather than giving examples on how they would use them, On the other hand, there were also participants who had a clear vision on how they will use these tools. For example, one of the participants who is from the extension services wrote that he plans to create a wiki and integrate a Google Map in it, to have field location of sugarcane planters in Mauritius.

The second Day of the Web 2.0 Training in Mauritius started with a recap of Day 1, whereby participants were exposed to Introduction to web 2.0, advanced search on Google and RSS. By the end of Day 1, they were asked to practice some exercises on RSS feeds (for example adding RSS widgets to iGoogle). 

Most of the participants had done their "homework" and there were many questions from the floor. Some even went a step further and tried feed burner to combine RSS feeds from different sources. Since they wanted to know about how to combine feeds, a very brief explanation was given to them by Mr. C.Sembhoo, one of the trainers. 

Before starting the training for Day 2, the trainers went though the comments on the democracy wall together with the participants and discussed on the different sections (I learnt, I discovered, I suggest, I felt, I noticed). The democracy wall proved to be very efficient since it was a way for the trainers to get feedbacks from participants on how they are finding the sessions, how much they have grasped, what are their concerns etc. and their suggestions have been taken into consideration while conducting the training on Day 2.

Trainer with the participants at the Democracy wall

Before starting with Day 2, a Group Photo of the participants with the Facilitators was taken.

Group Photo

On Day 2, training was delivered on GoogleDocs and Wiki. Each session started with a Power-Point Presentation and video to introduce the topic. For GoogleDocs, practical examples on how different types of Gdocs (word, spreadsheet, powerpoint, forms etc. are being used for various purposes (team working on research paper, organising an event, survey, sharing presentations etc.).

Once they got an idea on how these tools can be used, the facilitator demonstrated to the participants on how to create a GoogleDoc, insert content, share the document, download it in the format they want it to be (word, pdf etc.). Participants were also shown about how to upload an existing document (which can be in any format: word, excel, powerpoint, image etc.) as a GoogleDoc, edit and share it. The participants were fascinated with that they could do with GoogleDoc to simplify their work and save time. They practised different exercises on creating and sharing GoogleDocs and were assisted by the facilitators. There was a lot of question and confusion coming from the participants, who required assistance from the trainers and were gradually were getting used to the concept of GoogleDocs with practice.

It was also shown to participants that a form can be created by using GoogleDoc. An existing form that was created using GoogleDoc was used as example and together with the facilitator, they created a form, select the type of question they want to add (open-ended, multiple choice, check-box etc.), select a template and share it with other participants. After getting a response they were also shown how to view their form in different formats and see the responses in a spreadsheet or as summary. After this session on GoogleDocs, participants wrote on how they would use the tool meta-cards, which they pinned on the wall and the facilitator went through them and commented before moving to the next topic, which was on wiki.

The session on wiki started with an energising activity that was proposed to the participants, which brought back some energy in the room. The concept of a wiki was explained through a presentation and video. Then a concrete example of how a wiki is being used in Mauritius was shown to the participants. Also, the difference between GoogleDocs and a wiki was highlighted by the facilitator. Each participant had to create an account on pbworks.com, create a workspace and invite people to collaborate. All participants learnt how to edit the front page, insert text, image, Links (internal and extertal) and creating pages and link them to the front page. They were assisted by the facilitators during this process.

Day 2 was full of new discoveries for the participants and they had been very enthusiastic in learning the tools which were new to most of them. It was also realised that to master these tools, a lot of practice is needed!

Please find in the Slideshow below the pictures of Day 2:

First Day of Web 2.0 Training Workshop

The Web 2.0 Learning workshop organized by The Technical Centre for agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture (FOA-University of Mauritius) and the Food and Agricultural Council (FARC) was officially launched by Dr. the Hon. Rajeshwar Jeetah, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology on 9th July 2012 at the R.Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre, University of Mauritius, Reduit. Present at the launching ceremony were 

• Prof. Y. Jaufeerally-Fakim, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, 
• Prof. H.C.S Rughooputh, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius,  
• Prof. S.Jugessur, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, 
• Mr. J.Ramkissoon, Director General of the Food and Agricultural Research Council

Deans of other Faculties of the University of Mauritius, academic staffs of the Faculty of agriculture, Director of Agricultural organizations, NGOs, the private sector and students were also present at the ceremony.

The Dean of FOA addressing the audience

The ceremony started at 09:15 with the welcome note of the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Fakim, who explained about the importance of web 2.0 tools in Agriculture today and why we should adopt these tools. 

In his speech, Prof. H.C.S Rughooputh, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, highlighted that the training on web 2.0 is being organised at the right moment since Mauritius will soon be benefiting better internet connectivity with the establishment of the LION2 submarine cable system in Kenya. Through the web 2.0 training, the Vice-Chancellor believes that the participants can make the best from this opportunity and contribute to Agricultural Research and Development.

The Vice-Chancellor addressing the audience

Prof. H. Jugessur, the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius said that it is now time for us to go back to the soil and forget about white-collar jobs. According to him, we are seeing fewer youth being engaged in agriculture and hence should encourage kitchen gardens etc. for the sustainability of the sector. He also mentioned that the Agricultural research and Extension Unit (AREU) and other Agricultural stakeholders should adapt to change and use open source and web 2.0 tools to collaborate, share information and transfer our knowledge to farmers in the field.

The Pro-Chancellor of UoM addressing the audience

The Director General of FARC, Mr. J.Ramkissoon, gave an over-view of the activities related to web 2.0 tools that have been supported by the organization for past years. He mentioned about how the Mauritius Agricultural Information specialists Network (MAISNET) was established, and encouraged all stakeholders present to join the network and work in collaboration.

The Director of FARC addressing the audience

In his speech, Dr. the Hon. R.Jeetah was direct to the point: We have a problem of excessive use of chemicals (fertilisers and pesticides) in the country and the food we are consuming is not safe for our health. "It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to critically look at what we are doing", said the Minister. According to him, the University has an important role to play in bringing positive change in our society and he officially declared that his Ministry is going to make 100 Arpent of land (situated at Pamplemousses and Montagne Blanche) available for the University to conduct Research for a more sustainable Agriculture. He also emphasized that research needs to be multi-disciplinary and different sectors (Agriculture, health, education etc.) should collaborate and work together. He declared the workshop open and requested the participants to make the most of this web 2.0 learning opportunity in making positive change.

The Minister addressing the audience

Mr. K.Boodhoo, lecturer and Head of Department at the Faculty of Agriculture delivered a short presentation on web 2.0 tools and how they can be used for Agricultural Research and Development. The minister then launched a Blog post on the Faculty of Agriculture Blog. The media coverage of the launching ceremony can be viewed in the video below: 

There were 25 participants selected for the training on web 2.0 for development and they were from different organizations and fields: Research, Extension, Fisheries, Forestry, private sector, agriculture graduates among others.

Workshop participants

The training started with an ice-breaker session whereby the participants had to talk to the person sitting next to him/her for 5 minutes and then introduce that person. 

The trainers introduced the democracy wall, which was in the corridor next to the room, whereby the participants had to share their ideas/opinions/thoughts on the training based on the following:

• I learnt
• I discovered
• I suggest
• I felt
• I noticed

Participants were provided with meta cards and were required to write on the above and share their views on the democracy wall twice a day.

Participants sharing their opinions on the democracy wall

The training on Day 1 was based on the following:

• Introduction to Web 2.0 for Dev
• Selective access to information using Google as search engine for advanced search
• Alerts and RSS (Google Alerts, Google Reader, iGoogle)

Before each session, there was a video projected to introduce the topic. Then the trainer would ask the participants some questions about who is using this tool and how they can benefit from it. The general observation was that apart from sending emails and have a Facebook account, very few participants use other web 2.0 tools.

The trainers in action

For each session, the trainers explained what the tool is about, what is the objective of using it, how does it function, giving examples and after demonstration, participants had time to practice different exercises.

After each session, participants were provided with meta cards (2 colours) and they had to write on the following and pin it on the wall:

• Do you Think you can make use of Web 2.0 Tools? If so, How? (Yellow Cards)
• What are your concerns (Pink Cards)

Before starting a new session, the trainers went through the meta cards and discussed on the issues raised before moving to the next session.

Participants pinning the meta cards after each session

According to the comments made by the participants, Day 1 was interesting and they discovered many things that would help them in their daily activities!

All Tweets for the launching ceremony and the training can be found with #web2mru

Please find in the Slideshow below the pictures of Day 1: