2009 Conference

Things they never taught me about IT

Integrating IT know-how into community services education

The Third Doing IT Better Conference is happening on Thursday 18 June 2009 at Monash University, Caulfield Campus. It’s an all day event from 9am to around 3.30 pm

It will focus on education and training, providing an opportunity to hear viewpoints, explore issues, and plan for future work. In addition, a hands-on session will be included where people will demonstrate free and cheap productivity tools.

Previous conferences have been great learning and networking opportunities and have significantly shaped the work of the project.

There is a fee of $30 per person to help defray our costs. However we do not like to exclude people due to cost, so if you or your organisation cannot afford the full cost, please contact me to discuss a subsidised or free ticket.

Registrations are closed because the conference ahs already happened. When ready, photos, presentations and and a report from the conference will be published here

PLEASE NOTE: registrations will only be accepted via the online booking system. Please do not contact us directly to register unless the online system is not working properly or you require a subsidised ticket.

The conference will be held at Monash University’s Caulfield Campus (900 Dandenong Road), Ground floor, Building H 116 (the big glass building on Dandenong Road). The Campus is adjacent to Caulfield Railway Station and tram and bus connections. All day (paid) parking is available in the parking lot next to the small mall on Sir John Monash Drive. Check out the annotated map by clicking here. Or see detailed travel information and a generic map at www.monash.edu.au/campuses/caulfield

More information...

As the Doing IT Better project has progressed, insufficient education and training — particularly in areas such as information management, records management, communication, strategic planning, and change management — has been identified as one of the major challenges facing the CSO sector. University and TAFE courses typically undertaken by CSO employees do not generally cover these areas, and supplementary developmental training (whether workplace-based or external) is not generally targeted at the CSO sector or designed with its particular needs or environment in mind.

Supporting community-based organisations in becoming “intelligent” organisations able to use information and communications technology (ICT) proactively and productively for their internal planning, management, reporting, and client services is a critical need. But precisely how the sector should be educated and supported to this end has not been addressed before. With the Productivity Commission’s current study into the Contribution of the Not-For-Profit Sector specifically charged to identify and address impediments to the efficient operation of not-for-profits, the time is right to investigate this question.

Thus the 2009 conference will focus on education and training, providing an opportunity to hear viewpoints, explore issues, and plan for future work. In addition, a hands-on session will be included where people will demonstrate free and cheap productivity tools.

Registrations are closed because the conference ahs already happened. When ready, photos, presentations and and a report from the conference will be published here

Provisional program

Please note that this may still change before the day

9.00	Registration	Tea and coffee available
9.35	Overview, housekeeping	Larry Stillman (Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University)
9.40	Welcome	Ron Weber (Dean, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University) Cath Smith (Chief Executive Officer, VCOSS)
9.45	Opening address	Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development
10.00	Panel discussion Educating the Sector to be ICT smart: stories and challenges	What’s the current situation, and how can it be improved? What are the main issues? What’s working elsewhere? Chaired by Anna Hall (ED, Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau) Ron Weber (Dean of IT Faculty, Monash Uni) Margaret Alston (Head of the Department of Social Work in the Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Faculty, Monash Uni) Andrew Clark (University of Newcastle — Andrew has considerable experience with rollout of technology in both government and NGOs) Brian Spencer (Optin Pty Ltd.)
11.00	Morning tea
11.30	Roundtable workshops	The purpose of this session is to map issues relating to ICT education for the community sector through small group roundtable sessions. ICT education ranges from hard core technical design and systems management skills to areas like information and knowledge management. We are interested in issues that could become a project in the future, as well as a report planned for early next year. What are the key ICT education needs of the sector? What current programs do or don't meet these needs? What is the role of formal and informal learning, recognition of prior learning, TAFEs and Universities (including post-graduate diplomas and certificates) in workplace and off-site learning Who should be involved in developing these programs? How should such educational programs be resourced and made sustainable? Small groups will share their key recommendations with the larger group, and discussion will continue.
1.00	Lunch
1.45	Practical session “My favourite tool”	Interactive session comprising demonstrations of useful free or low cost productivity tools, presented by people who use them in their day-to-day work. Tools for group work (Google suite, Google Notebook) Tools for organising and meetings and events (TimeBridge, TryBooking, MailChimp) Tools for social networking (Ning) Tools for video conferencing (Skype)
3.00	Closing session	Wrap up and next steps
3.30	Close

Registrations are closed because the conference ahs already happened. When ready, photos, presentations and and a report from the conference will be published here

For more information contact Dean Lombard

Doing IT Better is a social justice initiative of the Centre for Community Networking Research (Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University) and the Victorian Council of Social Service, generously funded by a foundation.