Networked Community Showcase
Overview
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The Doug Engelbart Institute is delighted to showcase these networked communities which are practicing most or all of the five accelerators for Bootstrapping Brilliance, or something very close to it. These are excellent case examples of networked improvement communities, or "NICs", a term coined by Doug Engelbart to emphasize the importance of collectively addressing significant challenges and opportunities. Bootstrapping Brilliance serves as a template for networked improvement communities to further advance their mission and scale results. 1a
We are pleased to announce that our case at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), the brainchild of Dr. Gardner Campbell, was profiled in a feature article by the Internet Hall of Fame: Internet Pioneer's Greatest Contribution May Not Be Technological.
Community Spotlight
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Key Takeaways
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What makes these networked initiatives especially good case studies? Here's what to look for:
- Cultivating Capability - for each their goal, purpose, mission is expressed as one or more capabilities to cultivate -- e.g. focused inquiry and research (VCU), change-agent leadership (URDT), fostering invention and innovation (L-MIT); they design their services, technologies, and products as enablers of those target capabilities; all are human-centered, with a widely varying mix of tools and human elements.
- Pushing a Frontier - charting new ground, new paradigm; frontier strategies include pilot expeditions as proving ground and launch pad for iterating results as a whole system, where all the moving parts can be integrated and co-evolved synergistically.
- Improving how they Improve - continuous improvement on multiple levels, what we call bootstrapping your ABCs: i.e. improving how they design and deliver results, and improving how they are improving; extra leverage when the Capabilities they are cultivating for their end users, align with Capabilities essential for their own internal improvement -- e.g. 'augmenting human intellect' for collective problem solving (ARC), and the rest -- all offer a built-in multiplier effect.
- Networking Community - recruiting for an expedition, diversity of participants, stakeholders; considering new skills and roles; the archetypal networked improvement community (NIC); scaling from the original network into a network of networks acts as a force multiplier, as you'll readily see in the URDT and L-MIT initiatives.
- Leveraging Group Smarts - all have put careful thought into facilitating the process, including how they will work together, and integrate, develop and capture their emerging insights, knowledge, and learnings.
Visit Your Bootstrapping Brilliance Toolkit for details.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
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Led by Dr. Gardner Campbell, Dean of University College, Associate Professor of English.
- Case Study: In this networked initiative, Dr. Campbell and his team pioneered a special kind of online college course, using a collaborative participatory model rather than a traditional lecture model. The course was designed and piloted as a curated learning expedition, exploring what the visionaries of the Information Age envisioned for citizens of a digital world. See Announcing Summer MOOC and Engelbart Scholar Award at VCU for basics, as well as
Engelbart Scholars tour with Doug Engelbart Institute. For further perusal, see more of our blog posts about the initiative, and our University Showcase for more on Gardner's courses.
Course Website: thoughtvectors.net.
- Watch Gardner Campbell in Bootstrapping the Future (10 min)
Gardner Campbell presents Networked Inquiry as General Education - highlights how one networked initiative applied Engelbart's strategic thinking to collectively design and conduct an experimental, scaleable, connectivist MOOC called Thought Vectors at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Note his approach to forming a networked improvement initiative to co-design this unique online course, utilizing their emerging collaborative platform to facilitate their process, then opening the platform for student participation to launch the course – uniquely applying the course teachings to the course pedagogy, and to the course design process itself (the essence of bootstrapping). Presented at the 2018 Engelbart Symposium, panel discussion.
[see event site]
- Watch Christina Engelbart introducing case example (15 min)
In Bootstrapping Brilliance the Doug Engelbart Way Christina Engelbart briefly presents the underlying strategy as initially practiced in Doug Engelbart's legendary lab, and (@10:20) distills that into the five point strategy for Bootstrapping Brilliance. Her talk, presented at the Coalition for Networked Information, introduces a case example presented by Professor Gardner Campbell.
[see abstract]
- Watch students share their experience of the course (2 min)
Following the Thought Vectors pilot course, students share their unique experience. You'll hear from Anisa and Will -- our first Engelbart Scholar Award recipients. See companion article
Engelbart Scholars tour with Doug Engelbart Institute, and catch the Anisa and Will's final project presentation in our Student Showcase. As an added bonus, a PhD candidate participated participated in the Thought Vectors MOOC as research for her doctoral thesis, which details how the unique dynamics of the course contributed to a richer and deeper learning experience for the students - learn about Suzan's Dissertation in our Student Showcase.
- Feature Articles: Internet Pioneer's Greatest Contribution May Not Be Technological, by the Internet Hall of Fame | Channeling Engelbart: Augmenting Human Education, by Howard Rheingold
- Related Articles: Virginia Commonwealth University –"Thought Vectors in Concept Space" |
Connectivist MOOC helps students embrace digital media.
Uganda Rural Development Training Programme (URDT)
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Case study prepared by Patricia Seybold, Founder and CEO
Patricia Seybold Group,
Author: Outside Innovation and The Customer Revolution
- Case Study: How these rural initiatives in Uganda are already meeting the Engelbart Challenge - a case example of how one innovative residential school for girls in Uganda has already been putting such accelerators to best practice. In this initiative, girls from the poorest villages attend a high school where they learn sustainable development leadership skills, beginning with home projects with their parents, and fanning out as change agents in their home communities. The initiative has grown to include younger grade levels and cooperative farming. The initiative networks the superintendants, community liaisons, and supportive resources, along with the regional university. Read their story, watch their videos.
- Watch short documentary of next-level achievements (19 min)
In URDT's Pupils Managed School Farms in Uganda, learn how the Uganda Rural Training & Development programme (URDT) and its Demonstration Farm have inspired a primary school-based farm program across the region, implemented with URDT's visionary approach, orchestrated through the Epicenter Managers program in which the University graduates are deployed in the surrounding Subcounties and Districts to help community members transform their lives and their communities.
- Related Articles by Patricia Seybold:
Innovation in Education: School Children Improve Their Families' Livelihoods; Doug Engelbart's Design for High Performance Innovative Organizations; Bootstrapping Innovation - Leveraging the Collective IQ to Achieve Powerful Results.
Lemelson-MIT Program
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Led by Dr. Stephanie Couch, Executive Director.
- Case Example: The Lemelson MIT Program celebrates outstanding mid-career and college student inventors, and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention, while developing their hands-on skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) through two grants initiatives for grades 6-12. This particular pilot initiative seeks to network high school teachers of invention education with each other, with the 'mother ship', and with the many national, state and community resources available to support teacher and student success, with an eye toward levelling the playing field for underrepresented students and underserved communities. Data analysis tools on the network could offer a real-time ethnographic lens into the initiative as it progresses.
- Watch Stephanie Couch in Bootstrapping the Future (10 min)
Stephanie Couch presents Strategies for Advancing Education in the U.S. Inspired by the Doug Engelbart Institute - presenting a networked initiative forging new paradigms for inspiring and supporting young people in STEM and invention education. Presented at the 2018 Engelbart Symposium, panel discussion.
[see event site]
- Watch two short videos on Lemelson-MIT initiatives
These videos briefly highlight the Lemelson-MIT approach to invention education, including (@00:01) the Inventor's Pathway, and (@05:15) the InvenTeams initiative. More on their YouTube Channel.
- Feature Article: MIT Hosts High School Inventors from across the U.S. to Showcase Solutions to Community and Global Challenges
- Related Articles:
High school teams receive 2019-20 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam Grant for invention projects; Can Anyone Be an Inventor? Why MIT’s Invention Education Officer Says Yes. More on InvenTeams.
Three Case Examples
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Panel discussion moderated by Paul Saffo, Forecaster.
- Case Examples: What do change.org, nuclear civics, and marine biology have in common? Their approach to tackling global issues – collaborative, networked, iterative, walking their talk, co-evolving, compassionate, continuously improving.
Panelists:
(1) Erika Gregory, Managing Director of NSquare – "powering a network of innovators committed to ending the nuclear threat through unlikely partnerships, breakthrough ideas, world-changing projects;"
(2) Ben Rattray, Founder and CEO of Change.org – "On Change.org, people everywhere are starting campaigns, mobilizing supporters, and working with decision makers to drive solutions;" and,
(3)
Erika Woolsey, Marine Biologist, Ocean Design Teaching Fellow, Stanford University, National Geographic Explorer, Founder of The Hydrous – " an international community of scientists, divers, designers, filmmakers, technologists, educators, and concerned citizens who love the ocean and want to share it to protect it." through expeditions, technology, ocean education.
Imagine if the visionary leaders of these and other innovative networked initiatives could strategize together about the challenges ahead, strategies, best practices, lessons learned...
- Watch them in Solving Today's Great Problems? Lessons From Engelbart's Demo @50
Panel Discussion (60min) "Can Engelbart’s techniques for accelerating change solve today’s great problems?" Paul Saffo moderates this panel discussion of case examples with Erika Gregory (NSquare), Ben Rattray (Change.org), Erika Woolsey (National Geographic Explorer). [see event site]
- Feature Article: What Would Doug Engelbart Do?” Ask Organizers of a Silicon Valley Event
Doug's historic research lab (ARC)
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Case study prepared by Christina Engelbart, Executive Director
The Doug Engelbart Institute,
Instigator: Bootstrapping Brilliance
- Case Study: Before Doug Engelbart had a research lab, he designed a design strategy for bootstrapping the research in a way that would increasingly yield better, faster results, in a way that would scale. From the beginning he applied this strategy in the inner workings of his own lab, and in a few short years was already yielding results that were truly revolutionary.
- Watch the Case of Doug Engelbart's legendary laboratory
Presented in three parts:
(1) Christina Engelbart presents Bootstrapping Brilliance the Doug Engelbart Way, showcasing how Doug's strategic thinking unfolded, as practiced in his lab, and (@10:20) distills that into the five point strategy for Bootstrapping Brilliance in networked communities;
(2) Doug and his team demo the enabling technology fully operational by 1968 (6 min); and
(3) Also in 1968, Doug presents the strategic objectives of his research pursuit at the AHIRC* (3 min.).
- Watch the Case as Treasure Map
Chrsistina Engelbart presents
Doug's Strategic 'Treasure Map' of strategic principles using Doug'sARC* lab as a case in point (also covered
the emergence of his pursuit, and
opportunity for the future), at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Mother of All Demos
[see event site].
* AHIRC and ARC names for Doug Engelbart's research lab at SRI in the 1960s and 1970s. First was the AHIRC, the Augmented Human Intellect Research Center. Latter was the ARC, variously the Augmentation Research Center, and after end-users came onboard, the Augmentation Resources Center.
More Case Examples
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