Technical Coordinator for Community Networks

Currently I hold the position of Technical Coordinator for Community Networks. My main duties consist of training other FACTSnet employees how to Blogger, set up email accounts, and help problem solve any other issues that might come up (e.g. being the liaison between NAIT and FACTSnet). I work as part of a team to make sure that any technological problems are solved and new technologies implemented.

The main goal of my position is to demonstrate the importance of technology in creating communities. By helping spread understanding on how important the role technology plays in creating communities, we can create an important network of resources to support families, teachers, students, etc.

We would like to work with school administrators and community groups to help further expand this network.

One of the things we are currently doing to achieve this goal is working with the Centralta Tourism Society to digitally archive books. While our main focus for this project is to digitally archive an anthology of historical fiction stories of the Grey Nuns. The Grey Nuns is a religious institute of Roman Catholic sisters founded by Sainte Marguerite d’Youville. This project is part of the celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the Grey Nuns. Another thing we are doing to celebrate this 150^th anniversary is collaborating with schools to create 150 stories and 150 works of art from students.

Another way we are achieving our goal is by demonstrating how different technologies can be used to facilitate communication. We ourselves are using AnyMeeting as a way to communicate across Canada. We have a blogging system (via Blogger) set in place to help promote and explain our works. These are just examples of how we use technology to further our cause.

In the future, we will be holding a symposium that will further demonstrate the importance of technology in education and the arts. While the main topic of the symposium is about learning disabilities and adaptabilities, FACTSnet will also be demonstrating what type of role technology plays in overcoming learning disabilities.

FACTSnet will also be a source of training documents and tutorials so that future generations of community builders can take a look at FACTSnet as an example and draw inspiration on how to build a successful network of contacts. This will also benefit future teachers as well in that we can provide an example of how to generate out of class discussions that would compliment the school curricula.

As FACTSnet is a non-profit group the resources needed are going to be drawn from government funding and donations from the community. Anyone can participate, as our goal is to facilitate community relationship building. It doesn’t matter what type of skillsets one has. What FACTSnet is trying to promote is the networking and building of relationships within the community; a place where everyone can rely on and help each other.

Another position I currently hold with FACTSnet is the one of Executive Director. In this position, I am responsible for helping edit blogger posts, and coordinating the different groups that are all working for FACTSnet. I coordinate meetings and help with resolving issues that any FACTSnet team member may encounter. In short, my job is to see what needs to be done and make sure that the appropriate people do complete that task.