THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
NIE
COMMUNITY NETWORKING
Balancing Research and Practice

Our collective body of community knowledge, lost in a "disconnected" society, can be reconnected through the process of community networking to complement educational reform !

Useful networking infrastructure for education always involves community networking and community contributions to this process.
Heterogeneous community connections through networking infrastructure provides an incubator for new community in the sense that new alliances are formed which foster educational reform within diverse community subgroups as well as within the new community.
The focus on differences between groups, by the groups themselves, is an obstacle to the reconnection of community. Computer mediated communications help dissolve these perceived differences.
Community involvement in the networked world which is not related to real world interactions may pose a danger to individuals as well as functional community structure.

Linking community activities is important for creating public support for educational goals. Sometimes "Seeing is believing" for the community. Public demonstrations of successful networked infrastructure and direct public involvement in computer mediated communications create an awareness of the potential usefulness of this technology for educational reform.
"Round table" discussion groups centered around technology as it relates to education can be useful for cultivating public acceptance and involvement with computer network facilitation of education.
If our goals of systemic educational reform are to be realized, we must use our community networks to enhance and add value to institutionalized education.
Collaborations for linking community activities to educational goals are often challenged by the territorial attitude of the groups involved in this process.
Use the "RFP" process to establish community partnerships with educational goals.

Reasoned inclusion of different and sometimes opposing community groups pays dividends for education.
Volunteers are an important resource for providing links to various segments of the community.
Ultimately project sustainability will depend on a positive community outreach by "trusted" groups within the community.
Group involvement should be focused on educational outcomes to help foster system reform.

Technical infrastructure varies with the needs of a community and the available resources.
"Keep it simple". Build the models before you attempt out to build the cyberspace network cruiser.
Successful models are useful for selling your product for community support.
Technical infrastructure must be stratigically placed to provide appropriate access for appropriate groups to both democratize the resource and focus on educational goals.

Gaining political support is the most difficult area to deal with in the process of community networking. Gaining political support from groups who may compete for the same source of funding is difficult but possible.
Collaboration with the schools and other community groups to prepare proposals which add networking infrastructure and assisted with Internet connectivity creates political allies.
Be careful when selecting political partners. You do not want to connect your infrastructure to a political agenda which might be destined to fail. Remember you are in the business of providing network and training infrastructure. Your only political agenda must relate to a promotion of educational reform through the process of networking.
Political alliances formed through networking infrastructure collaboration can help ensure sustainability.

All Community networking designed to expose the public and create acceptance of networking infrastructure technology leads to educational reform.

Research is needed to discover more and better ways of connecting community knowledge to educational goals.
Participatory research methods are needed to discover new possibilities for making connections within and between communities as our network infrastructure develops across institutional, geographical and socio-economic boundaries.
We need to constantly research new computer mediated communication technologies to discover better way to use these utilities for community networking and educational facilitation.