ARTICLE

myNetWorks - a summary of the first eWorkshop

Introduction

The International Ecological Engineering Society (IEES) is launching "myNetWorks" as a virtual portal for e-learning. The target groups are practitioners, decision makers, NGO's and universities in developing as well as industrial countries.

To test the concept of e-workshop as well as to develop the guidelines for ecological engineering solutions, a workshop "Guidelines for effective ecologically engineered wastewater solutions" was conducted by myNetWorks, 0ver the period of two weeks in the month of February. (Feb 10-21, 2003). Registration started from 7^th of February. I was fortunate enough to be a part of this experience. While searching for the information on Ecological Engineering or system ecology I came across this workshop. I promptly communicated my interest to myNetWorks and registered in due course.

The workshop was structured on two modes of communication over the net. The classroom talks or the "live chats" and the discussion groups, where questions and answers as well as thoughts, opinions and suggestions could be discussed asynchronously. There was another chat room for informal talks designated "café" and provision for opening new chat rooms if required. But this facility was scarcely used. Probably due to lack of experience of live chats.

For the first week four case studies on Ecological Engineering projects were presented.

1.    Constructed wetlands

2.    Cattail ponds

3.    Waste water fed aquacultures &

4.    Source separation projects

These were analyzed and then the participants were expected to carry out the assignments for each project. The assignments were checked by the coaches and the students were intimated by e-mail.

How it worked in reality

The web platform was well thought out and the areas were well designated for "Entrance space", giving information about myNetWorks; "Personal space", to store personal information and links to resources and assignments and coaches, experts and other students; "Resources Space", containing library of case studies, articles and links; "Exchange Space", Leading to informal chat room "café", chat room for "class room talks" and "discussion groups", and "Course Space" containing all the information and links relevant to the courses. In the first week, the first chats, which were scheduled for 15:00hrs Central European Time started with a little introduction. Due to some time zone confusion I was late by half an hour. But the recorded chats were available in the "Resources Space" so I could read them and join the discussions. For the first two days the chats tended to be a little chaotic. As many of the participants were new to the chat room concept, this was not surprising. Within a few days these same members were discussing multitasking!

Initially there were 48 participants from 15 countries from all over the world, including, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, New Zealand, Cuba, Estonia and India. Later this number reached 51. About 15 participants were active in most of the chats. The absence of others may be due to many reasons like odd timing, lack of access, etc.

The second week started with the reflections on the first week. "Design and planning", "maintenance and economics", and "messy problems" and how to avoid or solve these, were discussed over the next five days. Design, planning and other aspects of an Ecological Engineering project to be constructed at Himachal Pradesh, India was discussed in the chat room as well as discussion room in some detail. By this time the participants had warmed to the chats, the e-platform and the ecological solutions concepts, and the classroom talks were very informative and lively. Most of the technical problems of the participants were ironed out and we were reacting to the e-environment quite comfortably. A lot of exchange of information also took place between the participants on individual levels. In the classtroom talks, it was possible to get instant feedback, and the discussion platforms provided extended and studied feedback asynchronously.

Conclusion

Overall the e-workshop was a very novel experience. The daily chat sessions were addictive, and after the second week, when I was coming into my stride, the end of the workshop was a bit of a let down. The exchange was slower than in an actual workshop, which was to be expected. There is a need to develop an informal protocol for the chats so that the chats could run smoothly and more useful exchange could take place. Simple guidelines like to log in using your first name, precede the message with the name of the member whom you are addressing, and allowing the expert to answer the questions already piled up could improve the exchange.

As the assignments completed by the other students, the discussions and classroom talks were recorded and available to all members in the resource space; these also became the basis of discussions. The experiences of the some participants in working out the ecological solutions and successfully implementing them over the years all over the globe gave encouragement to the other members who are interested in the Ecological Engineering.

For me it was an excellent opportunity to get in contact with the people working in the field of eco engineering, to 'talk' with them and help in a developing project in India (Thosamling, Himachal Pradesh).

The picture (of EcoEng) that emerged was not a rosy one; there was a cautionary thread warning that due to the apparent easy methodology the ecological approach may be considered casually without going through proper planning and design which may lead to lack of sustainability and failure. Local community participation and incentive in the form of products was important for the long term running. Institutional considerations were also weighed heavily in the sustainability of the project.

The e-workshop was a great success, and I hope the discussions will continue so that the group could grow in to a solid platform for eco solutions over the globe. Especially for the developing countries, attending a workshop abroad puts a lots of strain on the already meager resources. This limits participation. The e-workshop could open a new avenue, which will be accessible as well as affordable. Many of the publications which are easily available to the researchers in developed countries are some times not accessible to the rest of the world. The "Resources Space" could be a very useful resource in that respect. Continuation of the support group discussion periodically, e.g., once per month will provide a good backbone for new projects. A group of like minded participants (interested in a particular issue) could either open a new chat-room or invite others for informal talk on a designated time /date in the 'café'.

Over the period of the workshop there was hardly any technical problem, and the environment was extremely user-friendly. The resources in the library were meager in the beginning and some members (including myself) grumbled about it to some extent. The participants added a lot of relevant material over the period of the workshop and now the site boasts a healthy collection of material and links. This approach eliminated the need to initially provide the library with a lot of material, some of which may not be relevant.

To determine the right level of fees for the e-workshop will be a delicate task. The universities and research institutes having regular workshops may not show much interest in this new concept. And the low resources communities should not be scared off by high charges. Again, too low fees may attract casual browsers who are not really interested in Ecological Engineering or in e-education.

It is planned to continue the classroom talks or live chats between interested participants on the subject of the project being planned for a Buddhist monastery at Thosamling, Himachal Pradesh, India. The next few months may tell us how this progresses.