Creating Community Technology Centers which ensure Internet Access for the Community, including low-income families, seniors and rural area folks.
We have been discussing the Framework which RAIN Network was establishing in the early 1990's to help define the National development of Community oriented Internet Networks.
That first Framework for Community Internet was made of these parts:
•Services to Small Farms, (early Ag-Tourism efforts, Small Farm online marketing, Permaculture and Sustainable Agriculture teaching and support as well as use of our GIS system for land, water, and crop management.)
•Services to community non-profits and community government
•Distance learning services for public schools, charter schools and home schools
•Telemedicine services for rural and chronically underserved urban seniors, families, and youth.
•Services to community Small Business to build new e-commerce skills
•Community Technology Literacy Skills development
•Services to non-English language speaking community residents
To help make these services available and understood in the Community RAIN Internet hosted technology skills classes and provided online access at Farmers Markets, Schools and Senior Centers using the Network’s web site and for on-site classes we used RAIN's Internet Bus. The Internet Bus was developed through USDA funding, designed to provide a mobile Computer learning lab with solar panels on the roof of the bus providing power and a satellite dish on the roof providing Internet connectivity.
The idea was to have a local Community Technology Lab and a mobile Tech Lab that could get out to those in our Community who did not have transportation to get to the Lab.
For 12 years, from 1994 to 2006, RAIN’s Community Technology Center in Santa Barbara, California, U.S., provided a model for other communities to follow in setting up an effective, well used Community Technology Learning Lab, library and meeting place. The Santa Barbara Tech Lab was used by over 500 non-profit organizations, over 2000 local small businesses as well as by families, teaches, seniors and youth, as a place to come to get online, to learn about the Internet and build Technology Literacy Skills. The Santa Barbara RAIN Community Internet Lab was the Training Lab for Teachers, Physicians, Small Business owners, seniors and students.
Community Technology Centers are as important to every town and city as Public Libraries are. They provide a place where low income families, seniors, youth, (basically, anyone in the community who needs it) can come for free Internet Access and regular Technology Literacy Skills classes.
The Community Tech Centers are as important for the growth of American Technology as access to adequate bandwidth for rural areas. They ensure that the Internet becomes something regular folks understand. It is important to remember that each Community Technology Center in the United States, Mexico, South America and Europe represents a point of Free Access for members of the community who might not otherwise have that access.
Here is a bit of history:
In the mid-1980’s RAIN Community Network was formed as a BBS system designed to link Santa Barbara's public library, city hall, community non-profits and small business and small farmers together.
Up until 1990 our main conversations with other Network developers were primarily about the issue of “user interface”. Early work with BBS systems and early Internet tools like Gopher did not provide what was needed. The “Network” or as it was to become the “Internet” was not the main point of discussion.
There was a need to resolve the human to network server interface and get a Framework established for putting education, health, local government and non-profit agency as well as business information online in the most accessible way.
When we decided to move from the University, (UCSB), out into the Community there was suddenly a great deal of conversation and cause for meetings regarding the new issue “should the Internet bandwidth be given over to the public?, (that is a curious thought today, isn't it). Many in the Academic community felt the Network should be kept for research and academic use only.
We had argued that the Community at large had as much use for the bandwidth for health, education, business and local government as the University did. We were lucky. Then State Senator Jack O’Connell was very supportive of the early efforts to build this new technology into the Community. Ultimately, when we began the first of what would be 5 USDA Rural Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant projects that would take our Network model out to 150 rural communities in California and the Southwest. State Senator O'Connell and Congresswoman Capps continued to be a strong supporters of the Community Internet Network as a necessary part of our Nation's larger Technology growth.
Things have changed a lot since then. The Internet is now very much Private Enterprise. Back then there was a feeling that it was a “Public Utility”, something created through Government funding that should remain a resource for the Public.
But back in 1989/90, we sat in the most remarkable meetings with professors, administrators and government representatives while the issue of "public use of the Network" was discussed. In the end, we took RAIN Community Internet out into the community starting up a Hub at the Santa Barbara Unitarian Church where we made our first two hundred 2400kbps baud modems active in 1991.
As the Internet becomes more and more an Internet with management and control shared between many Countries, it is important to recall what some of the original goals and expectations were. Should management of the Network remain with the United States or should the United Nations be made responsible for management of this Global Resource or should the responsibility go to each Country on a revolving schedule?
In our next blog we'll discuss our most recent work with rural community connectivity, telemedicine and Public Internet Video broadcasting.
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Monday, December 1, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Health Care, Telemedicine and RAIN Network
RAIN Community Internet has worked to ensure new technology and new resources to every part of the community. RAIN's Central California Telemedicine Network has trained physicians and nurses in rural and urban communities throughout the western U.S. and has provided the Framework for projects in Belize, Ghana, Costa Rica and other developing regions.
Current Telemedicine Projects at RAIN Network are at:
http://www.rain.org/dlt/health.html
http://www.rain.org/littlesteps
http://www.rain.org/vide-magazine
http://www.rain.org/dlt/wellness/
Integrating Social Justice and Health Care has always been a primary focus of our work. The following is a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the issue of Social Justice and Health.
Social factors - rather than genetics - are to blame for huge variations in ill health and life expectancy around the world, a report concludes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has carried out a three-year analysis of the "social determinants" of health.
The report concludes "social injustice is killing people on a grand scale".
For instance, a boy living in the deprived Glasgow suburb of Calton will live on average 28 years less than a boy born in nearby affluent Lenzie.
The average life expectancy in London's wealthy Hampstead was 11 years longer than in nearby St Pancras.
The research also shows that a girl in the African country of Lesotho is, on average, likely to live 42 years less than a girl in Japan.
People need the opportunity, the possibility, to take control of their lives - but the conditions need to be right to allow them to do that
In Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is one in 17,400, but in Afghanistan the odds are one in eight.
The report, drawn up by an eminent panel of experts forming the WHO's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, found that, in almost all countries, poor socioeconomic circumstances equated to poor health.
The differences were so marked that genetics and biology could not begin to explain them.
Toxic combination
The authors write: "(The) toxic combination of bad policies, economics, and politics is, in large measure responsible for the fact that a majority of people in the world do not enjoy the good health that is biologically possible."
The report calls for governments to consider how all their policies impact on health. It says that it is entirely possible to reduce health inequality within a relatively short period of time.
But it warns that, without action, injustice and inequality will only increase.
Sir Michael Marmot, chairman of the commission said : "There are examples where health inequalities have narrowed but, in too many cases, we have seen a widening.
"But that means the magnitude of inequalities is flexible - if the gap can widen, it can get narrower."
He said: "The key message of our report is that the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age are the fundamental drivers of health, and health inequity."
"We rely too much on medical interventions as a way of increasing life expectancy."
"A more effective way of increasing life expectancy and improving health would be for every government policy and programme to be assessed for its impact on health and health equity; to make health and health equity a marker for government performance."
"People need the opportunity, the possibility, to take control of their lives - but the conditions need to be right to allow them to do that."
The report highlights education, affordable housing, management of access to unhealthy foods and social security protection as key.
It also said that governments should take action to ensure a living wage for workers, and working conditions that reduce work-related stress and ensure a healthy work-life balance.
Current Telemedicine Projects at RAIN Network are at:
http://www.rain.org/dlt/health.html
http://www.rain.org/littlesteps
http://www.rain.org/vide-magazine
http://www.rain.org/dlt/wellness/
Integrating Social Justice and Health Care has always been a primary focus of our work. The following is a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the issue of Social Justice and Health.
Social factors - rather than genetics - are to blame for huge variations in ill health and life expectancy around the world, a report concludes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has carried out a three-year analysis of the "social determinants" of health.
The report concludes "social injustice is killing people on a grand scale".
For instance, a boy living in the deprived Glasgow suburb of Calton will live on average 28 years less than a boy born in nearby affluent Lenzie.
The average life expectancy in London's wealthy Hampstead was 11 years longer than in nearby St Pancras.
The research also shows that a girl in the African country of Lesotho is, on average, likely to live 42 years less than a girl in Japan.
People need the opportunity, the possibility, to take control of their lives - but the conditions need to be right to allow them to do that
In Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is one in 17,400, but in Afghanistan the odds are one in eight.
The report, drawn up by an eminent panel of experts forming the WHO's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, found that, in almost all countries, poor socioeconomic circumstances equated to poor health.
The differences were so marked that genetics and biology could not begin to explain them.
Toxic combination
The authors write: "(The) toxic combination of bad policies, economics, and politics is, in large measure responsible for the fact that a majority of people in the world do not enjoy the good health that is biologically possible."
The report calls for governments to consider how all their policies impact on health. It says that it is entirely possible to reduce health inequality within a relatively short period of time.
But it warns that, without action, injustice and inequality will only increase.
Sir Michael Marmot, chairman of the commission said : "There are examples where health inequalities have narrowed but, in too many cases, we have seen a widening.
"But that means the magnitude of inequalities is flexible - if the gap can widen, it can get narrower."
He said: "The key message of our report is that the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age are the fundamental drivers of health, and health inequity."
"We rely too much on medical interventions as a way of increasing life expectancy."
"A more effective way of increasing life expectancy and improving health would be for every government policy and programme to be assessed for its impact on health and health equity; to make health and health equity a marker for government performance."
"People need the opportunity, the possibility, to take control of their lives - but the conditions need to be right to allow them to do that."
The report highlights education, affordable housing, management of access to unhealthy foods and social security protection as key.
It also said that governments should take action to ensure a living wage for workers, and working conditions that reduce work-related stress and ensure a healthy work-life balance.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Building an Internet Bridge Part 6 - Ensuring Community Technology Access
We must create Community Technology Services which ensured Free Public Access for any part of the Community which needs that access. In these very troubled economic times in America RAIN Network has started providing scholarships for anyone who is unemployed, as well as for low-income families, seniors and youth.
The RAIN Community Internet Network is determined to work in a way which will help ensure that we keep alive the idea of Universal Access, not just for those who can pay, but for all of our Community. We are at a turning point in the evolution of the Internet. Corporate ownership of bandwidth, search engines and online sources of information has reached a point where the original idea of an open Internet could become just a memory of the good old days when the Net was new.
And the challenge of building a peaceful Global Community requires that traditional American values of Democracy and Freedom of speech be shared. Even if America has been in a difficult phase, with a Government that did not appear to value Free Speech and Social Justice, the majority of American’s do value those things and we need to remind the world of what real American Culture is.
The Internet, like Literacy, is a powerful tool for Democracy and Global Community. It is a tool unlike any we have know before, to link people and communities around the world in shared work towards sustainable environment, social justice and economy.
If the Internet becomes, as the printing press and publishing industry did in the early 20th Century, (when nearly all sources of publishing came to be owned by a few individuals and families), just another Corporate tool for marketing and social control, we will have lost a resource that will not be easy to regain.
I am often reminded of how important the “Small Press” became in the 1950’s and 60’s, to help establish a source of publishing, (of News Papers, Magazines and Books), that represented an “alternative” to the small community of Corporate Publishing Houses that virtually controlled all news and book publishing.
Today, independent online publishers like the RAIN Community Network, keep alive that “alternative”, working to represent local communities, local concerns and local needs.
The RAIN Network was establishing in the early 1990's to help ensure the National development of Community oriented Internet Networks or “FreeNets”.
The Framework for those early Community Internet Network’s was made of these parts:
•Services to Small Farms, (early Ag-Tourism efforts, Small Farm online marketing, Small Farm land and water management)
•Services to community non-profits and community government
•Distance learning services for public schools, charter schools and home schools
•Telemedicine services for rural and chronically underserved urban seniors, families, and youth.
•Services to community Small Business to build new e-commerce skills
•Community Technology Literacy Skills development for teachers, doctors and regional (County/City) Government.
•Services to non-English language speaking community residents
To help make these services available and understood in our community RAIN Internet hosted technology skills classes free to everyone and provided online access at Farmers Markets, Schools and Senior Centers, often going to the Senior Centers using RAIN’s Internet Bus. The Internet Bus was developed through USDA funding to provide a mobile Computer learning lab. The Internet Bus is powered with solar panels on the roof to providing power to computers and with a satellite dish on the roof to provide Internet connectivity.
For 11 years, from 1994 to 2005, RAIN’s Community Technology Center in Santa Barbara, California, provided a model for other communities to follow in setting up effective, well used Community Technology Learning Labs. RAIN helped other community networks learn how to use library’s and schools as meeting places. In RAIN’s own region the Community Technology Center was used by over 500 non-profit organizations, over 2000 local small businesses as well as by families, teaches, seniors and youth, as a place to come to get online, learn about the Internet and build Technology Literacy Skills.
Community Technology Centers are as important as Libraries and should be part of every town and city. They provide a place where low income families, seniors, youth, (basically, anyone in the community who needs it) can come for free Internet Access and regular Technology Literacy Skills classes.
The Community Tech Centers are as important for the growth of American Technology as access to adequate bandwidth for rural areas. They ensure that the Internet becomes something regular folks understand. It is important to remember that each Community Technology Center in the United States and Europe represents a point of Free Access for members of the community who might not otherwise have that access.
Recommended Links:
• RAIN Community Internet: http://www.rain.org
• RAIN Community Learning webs:
Camp Internet: http://www.campinternet.net
Homeschools: http://www.rain.org/homeschool
• RAIN Community Wellness and Telemedicine webs:
Telemedicine: http://www.rain.org/video-magazine
Family Health: http://www.rain.org/littlesteps
Rural Telemedicine: http://www.rain.org/health
The RAIN Community Internet Network is determined to work in a way which will help ensure that we keep alive the idea of Universal Access, not just for those who can pay, but for all of our Community. We are at a turning point in the evolution of the Internet. Corporate ownership of bandwidth, search engines and online sources of information has reached a point where the original idea of an open Internet could become just a memory of the good old days when the Net was new.
And the challenge of building a peaceful Global Community requires that traditional American values of Democracy and Freedom of speech be shared. Even if America has been in a difficult phase, with a Government that did not appear to value Free Speech and Social Justice, the majority of American’s do value those things and we need to remind the world of what real American Culture is.
The Internet, like Literacy, is a powerful tool for Democracy and Global Community. It is a tool unlike any we have know before, to link people and communities around the world in shared work towards sustainable environment, social justice and economy.
If the Internet becomes, as the printing press and publishing industry did in the early 20th Century, (when nearly all sources of publishing came to be owned by a few individuals and families), just another Corporate tool for marketing and social control, we will have lost a resource that will not be easy to regain.
I am often reminded of how important the “Small Press” became in the 1950’s and 60’s, to help establish a source of publishing, (of News Papers, Magazines and Books), that represented an “alternative” to the small community of Corporate Publishing Houses that virtually controlled all news and book publishing.
Today, independent online publishers like the RAIN Community Network, keep alive that “alternative”, working to represent local communities, local concerns and local needs.
The RAIN Network was establishing in the early 1990's to help ensure the National development of Community oriented Internet Networks or “FreeNets”.
The Framework for those early Community Internet Network’s was made of these parts:
•Services to Small Farms, (early Ag-Tourism efforts, Small Farm online marketing, Small Farm land and water management)
•Services to community non-profits and community government
•Distance learning services for public schools, charter schools and home schools
•Telemedicine services for rural and chronically underserved urban seniors, families, and youth.
•Services to community Small Business to build new e-commerce skills
•Community Technology Literacy Skills development for teachers, doctors and regional (County/City) Government.
•Services to non-English language speaking community residents
To help make these services available and understood in our community RAIN Internet hosted technology skills classes free to everyone and provided online access at Farmers Markets, Schools and Senior Centers, often going to the Senior Centers using RAIN’s Internet Bus. The Internet Bus was developed through USDA funding to provide a mobile Computer learning lab. The Internet Bus is powered with solar panels on the roof to providing power to computers and with a satellite dish on the roof to provide Internet connectivity.
For 11 years, from 1994 to 2005, RAIN’s Community Technology Center in Santa Barbara, California, provided a model for other communities to follow in setting up effective, well used Community Technology Learning Labs. RAIN helped other community networks learn how to use library’s and schools as meeting places. In RAIN’s own region the Community Technology Center was used by over 500 non-profit organizations, over 2000 local small businesses as well as by families, teaches, seniors and youth, as a place to come to get online, learn about the Internet and build Technology Literacy Skills.
Community Technology Centers are as important as Libraries and should be part of every town and city. They provide a place where low income families, seniors, youth, (basically, anyone in the community who needs it) can come for free Internet Access and regular Technology Literacy Skills classes.
The Community Tech Centers are as important for the growth of American Technology as access to adequate bandwidth for rural areas. They ensure that the Internet becomes something regular folks understand. It is important to remember that each Community Technology Center in the United States and Europe represents a point of Free Access for members of the community who might not otherwise have that access.
Recommended Links:
• RAIN Community Internet: http://www.rain.org
• RAIN Community Learning webs:
Camp Internet: http://www.campinternet.net
Homeschools: http://www.rain.org/homeschool
• RAIN Community Wellness and Telemedicine webs:
Telemedicine: http://www.rain.org/video-magazine
Family Health: http://www.rain.org/littlesteps
Rural Telemedicine: http://www.rain.org/health
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Our Time - Our History - Peace Studies Now - a new study program on the RAIN Network -
Peace Studies brings to life a part of History that is rarely discussed. It brings forward an untold part of History that we must know if Peace is to be a way of life. The Cultures of Peace have been a Big part of the story around the world. The History of Peace Studies and the Action of Peace Studies begins Now .
RAIN Network has developed a new Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Community Education Program and curricula which is available both online and as printed study guides and workbooks, in Spanish and English. Go to http://www.rain.org to review our work.
The Peace Studies, Social Justice and Conflict Resolution youth and community adult education classes offer a strong focus on peace education resources of value to regional Government Agency staff as well as to the community. The Peace Education Program strengthens peace education activities by providing new learning resources which teach ways to build and sustain peace, and establish a solid foundation of social justice
The curriculum accomplishes this by providing learning resources to reduce violence, enhance personal integrity and foster mutual respect. The intention of the Peace Studies program is to create a model of shared Peace Learning activities between rural communities in multiple Nations which we believe will then be expanded to create a Network of Peace and Conflict Education which draws on the skills, and experiences of rural community residents in many regions.
We believe that rural communities have a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience which can add in a valuable way to Peace Studies work relevant to residents in rural and urban areas around the world.
The Peace Studies curriculum teaches Conflict Resolution and Prejudice Reduction. The curriculum includes Internet Video instructional units which involve participates in documenting issues which create an important focus on local success stories in peace making as well as creating visibility for issues of peace and social justice which need to be dealt with.
The curriculum makes materials available for teachers, military personnel and regional Government staff focused on the causes of violence within the community and the processes of peacemaking, and the conditions which make peace and social justice possible.
Participants not only learn important peace making and conflict resolution skills, they also go away from the study will new skills in Internet video development that will permit them to continue the work long after the grant is finished. The curriculum teaches problem-solving skills which can change the climate of their schools and neighborhood. The video and web materials provide the materials for people to use to then go out and teach their friends and family.
RAIN Network has delivered a Peace Education and Conflict Resolution curriculum to over 35,000 4th-12th grade students since 1995 through funding provided by the USDA, the U.S. Department of Education, and private Foundations. RAIN Network’s Peace Works Project has received poems and stories of peace learning from young students in 20 different countries since 2004. RAIN Network’s Peace and Social Justice Studies program features special units prepared with the assistance of Dr. Robert Muller, Dr. Harvey Wheeler and Dr. Chris Landon.
The Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies program introduces participants to the study of conflict transformation. The curriculum is designed to provide the practical tools needed to work on issues related to Peace and Social Justice as well as Conflict Resolution. Specifically, the curriculum introduces tools for the analysis of conflict, offers training in the methods of conflict resolution, imparts ethical, moral, and philosophical insights into the process of creating peaceful social change and provides opportunities for experiential learning through internships working with RAIN Network’s Youth Technology Corps creating video documentaries and serving as Mentors in their local communities.
The curriculum provides resources for the study of Conflict within the community along with the theory and practice of Conflict Resolution, and Nonviolent Social Change. Each unit of the curriculum is accompanied by a video unit presenting discussions and practical examples of the area being studied.
The curriculum has the ability to expand each participant's awareness and understanding of how the practice of nonviolence can dramatically improve the quality of their life. As each person incorporates the practice of nonviolence into their day-to-day approach to life, they impact their friends, family and their entire community. The guiding principle behind the curriculum is that Peace encompasses respect of self and others, co-operation, trust, non-violence and a sense of caring responsibility towards the earth and society.
An important value to the program is that through the video learning units there is a potential for positive impact on the wider community, outside of the classroom and home, to include State and Federal legislators, regional Government Staff and regional Peace Keeping agencies. The curriculum gives special attention to peace education for adults providing lessons in little-understood elements of human cooperation, such as trust, altruism, and sacrifice, as well as the study of how violent collective action is rationalized and routinized as nation-states conduct police actions within their own borders and war with other nations.
Peace Studies has been part of RAIN Network’s online learning curriculum since 1994.
We have been building Peace Studies resources and hosting a yearly Peace Poems Project which has students from around the world sharing poems about Peace.
If you have a Poem or Story to share or want to read what others have sent in from around the world go to: http://www.rain.org/campinternet/peaceworks/ to take part in our PeaceWorks Project.
You may ask what does a Community Internet Network have to do with Peace Studies?
Its simple. The “Framework” which goes to make up a Community’s idea, (or Ideal), of what everyone should expect as far as online and school learning tools and resources must include studies in the History of Peaceful Cultures and the Literature of Peace. Community Education Programs, Public Schools and Afterschool Programs must include Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, for young students, High School students and adults.
As we have sought to find ways to make use of new technology in order to help re-weave the fabric of the traditional, sustainable, American Community, we have seen many, many times how important it is that we help create an expectation of “sustainability” and an expectation of “peace” when we discuss the future of our “community”. Expectation, not “I wish we could” is the key here.
RAIN Community Network designed both peace studies and conflict resolution study units into our Smithsonian Award winning Camp Internet online program and our online HomeSchool program.
Let me share with you part of the introduction to the Peace Studies online class hosted by RAIN:
Throughout history People have always had to deal with problems of war and violence.
Today we deal with these kind of problems not only between Countries around the world but also in our neighborhoods and schools.
The Camp Internet Peace Studies Class will give you the Background, Vocabulary and Historical Insight to understand that peace is possible, that it has often been the normal condition of things.
During our study we will work to build skills which we can apply, in our classrooms or homeschools. We will learn about Tools which will help make each of us better able to facilitate or make possible Peaceful Communication and Interaction, (between different peoples and between people and the earth they walk on).
Your study of Peace this year is divided into 2 main units.
First is "The History of Peace Studies". This unit involves history, art and literature, economics and agriculture.
The second part of your Peace Studies is called "Conflict Resolution".
This unit involves the study of why and how to engage in Consensus decision making as well as how and when to engage in conflict resolution or mediation. Useful skills at school, in the community and at home.
Some of the vocabulary in our Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution classes will be complex words like "consensus". We’ll learn how important words like consensus can be in building peace. During our studies we will all learn new words, new communication skills.
================================================================================
To explore our Peace Studies online class go to http://www.rain.org/peace-studies.
To explore our class in Transcendentalism go to:
http://www.rain.org/homeschool/history/transcendentalism.html
Send email to rain@rain.org if you have questions or want to take part.
Posted by Timothy Tyndall at 4:36 PM 0 comments
Labels: conflict resolution, peace studies, peaceful cultures, transcendentalism
Friday, December 21, 2007
Peace Studies
Winter Solstice 2007 -
Peace Studies as part of your Community Network Information Framework - Make that Your New Year’s Wish.
Winter Solstice and Christmas 2007 is an important time to discuss Peace with your Friends and Family and to take actions that will ensure Peace Studes becomes part of our School’s Curriculum and part of our Personal Study each week.
Peace Studies has part of RAIN Network’s online learning campus since 1994.
We have been building Peace Studies resources and hosting a yearly Peace Poems Project which has students from around the world sharing poems about Peace.
If you have a Poem or Story to share or want to read what others have sent in from around the world go to: http://www.rain.org/campinternet/peaceworks/ to take part in our PeaceWorks Project.
You may ask what does a Community Internet Network have to do with Peace Studies?
Its simple. The “Framework” which goes to make up a Community’s idea, (or Ideal), of what everyone should expect as far as easily available learning tools and resources, (the same as we expect to have schools, libraries and parks). Community Education Programs, Public Schools and Afterschool Programs must include Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, for young students, High School students and adults.
As we have sought to find ways to make use of new technology in order to help re-weave the fabric of a traditional, sustainable, American Community, we have seen many, many times how important it is that we help create an expectation of “sustainability” and an expectation of “peace” when we discuss the future of our “community”. Expectation, now “I wish we could” is the key there.
We designed both peace studies and conflict resolution study units into our Smithsonian Award winning Camp Internet online program and our online HomeSchool program.
Hear is a part of the introduction to the Peace Studies online campus:
Through out history People have always had to deal with problems of war and violence.
Today we deal with these kind of problems not only between Countries around the world but also in our neighborhoods and schools.
The Camp Internet Peace Studies Class will give you the Background, Vocabulary and Historical Insight to understand that peace is possible, that it has often been the normal condition of things.
During our study we will work to build skills which we can apply, in our classroom or homeschool, Tools which will help make each of us better able to facilitate or make possible Peaceful Communication and Interaction, (between different peoples and between people and the earth they walk on).
To explore our Peace Studies online campus go to http://www.rain.org/peace-studies.
RAIN Network has developed a new Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Community Education Program and curricula which is available both online and as printed study guides and workbooks, in Spanish and English. Go to http://www.rain.org to review our work.
The Peace Studies, Social Justice and Conflict Resolution youth and community adult education classes offer a strong focus on peace education resources of value to regional Government Agency staff as well as to the community. The Peace Education Program strengthens peace education activities by providing new learning resources which teach ways to build and sustain peace, and establish a solid foundation of social justice
The curriculum accomplishes this by providing learning resources to reduce violence, enhance personal integrity and foster mutual respect. The intention of the Peace Studies program is to create a model of shared Peace Learning activities between rural communities in multiple Nations which we believe will then be expanded to create a Network of Peace and Conflict Education which draws on the skills, and experiences of rural community residents in many regions.
We believe that rural communities have a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience which can add in a valuable way to Peace Studies work relevant to residents in rural and urban areas around the world.
The Peace Studies curriculum teaches Conflict Resolution and Prejudice Reduction. The curriculum includes Internet Video instructional units which involve participates in documenting issues which create an important focus on local success stories in peace making as well as creating visibility for issues of peace and social justice which need to be dealt with.
The curriculum makes materials available for teachers, military personnel and regional Government staff focused on the causes of violence within the community and the processes of peacemaking, and the conditions which make peace and social justice possible.
Participants not only learn important peace making and conflict resolution skills, they also go away from the study will new skills in Internet video development that will permit them to continue the work long after the grant is finished. The curriculum teaches problem-solving skills which can change the climate of their schools and neighborhood. The video and web materials provide the materials for people to use to then go out and teach their friends and family.
RAIN Network has delivered a Peace Education and Conflict Resolution curriculum to over 35,000 4th-12th grade students since 1995 through funding provided by the USDA, the U.S. Department of Education, and private Foundations. RAIN Network’s Peace Works Project has received poems and stories of peace learning from young students in 20 different countries since 2004. RAIN Network’s Peace and Social Justice Studies program features special units prepared with the assistance of Dr. Robert Muller, Dr. Harvey Wheeler and Dr. Chris Landon.
The Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies program introduces participants to the study of conflict transformation. The curriculum is designed to provide the practical tools needed to work on issues related to Peace and Social Justice as well as Conflict Resolution. Specifically, the curriculum introduces tools for the analysis of conflict, offers training in the methods of conflict resolution, imparts ethical, moral, and philosophical insights into the process of creating peaceful social change and provides opportunities for experiential learning through internships working with RAIN Network’s Youth Technology Corps creating video documentaries and serving as Mentors in their local communities.
The curriculum provides resources for the study of Conflict within the community along with the theory and practice of Conflict Resolution, and Nonviolent Social Change. Each unit of the curriculum is accompanied by a video unit presenting discussions and practical examples of the area being studied.
The curriculum has the ability to expand each participant's awareness and understanding of how the practice of nonviolence can dramatically improve the quality of their life. As each person incorporates the practice of nonviolence into their day-to-day approach to life, they impact their friends, family and their entire community. The guiding principle behind the curriculum is that Peace encompasses respect of self and others, co-operation, trust, non-violence and a sense of caring responsibility towards the earth and society.
An important value to the program is that through the video learning units there is a potential for positive impact on the wider community, outside of the classroom and home, to include State and Federal legislators, regional Government Staff and regional Peace Keeping agencies. The curriculum gives special attention to peace education for adults providing lessons in little-understood elements of human cooperation, such as trust, altruism, and sacrifice, as well as the study of how violent collective action is rationalized and routinized as nation-states conduct police actions within their own borders and war with other nations.
Peace Studies has been part of RAIN Network’s online learning curriculum since 1994.
We have been building Peace Studies resources and hosting a yearly Peace Poems Project which has students from around the world sharing poems about Peace.
If you have a Poem or Story to share or want to read what others have sent in from around the world go to: http://www.rain.org/campinternet/peaceworks/ to take part in our PeaceWorks Project.
You may ask what does a Community Internet Network have to do with Peace Studies?
Its simple. The “Framework” which goes to make up a Community’s idea, (or Ideal), of what everyone should expect as far as online and school learning tools and resources must include studies in the History of Peaceful Cultures and the Literature of Peace. Community Education Programs, Public Schools and Afterschool Programs must include Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, for young students, High School students and adults.
As we have sought to find ways to make use of new technology in order to help re-weave the fabric of the traditional, sustainable, American Community, we have seen many, many times how important it is that we help create an expectation of “sustainability” and an expectation of “peace” when we discuss the future of our “community”. Expectation, not “I wish we could” is the key here.
RAIN Community Network designed both peace studies and conflict resolution study units into our Smithsonian Award winning Camp Internet online program and our online HomeSchool program.
Let me share with you part of the introduction to the Peace Studies online class hosted by RAIN:
Throughout history People have always had to deal with problems of war and violence.
Today we deal with these kind of problems not only between Countries around the world but also in our neighborhoods and schools.
The Camp Internet Peace Studies Class will give you the Background, Vocabulary and Historical Insight to understand that peace is possible, that it has often been the normal condition of things.
During our study we will work to build skills which we can apply, in our classrooms or homeschools. We will learn about Tools which will help make each of us better able to facilitate or make possible Peaceful Communication and Interaction, (between different peoples and between people and the earth they walk on).
Your study of Peace this year is divided into 2 main units.
First is "The History of Peace Studies". This unit involves history, art and literature, economics and agriculture.
The second part of your Peace Studies is called "Conflict Resolution".
This unit involves the study of why and how to engage in Consensus decision making as well as how and when to engage in conflict resolution or mediation. Useful skills at school, in the community and at home.
Some of the vocabulary in our Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution classes will be complex words like "consensus". We’ll learn how important words like consensus can be in building peace. During our studies we will all learn new words, new communication skills.
================================================================================
To explore our Peace Studies online class go to http://www.rain.org/peace-studies.
To explore our class in Transcendentalism go to:
http://www.rain.org/homeschool/history/transcendentalism.html
Send email to rain@rain.org if you have questions or want to take part.
Posted by Timothy Tyndall at 4:36 PM 0 comments
Labels: conflict resolution, peace studies, peaceful cultures, transcendentalism
Friday, December 21, 2007
Peace Studies
Winter Solstice 2007 -
Peace Studies as part of your Community Network Information Framework - Make that Your New Year’s Wish.
Winter Solstice and Christmas 2007 is an important time to discuss Peace with your Friends and Family and to take actions that will ensure Peace Studes becomes part of our School’s Curriculum and part of our Personal Study each week.
Peace Studies has part of RAIN Network’s online learning campus since 1994.
We have been building Peace Studies resources and hosting a yearly Peace Poems Project which has students from around the world sharing poems about Peace.
If you have a Poem or Story to share or want to read what others have sent in from around the world go to: http://www.rain.org/campinternet/peaceworks/ to take part in our PeaceWorks Project.
You may ask what does a Community Internet Network have to do with Peace Studies?
Its simple. The “Framework” which goes to make up a Community’s idea, (or Ideal), of what everyone should expect as far as easily available learning tools and resources, (the same as we expect to have schools, libraries and parks). Community Education Programs, Public Schools and Afterschool Programs must include Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, for young students, High School students and adults.
As we have sought to find ways to make use of new technology in order to help re-weave the fabric of a traditional, sustainable, American Community, we have seen many, many times how important it is that we help create an expectation of “sustainability” and an expectation of “peace” when we discuss the future of our “community”. Expectation, now “I wish we could” is the key there.
We designed both peace studies and conflict resolution study units into our Smithsonian Award winning Camp Internet online program and our online HomeSchool program.
Hear is a part of the introduction to the Peace Studies online campus:
Through out history People have always had to deal with problems of war and violence.
Today we deal with these kind of problems not only between Countries around the world but also in our neighborhoods and schools.
The Camp Internet Peace Studies Class will give you the Background, Vocabulary and Historical Insight to understand that peace is possible, that it has often been the normal condition of things.
During our study we will work to build skills which we can apply, in our classroom or homeschool, Tools which will help make each of us better able to facilitate or make possible Peaceful Communication and Interaction, (between different peoples and between people and the earth they walk on).
To explore our Peace Studies online campus go to http://www.rain.org/peace-studies.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Our Time - Our History - Peace Studies Now
Peace Studies brings to life a part of History that is rarely discussed. It brings forward an untold part of History that we must know if Peace is to be a way of life. The Cultures of Peace have been a Big part of the story around the world. The History of Peace Studies and the Action of Peace Studies begins Now .
Peace Studies has been part of RAIN Network’s online learning curriculum since 1994.
We have been building Peace Studies resources and hosting a yearly Peace Poems Project which has students from around the world sharing poems about Peace.
If you have a Poem or Story to share or want to read what others have sent in from around the world go to: http://www.rain.org/campinternet/peaceworks/ to take part in our PeaceWorks Project.
You may ask what does a Community Internet Network have to do with Peace Studies?
Its simple. The “Framework” which goes to make up a Community’s idea, (or Ideal), of what everyone should expect as far as online and school learning tools and resources must include studies in the History of Peaceful Cultures and the Literature of Peace. Community Education Programs, Public Schools and Afterschool Programs must include Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, for young students, High School students and adults.
As we have sought to find ways to make use of new technology in order to help re-weave the fabric of the traditional, sustainable, American Community, we have seen many, many times how important it is that we help create an expectation of “sustainability” and an expectation of “peace” when we discuss the future of our “community”. Expectation, not “I wish we could” is the key here.
RAIN Community Network designed both peace studies and conflict resolution study units into our Smithsonian Award winning Camp Internet online program and our online HomeSchool program.
Let me share with you part of the introduction to the Peace Studies online class hosted by RAIN:
Throughout history People have always had to deal with problems of war and violence.
Today we deal with these kind of problems not only between Countries around the world but also in our neighborhoods and schools.
The Camp Internet Peace Studies Class will give you the Background, Vocabulary and Historical Insight to understand that peace is possible, that it has often been the normal condition of things.
During our study we will work to build skills which we can apply, in our classrooms or homeschools. We will learn about Tools which will help make each of us better able to facilitate or make possible Peaceful Communication and Interaction, (between different peoples and between people and the earth they walk on).
Your study of Peace this year is divided into 2 main units.
First is "The History of Peace Studies". This unit involves history, art and literature, economics and agriculture.
The second part of your Peace Studies is called "Conflict Resolution".
This unit involves the study of why and how to engage in Consensus decision making as well as how and when to engage in conflict resolution or mediation. Useful skills at school, in the community and at home.
Some of the vocabulary in our Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution classes will be complex words like "consensus". We’ll learn how important words like consensus can be in building peace. During our studies we will all learn new words, new communication skills.
================================================================================
To explore our Peace Studies online class go to http://www.rain.org/peace-studies.
To explore our class in Transcendentalism go to:
http://www.rain.org/homeschool/history/transcendentalism.html
Send email to rain@rain.org if you have questions or want to take part.
Peace Studies has been part of RAIN Network’s online learning curriculum since 1994.
We have been building Peace Studies resources and hosting a yearly Peace Poems Project which has students from around the world sharing poems about Peace.
If you have a Poem or Story to share or want to read what others have sent in from around the world go to: http://www.rain.org/campinternet/peaceworks/ to take part in our PeaceWorks Project.
You may ask what does a Community Internet Network have to do with Peace Studies?
Its simple. The “Framework” which goes to make up a Community’s idea, (or Ideal), of what everyone should expect as far as online and school learning tools and resources must include studies in the History of Peaceful Cultures and the Literature of Peace. Community Education Programs, Public Schools and Afterschool Programs must include Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, for young students, High School students and adults.
As we have sought to find ways to make use of new technology in order to help re-weave the fabric of the traditional, sustainable, American Community, we have seen many, many times how important it is that we help create an expectation of “sustainability” and an expectation of “peace” when we discuss the future of our “community”. Expectation, not “I wish we could” is the key here.
RAIN Community Network designed both peace studies and conflict resolution study units into our Smithsonian Award winning Camp Internet online program and our online HomeSchool program.
Let me share with you part of the introduction to the Peace Studies online class hosted by RAIN:
Throughout history People have always had to deal with problems of war and violence.
Today we deal with these kind of problems not only between Countries around the world but also in our neighborhoods and schools.
The Camp Internet Peace Studies Class will give you the Background, Vocabulary and Historical Insight to understand that peace is possible, that it has often been the normal condition of things.
During our study we will work to build skills which we can apply, in our classrooms or homeschools. We will learn about Tools which will help make each of us better able to facilitate or make possible Peaceful Communication and Interaction, (between different peoples and between people and the earth they walk on).
Your study of Peace this year is divided into 2 main units.
First is "The History of Peace Studies". This unit involves history, art and literature, economics and agriculture.
The second part of your Peace Studies is called "Conflict Resolution".
This unit involves the study of why and how to engage in Consensus decision making as well as how and when to engage in conflict resolution or mediation. Useful skills at school, in the community and at home.
Some of the vocabulary in our Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution classes will be complex words like "consensus". We’ll learn how important words like consensus can be in building peace. During our studies we will all learn new words, new communication skills.
================================================================================
To explore our Peace Studies online class go to http://www.rain.org/peace-studies.
To explore our class in Transcendentalism go to:
http://www.rain.org/homeschool/history/transcendentalism.html
Send email to rain@rain.org if you have questions or want to take part.
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