INFORMATION MANAGEMENT RESOURCE KIT (IMARK)

Introduction

The Information Management Resource Kit (IMARK) has been developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in partnership with other agencies and institutions with the common goal of strengthening information management and exchange in agencies, institutions and networks world-wide, allowing them to work together more effectively.

IMARK comprises of a series of e-learning modules and the 6th one being “Web 2.0 and Social Media for Development”. This course provides an overview of the basic concepts behind Web 2.0, social media, user generated content and social networking.

Structure & Workload

The total curriculum consists of 11 lessons, grouped into two units:

(i) SOCIAL MEDIA FOR DEVELOPMENT

Lesson 1.1: Introduction to Web 2.0 and Social Media

Lesson 1.2: Social Networking Sites and Communities

Lesson 1.3: Privacy, Intellectual Property and access to Social media

Lesson 1.4: Current Issues and New Ideas

(ii) SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS AND SERVICES

Lesson 2.1: Group Productivity and Collaboration Tools

Lesson 2.2: Hosted Services

Lesson 2.3: Subscriptions, Feeds and Syndication

Lesson 2.4: Tagging and Social Bookmarking

Lesson 2.5: Blogging and Microblogging

Lesson 2.6: Online Video and Image Sharing

Lesson 2.7: Podcasting and Online Radio

Each lesson achieves a specific set of learning objectives, using interactive step-by-step instructions and exercises which help reinforce what is being taught.

Contributing Organisations

The course curriculum was designed and developed by experts and institutions from an internationally widespread community. The main contributors and authors are from the following Organizations:

• Association for ProgressiveCommunications (APC)
• Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Full Circle Associates
• International DevelopmentResearch Centre (IDRC)
• Sulá Batsú

Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity - My Personal Experience

This post shares my personal experience as a participant of the Web 2,0 Learning Opportunity organised by the CTA.  You are most welcome to give your views and comments!

 

A surprisingly nice atmosphere for learning

Trainers did their best to organise great sessions of tutorials for different themes on Web 2.0 selected by the CTA.  They really created a cosy atmosphere at the computer lab of the Faculty of Agriculture for participants to feel at ease and to grasp the beauty of the different Web 2.0 tools and techniques. With their ice-breaking session at start and their energizing sessions in between, the atmosphere remained really lively, funny and interesting!

 Lively and eager Participants 

The majority 25 participants present at the training workshop on Web 2.0 come from different agricultural institutions, including the Rodrigues Commission for Agriculture.  A few also included stakeholders from the private sector, the media and even graduate students. 

The participants were told that the selection criteria had been made by the CTA as their applications were screened amongst many others and they should feel privileged that they were among the 25 selected candidates.  This really encouraged us and boosted up our confidence.

Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity organised by the CTA

The Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius (UoM), in collaboration with theTechnical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the Food and Agricultural Research Council (FARC) is currently hosting a 5-day Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity. This training course has been scheduled from Monday 09 July to Friday 13 July 2012.

 

Aim of Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity

During this training, the participants are being introduced and exposed to selected Web 2.0 applications and are getting  hands on practice on the use of the tools.

Programme of the Web 2.0 Training Course

• Introduction to the participatory World Wide Web (Web 2.0)
• Search Magic: how to conduct advanced multilingual online searches
• Information Self Service: How to get selected information served to you via alerts and RSS feeds
• Remote collaboration: How to develop content remotely using wikis and Google Docs
• Online mapping: How to locate your organisation and our projects on an online map
• How to communicated voice over the internet at no cost
• Online publishing (micro-blogging and blog)
• Professional/corporate social networking (LinkedIn and Facebook)
• Web 2.0 self-instruction (introduction to iMARK)

 

The above web 2.0 training workshop is taking place at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Republic of Mauritius.

Opening Ceremony

The CTA learning opportunity on Web 2.0 was officially launched by Dr. the Hon. Rajeshwar Jeetah, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology on 9th July 2012 at the R.Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre, University of Mauritius, Reduit.

The guests who intervened at the launching ceremony were as follows:

• Prof. Y. Jaufeerally-Fakim, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, 
• Prof. H.C.S Rughooputh, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius,  
• Prof. S.Jugessur, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, 
• Mr. J.Ramkissoon, Director General of the Food and Agricultural Research Council

Deans of other Faculties of the University of Mauritius, academic staffs of the Faculty of agriculture, Directors and staff of Agricultural organizations, NGOs, stakeholders from the private sector and students were present during the ceremony.

Sources:

1. http://news-agriculture.blogspot.com/2012/07/web-20-learning-opportunity-in_11.html

2. http://nawsheenh.blogspot.com

Introduction to and Definition of Indian Classical dance

Indian classical dance 

is a relatively new umbrella term for various codified art forms rooted in Natya, the sacred Hindu musical theatre styles, whose theory can be traced back to the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni (400 BC).

The term "classical" (Sanskr. "Shastriya") was introduced by Sangeet Natak Akademi to denote the Natya Shastra-based performing art styles. A very important feature of Indian classical dances is the use of the mudra or hand gestures by the artists as a short-hand sign language to narrate a story and to demonstrate certain concepts such as objects, weather, nature and emotion. Many classical dances include facial expressions as an integral part of the dance form.

These are:

• Dances performed inside the sanctum of the temple according to the rituals were called Agama Nartanam. Natya Shastra classifies this type of dance form as margi, or the soul-liberating dance, unlike the desi (purely entertaining) forms.
• Dances performed in royal courts to the accompaniment of classical music were called Carnatakam. This was an intellectual art form.

For lack of any better equivalents in the European culture, the British colonial authorities called any performing art forms found in India as "Indian dance". Even though the art of Natya includes nritta, or dance proper, Natya has never been limited to dancing and includes singing, abhinaya (mime acting). These features are common to all the Indian classical styles. In the margi form Nritta is composed of karanas, while the desi nritta consists mainly of adavus.

 Dance forms

Sangeet Natak Akademi currently confers classical status on eight Indian dance styles (see table below), while the Encyclopædia Britannica mentions six recognized schools and other sources state there are eight dance forms.

Dance form	State(s) of origin
Bharatanatyam	Tamil Nadu
Kathak	Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh
Kathakali	Kerala
Kuchipudi	Andhra Pradesh
Manipuri	Manipur
Mohiniyattam	Kerala
Odissi	Orissa
Sattriya	Assam

 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_dance

11 July 2012

  

Classical Indian dancers

In the ancient scriptures, a professional danseuse was called "patra". The AbhinayaDarpana has a sloka that describes Patra Prana Dasha Smrutaha - the ten essential qualities of the professional dancer: 

Javaha (agility), Sthirathvam (steadiness), Rekhacha (graceful lines), Bhramari (balance in pirouettes), Drishtir (glance), Shramaha (hard work), Medha (intelligence), Shraddha(devotion), Vacho (good speech), and Geetam (singing ability).

According to Abhinayadarpanam, one of the two most authoritative texts on Classical Indian dance, a patra must be young,slender,beautiful,large-eyed,with well-rounded breasts,self-confident,witty,pleasing,capable of keeping time (following the rhythm)splendidly dressed of a happy disposition.

Source: http://classicalindiandancer.com/classical_Indian_dance.html#classical_indian_dance_dancers

11 July 2012