[LINK] Virtual Activism Online Training Course

[Roger Clarke]

I've not given many plugs for NetAction on link.
This issue is especially useful.


Published by NetAction            Issue No. 65
January 11, 2001

Repost where appropriate. Copyright and subscription info at end of message.

* * * * * * *
In This Issue:
The Virtual Activist 2.0
=46rom Web Logs to Blogs
Getting Down to Earth
About NetAction Notes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Virtual Activist 2.0

NetAction has just launched a completely revised and expanded version
of our Virtual Action online training course, at
http://www.netaction.org/training.

This is the first major revision of the training course that we
developed when online activism was first becoming popular. Since
then, the course has been translated into Spanish, Japanese, and
Indonesian, and activists from all corners of the world have written
to let us know they found the materials helpful.

The expanded training course includes two new sections, mini-trainers
on web design and online media advocacy. We've also provided updated
information on copyright protection, privacy, censorship and spam,
and checklists on preparing action alerts and creating email alert
lists. We've provided some of these materials in a format that can be
downloaded, printed and distributed as handouts by readers who want
to use them in online advocacy training workshops.

In the new web design section, we provide a brief explanation of the
HTML and java programming languages, web design, and information on
obtaining a domain name. The new online media advocacy section
includes a checklist of media outreach tips that can be used as a
handout in workshops, and links to a variety of other online media
advocacy resources.

We've also expanded our discussion of email advocacy to provide more
detailed information for people who are new to email and the Web, and
added information on Application Service Providers (ASPs). ASPs are
becoming increasingly popular for email list management and online
fundraising.

As with our initial online course, our goal is to share information
that can be used by grassroots activists with access to a computer
and the Internet, but with limited technical expertise.

The revised training course was prepared with assistance from
NetAction's student interns Theresa Chen, Jasmine Li and Josh Dimon.
Internet consultant Michael Stein and  NetAction Advisory Board
member Judi Clark also helped, and some materials in the revised
course are based on an email activist curriculum that NetAction
developed for CARAL (the California Abortion and Reproductive Rights
Action League) with assistance from Jennifer Kanouse and  Jill
Herschman.

We welcome comments and suggestions from readers, and encourage you
to share this announcement with others who may find the course
materials useful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>From Web Logs to Blogs

NetAction's Advisory Board member Judi Clark recently suggested a new
tool -- named Blogger -- that lets Internet users create web content
without having to learn HTML, the programming language  used to
develop web sites.

Blogger <http://www.blogger.com> is a free, web-based tool that makes
it possible for Internet users to publish content on the web
instantly -- "whenever the urge strikes." It enables Internet users
to create web logs (also weblogs or "blogs") as if they were new
entries in an ongoing journal. It can also be used to provide
frequent updates to a "what's new" page, or as an ongoing
communication tool.
...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Support NetAction's efforts to promote the use of technology for
grassroots citizen action by making a credit card donation from
NetAction's secure server at:
<https://secure.manymedia.com/netaction/form.html>.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About NetAction Notes

NetAction Notes is a free electronic newsletter, published by NetAction to
promote effective grassroots organizing on the Internet.  NetAction is a
national, non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public, policy
makers, and the media about technology-based social and political issues,
and to teaching activists how to use the Internet for organizing, outreach,
and advocacy.

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=46or more information about contributing to NetAction, or sponsoring this
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<http://www.netaction.org>, or write to:
NetAction * 601 Van Ness Ave., No. 631 * San Francisco, CA 94102
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright 2000 by NetAction/The Tides Center.  All rights reserved.
Material may be reposted or reproduced for non-commercial use provided
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Roger Clarke              http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke@xamax.com.au            http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Fellow                       Department of Computer Science
The Australian National University     Canberra  ACT  0200 AUSTRALIA
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