Development through Dialogue. A showcase of Dgroups from three perspectives; institutional, project and capacity development level

Resumen

This paper takes an alternative approach and analyses the benefits of using Dgroups, an online discussion platform for development practitioners, from three very different perspectives, beginning with the perspective of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), one of the co-founders of Dgroups. The paper then highlights the experiences of the Global Teenager Project (GTP), an international project that uses dgroups to facilitate online discussions between over 10,000 school pupils from 30 countries. Finally, experiences from a training perspective are described including the skills needed for this role such as: understanding the platform from a user perspective, the technical aspects of using dgroups as an administrator, moderating the list using the Lyris platform, and understanding the power of e-mail and online networking for social change. Reflections, lessons learned and recommendations are provided, together with a list of both recommendations and limitations when training others to use Dgroups.