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Hands-on Project on Sustainability

Praxisprojekt zur Nachhaltigkeit

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Welcome speech from Dr. Günther Bachmann, Secretary General, German Council on Sustainable Development

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Hands-on Project on Sustainability:

Introduction and overview

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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What is the project all about?

•Virtual practical project accompanying the Webinar Series “Global. Fair. Together – Concepts for a sustainable world”.

•Main idea: Alumni form virtual teams and work together on a sustainability topic. Mainly four tasks:1. teambuilding2. research on selected topics + scenario writing (future) 3. video production4. gathering alumni votes

The winning team travels to Germany and participates in an event on sustainability!

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Topics and groups

Five Sustainability topics• Climate change and flood prevention• Sustainability in urban transport• Urban self-sufficiency – urban agriculture• Sustainable tourism in protected areas• Tilling fields and protecting species - biodiversity in rural areas

Each applicant (500) has selected a topic (one alternative topic). Groups were matched according to topic preferences and regions.

• 24 teams; three members each; four continents• Communication in German and English

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Project period

•All virtual teams have four weeks to complete the project; each week, a new task is published in the webinar group

•Beginning: Method webinar (11.9.2013, 16-17 h, CET) •First task: 11.9. - 13.9.•Second task (scenario): 13.9. - 25.9.•Third task (video): 25.9. - 2.10.•Fourth task: 2.10 - 9.10. •Presentations + online prize ceremony (16.10.2013,16-17 h, CET

•Don’t hesitate to ask for help! There’s a team behind the project…

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Team Alumniportal Deutschland

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

Felicitas Schnabel, DAAD

Viola Erlenmaier, AvH

Birgit Sondergeld, Goethe-Institut

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Jury, evaluation, price

Three committee members:

• Prof. Dr. Martina Schäfer, FU Berlin

• Prof. Dr. Einhard Schmidt-Kallert, TU Dortmund

• Prof. Dr. Torsten Schäfer, HS Darmstadt

• evaluation criteria Alumniportal

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Team work and communicating in virtual projects

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Intro – Virtual projects

•Some issues in virtual teams:‐ Different countries/ different time zones‐ Groups members do not know each

other personally‐ Technical equipment and tools

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Can virtual projects be successful? Can they even be fun??

Some ideas…

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Getting to know each other

•Take some time to present yourselves and connect

•Connect on social media platforms, exchange some info about you (your job, family situation, studies)

•Not only chat, also personal calls (e.g. via Skype)

•Explore some tools (Alumniportal group forum, Skype and other conferencing tools, google hangouts etc.)

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Communicating virtually

•Efficient communication is key in virtual teams (E-mails do usually NOT work)

•Synchronous communication is preferable (chat, calls)

•It can be helpful to summarize your communication concept (and tools)

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Communicating virtually – Alumniportal

•Alumniportal group forum

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Communicating virtually - Alumniportal

•Alumniportal – Personal messages and contacts lists

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Communicating virtually - Chat tools

•Skype‐ Download Skype in your language on

www.skype.com‐ Free chats, skype groups chats and call (without

video)

•Google Hangouts‐ Google+ account

•Facebook‐ Chats‐ Groups

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Working together – some basics

•Define clear rules: How do you want to communicate?‐ Language‐ Platforms‐ Dates for meetings/ how often/ when

•Define responsibilities: Who does what?‐Who coordinates the group? ‐Who coordinates tasks?

•Define rules of behaviour: How to behave?‐ How quick should team members react?‐Where to store documents?

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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Dividing tasks + organizing documentation..

•For each task:

‐Who will do it?

‐ How to divide it?

‐Where to work on it?

‐ Until when should it be finished?

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Online collaboration - Alumniportal

•Group Files and Pictures

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Online collaboration - Alumniportal

•Group Pages

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Online collaboration tools - External

•External tools for storing and simultaneously working on documents

•Google Drive (Google account)‐ Several people can work simultaneously on ONE doc.

•Dropbox ‐ Free storage and sharing of folders‐ Only one person can work on a doc. at a time

•And other cloud services…

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

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First task: teambuilding

•Start now and use the tutorials for each task

•No chat tool in the Alumniportal find your own channel

•Don‘t hesitate to ask for help! Use the tools in the Alumniportal

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org

Thanks a lot for your attention!