New Zealand Rural Network Conference

This page has been set up so that Carolyn and Sarah can develop an abstract to send to the NZ Rural GPs Network Conferencein March 2008.

This is the template for the abstract(max 250 words):

USING ONLINE TOOLS FOR COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

Carolyn McIntosh & Sarah Stewart

Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin

Center for Online Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Carolynm@tekotago.ac.nz

03 4793641

INTRODUCTION

One of the main problems of being a health professional working in a rural or remote community is geographical and professional isolation. Online social networking tools have the ability to help us keep up to date with current trends; provide opportunities for support, professional development and collaboration.

GOALS

1. Explore opportunities for online communication and collaboration.

2. To get you started using social networking tools such as blogs, wikis and del.ici.ous. and begin establishing an online network.

METHOD

A computer lab will be available with online access and we will have a practical hands on session to get you started using these online tools. Alternatively you could use your own wireless networked computer. By the end of this workshop you will have created your own social networking tools which you can continue to use. You will also have established a network of other attendees from the workshop with whom you can continue to share experiences as you become more familiar with these resources. These tools can break down geographic barriers and add a whole new meaning to working together. We hope this will be a fun and exciting workshop and will start you on your journey into a new dimension in communication.

Preferred Time:

Enter time preference: 30min; 45min or 90min

Ideally, we would like this workshop to be held in a computer laboratory. Numbers would obviously have to be restricted to the number of computers available. If the workshop is carried out in a laboratory, the time we will require will be 90 minutes. If we only have access to one computer ie we can only show people-people are unable to participate, I would expect that we would only need 45 minutes.Will there be a wireless 'hotspot' that participants can access?