User:Vtaylor/CIS2 Summer 2008/Virtual volunteering

CIS 2 Computers and the Internet in Society SUMMER 2008 Final Projects

http://www.volunteering.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AABAB4EB-6786-476A-8DC6-27DF9BA44C10/0/leahvv.jpg ..graphic - thanks to volunteering.org.uk.

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Introduction
''' What is ‘Virtual Volunteering’? According to AARP, the World's Largest Circulation Magazine, and Wikipedia, ‘Virtual Volunteering’ is a ''‘term describing a volunteer who completes tasks, in whole or in part, offsite from the organization being assisted, using the internet and a home, school, tele-center or work computer. Virtual volunteering is also known as online volunteering, cyber service, tele-mentoring, and tele-tutoring, and various other names.’''

http://www.serviceleader.org/old/images/justsurf.gif .. graphic - thanks to the Virtual Volunteering Project at UTA.

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Brief History
' ‘Virtual Volunteering’ made its entrance in the early 1970’s when “Project Gutenberg began involving online volunteers to provide electronic versions of works in the public domain.”'' Currently ‘Virtual Volunteering’ is being employed by thousands of organizations such as The United Nations, VolunteerMatch, and Idealist; just to name a few.

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Objectives
''' An important topic which was presented in the CIS 2 course was our Midterm assignment; the ‘Virtual Volunteering Project’. Our group would like to take the opportunity to examine the positives and negatives of ‘Virtual Volunteering’ and the role it will be playing in the next three to five years in our society. Our goal, in this assignment, is to present a realistic analysis of where we believe ‘Virtual Volunteering’ will be in the near future.


 * /Positive Aspects of ‘Virtual Volunteering’/


 * /Negative Aspects of ‘Virtual Volunteering’/


 * /Society’s Outlook on ‘Virtual Volunteering’/
 * /How ‘Virtual Volunteering’ Holds Value Within Our Present Society/


 * /Student Views on Project Gutenberg (‘Virtual Volunteering’)/

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Summary
''' 'Virtual Volunteering' has made it possible for people of all ages and from all different parts of the country to take part in community service projects. 'Virtual Volunteering' is a great outlet for people who have busy schedules to still help within their community or in different parts of the country, for the greater good of society. After studying the feelings that people have after completing their virtual volunteering experiences, we have come to the conclusion that no matter if you are the person volunteering or the person that is receiving the help, the experience is a positive one for all. 'Virtual Volunteering' holds value in all communities because it makes the person feel like they are making an impact in someone else's life. The following quotes by Albert Einstein makes a good point on the impact of giving and how valuable volunteering can be. ''"It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.”

“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”''

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Research Tasks
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 * Ashley Nell – The Value of ‘Virtual Volunteering’ & Student views on Project Gutenberg.
 * Craig Filipponi – Society's outlook on ‘Virtual Volunteering’.
 * Nelson Banerjee – Negative aspects of ‘Virtual Volunteering’.
 * Tarun Morton – Positive aspects of ‘Virtual Volunteering’.

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Roles
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 * Project Manager - Nelson Banerjee
 * Team Coordinator - Tarun Morton
 * Recorder - Nelson Banerjee
 * Writer / Subject Matter Expert – Nelson Banerjee
 * Content Manager / Librarian - Tarun Morton
 * Style Coordinator - Ashley Nell
 * Tech Wiz - Tarun Morton
 * Reviewer - Entire Group
 * Editor - Craig Filipponi

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Time Line
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 * 1) Our Final Proposal will be completed by Sunday, July 27th [ready for peer-editing], and will be posted on Monday, July 28th.
 * 2) The group will start his/her research on July 27th, and update other members of his/her progress by Tuesday, July 29th.
 * 3) On Thursday, July 31st the group will present their work to each other [via e-mail or this wiki page] and everyone will have an opportunity to look over the work and start placing all the information. All information will also be given to the Editor [Craig Filipponi].
 * 4) On Friday, August 1st our ‘Editor’, Craig, will notify us of any changes that needs to be made.
 * 5) Saturday, August 2nd, final pages will be sent to our ‘Style Coordinator’, Ashley, for her final comments. Ashley will email her comments to the group.
 * 6)  Then on Monday, August 4th, ‘Project Manager’ Nelson will e-mail the contents to ‘Tech Wiz’, Tarun, to post to the ‘wiki’ site no later than Wednesday, August 6th, 2008.

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