Hi,
My name is Shahram from Iran. I’m a student in Joensuu University as a masters student, my major is IT and software engineering.

Why I want to be in this course?
I have done several courses about education and developing country, including the ITC4D course which i did with Clint last semester.
For me it’s important to know an idea of other people around the world and also find the answer to questions which there is not any clear answer for.
Using ICT for helping people in their life is one of my dreams.

I’m sure i can learn so many new issue in this course which can help me in the future.

Hi Clint, et. al –
You wanted to know a) who i am, b) what i have done in the area, c) why i am interested in the class and d) what i hope to gain and contribute.

That’s a lot, but I’ll try to do it w/ brevity, please forgive me if I fail.

I’m Brooke, just starting my 4th year in the PhD program in Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences at Utah State University, USA. I came here from Eugene, Oregon, USA where I spent time first as a webmaster then spent my last 3 years in Eugene following my heart and working full-time for the cause of peace and justice. The other thing to mention is that my faith journey has taken me many places – starting with Evangelical Christians and ending now with the Presbyterians (PCUSA). In between was time with the Buddhists, Wiccans, Episcopalians, Unitarian Universalists, and Latter Day Saints. Each taught me something important – mostly how similar we all really are.

What have I done in the area of intercultural and interfaith work? Not a lot.. In 2004 I, and 2 others, developed a workshop called “Bridging the Gap” which discussed ways that liberal activists can approach conservative politicians and have civil dialouge. It was based on a campaign I worked on in the State of Oregon to get a bill passed. I also worked with at-risk teens in Oregon in a program where one of the main goals was to understand different types of oppression in the US. It forced me to confront my own racism, classism & ageism so that I could be a better model for the teens. Since I’ve moved to Utah I’ve been active with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Ally (GLBTA) services on campus. In an environment such as Utah that *tends* to be anti-GLBTA this work has been challenging, but good. I have designed the first Transgender 101 workshop for the USU campus and delievered it successfully. We will be doing Trans 101 and 102 this year. Also – I went to Brigham Young Uni in Spring of 2009 to do a GLBTA 101 seminar for a school counseling class. This may not seem revolutionary, but I had never thought about presenting such a seminar at a church run, in this case LDS, university such as BYU, especially in light of political events in California, USA the previous fall that ended up pitting the LDS church against the GLBTA community here in Utah. At the end we all felt honored, respected and I’m confident we all learned a lot. The instructor said he’d like to have us back (me and my copresenter). What else? In 2008 I went toured the West Bank of Palestine with the Christian Peacemaker Teams for 2 weeks to understand the occupation / conflict. Since then my passion for the Palestinians and understanding the history of the area has been enormous. I want to go back desperately and see about collaborating with Israelis and Palestinians to help with Educational Technology in schools in the West Bank and Gaza where there is infrastructure for it. Lastly in Spring of 2009 I was Dr. Nick Eastmond’s teaching assistant in his special topics class “Multiculturalism and Instructional Technology.” He allowed me to do this because of my personal knowledge of the area.

Why am I interested? It sounds like fun? I came back to get my PhD in Instructional Technology for this reason – to use the tools that my field uses to deliver education to deliver other things – such as fostering intercultural and interfaith communication. This is where I’ll capitalize on my friendship with Clint – in that – I can’t express my passion for this topic in a comment section, but I think that Clint knows it. I work very hard to learn to love my enemies and anytime I feel negative towards someone or a group of people I work hard to understand them so I can see them in a positive, peace filled, light.

Lastly. What can I contribute? Hopefully what knowledge I have of the human heart? I did some work in the emotional realm in Eugene, working myself to understand core needs I have as a human and helping others to understand that very thing as well. Also – my trip through the part of the faith world? Maybe. And – I am comfortable with the Web 2.0 world. I I’m web 2.0 saavy even if I gave up facebook for lent and haven’t really picked it up much since. What do I want to get out of the class? An understanding of what I don’t know and how I can fix that. Seeing how others around the world are using these technologies! I live in a world that is so privileged compared to so much of the world and I need to see how feasible these technologies are and understand ways technologies can be used innovatively in places where the infrastructure isn’t as good as it is here. A better understanding of the cultures and faiths of others participating (if I get to participate) and personal connections with people around the world.

Congratulation!
Which universities from Iran will work in this collaboration?
How do you inform students?
good luck

Hi,
A friend of mine send me the link and i read the blog, it is so interesting topic, I am from YEMEN (Middle East) and I lived and studying in Jordan and then moved to US for doing Master degree in information system, as well as I was part of Interfaith group in my university and i was so impressed by the fact that faith and culture can be similar once we understand each other and how technology can solve this gap by providing the require channels.
many different students from different faith wasn’t able to participate in our group and events, however once we used the technology and Media, minds changed and we get many request.
University Ministry at DePaul University continues to use technology for such collaboration.

Hope the success for this class and for the people who participate

Regards,

Hi everyone,
I am Barun Khanal from the beautiful country Nepal and have been pursuing my Masters degree in Finland at the University of Joensuu since the year 2008.
I want to participate in this course Hoping to fulfill the goals that i was not able to fill up in the last course due to many reasons. I have a a feeling that the way of thinking from other perspective have changed within me and i also have capability to change the world from the seer capability i have within me. Just because it might be useful to inform in this course that i am Hindu and because it might be somehow related later (cultural aspects), i will like to know ‘why’ the difficulty and fearfulness among the culture and religion is always bridging the collaboration among the people and (somehow) how they can be more useful. As the axis live demo video presents: although we are connected, we are less connected than before due to increase problem of depression, loneliness and fear. this can be one reason, but i am trying to find out more reasons for questions that you provided in the introduction blog of the course.

I am looking forward to the course and hope to have a multicultural ride along with the people from all over the world.
-Barun

Greetings. My name is Michael Downey, and I’m a graduate student at Indiana University School of Informatics in Indianapolis, US. I’m working on my master’s thesis in human-computer interaction for development with a focus on user-centered mHealth solutions.

I would love to participate in the upcoming course, and at minimum, look forward to seeing the results of the collaboration.

found one good video that might be worth watching. Its about diversity and tolerance for the children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKHRI5YYWi0

This sounds really interesting Clint!
Let me know if I can be of any help 😉

Hi!,
My name is sekeun and I currently staying in Finland for an exchange students. I’m studying in Department of Public Health and also interested in Health Policy and Management fields.
I’m from Korea but I really like to travel and wander around the world and experienced many things that I want to share with others.
Well, it is complex to explain why I’m interested in..but first, while I was staying in India for 5month volunteering, I faced alot of cultural and regious differences. Second, while studying development and sustainable issues, I felt there are so much problems between people in the way of thinking and perspectives. Third, I had taken health informatics courses which is studying connection between health and ICT, I found there is great potential. So, all these things are mixed and I expecting this inter-cultural/faith dialogue by using ICD.
I really hope we could share and learn from each other.

Moi! Hello!

My name is Ilona, I’m a Finnish girl, and I’ve completed almost all of my courses for a master’s degree at Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. My degree programme Information networks is very interdisciplinary, including e.g. sociology, asthetics and journalism in addition to computer science and industrial engineering courses. I am fascinated by how the ICTs are transforming the way our societies are.

I plan to do my master’s thesis on a topic related to ICT4D: I want to research how ICTs could make the information about development aid projects more accessible and in general, how could we provide and present this important information in such a way that the stakeholders could have access to the big picture and further utilize the information.

Next spring I’ll be working six months for the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, in the Finnish Embassy at Abuja, Nigeria. I hope to be able to collect some data for my thesis during that period.

I am really interested in the ICT4D topic, and although this course’s approach isn’t exactly the same I have in my thesis, I find the course objectives and outline fascinating, and I’m sure I could apply a lot of the learning into my thesis.

Furthermore, intercultural dialogue is just my thing. During high school I spent an exchange student year in the marvellous city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since then I’ve been passionate about learning more on intercultural dialogue as well as strived to multiply my learning. I am an active volunteer of my exchange student organization Youth for Undestanding, and have been very involved with participating and organizing many training courses and seminars on intercultural dialogue. I find the course topic a good addition to my current experiences, as I don’t have that much experience on the Middle East.

I am convinced that this course would be a very interesting and beneficial addition to my education.

Hi, my name is Kalle and I am studying university of Joensuu, but I live in
Tampere and I also work for the Nokia Devices. I am studying a master degree
and my major is Educational Technology.

I am originally from Finland, city called Oulu that is located almost on the border of the Lapland.

I am interested of this course because I have studied two times in Erasmus programs, 9 months in Ireland and 4 months in The Netherlands so I am deeply interested about different cultures and methods how to be connected with
different people that are living all the around of the world.

The internet and telecommunication technologies are making possible that
people can be for example participate distance learning activities, I think that is future, that is how the school are going work globally, so I really want
to be apart of this development.

I would like get new ideas about this subject and maybe give some ideas to my company Nokia Devices, because we have a lot of workers in India and China, they are so far away there is really a need to get new innovations how we could work with then easier using the possibilities of the Internet. Also learning the different aspect of different cultures are really important for me.

-Kalle Kyllönen

Hi

I am Muhammad Zahid Currently doing Master in ICT4D at Stockholm University.
Yes it is very practical and long awaited program to give a better insight about different cultures. And to bring technology’s blessing to everyone,
.
Thanks

zahid

Looking forward to participating in the course in January.

My name is Innocent and I am a Nigerian pursuing a Masters’ degree in Finland. I am interested in taking this course because I have always been interested in the intricate nature of multicultural mores and diverse religious believes. The use of ICT in comprehending cultural and religious differences will create a strong motivation for ICT development and advancement. However, in other to effectively comprehend and proffer lasting solutions to the enigmatic nature of culture and religion, it is imperative for the participants to come from diverse, cultures, milieu, races and religions which is the suitable platform this course is providing. This course will enhance my studies, build my knowledge and provide answers to some inexplicable questions since there is assured collaboration from the participants from different backgrounds. Furthermore, I am delighted to be among the participants of this course because in my view, this course connects me to the world and I wish all participants the best in their life pursuits in all ramifications.

Who are you, and what do you study?

I’m a major in Economics and international relations in Helsinki school of econpmics in Finland. Originally, i come from Kenya, (where the lowest temperature is 15 degrees) and i came to Finland to undertake the degree course.

When dealing with an incresingly globalised environment, new opportunities have arisen as well as some existing resources have been permanetly removed. The main seperator from the winners and loosers in this new economy is the managers’ ability to communicate to all cultures in an effective way. This does not only apply to business, but also to exisiting social interactions.

i look forward to understanding the challenges facing intercultural/inter-faith communications and how Information and communication technologies (ICTs) can fit in the equaltion and improve the processs.

Hello,
I am Sita Pun from Nepal, studying IMPIT at University of Eastern Finland.

This course seems to be quite interesting and interactive. Hence, I would like to learn more about it.

– Who are you, and what do you study (or work doing)?
Hi~i’m LiaoDing,first year student in the master program of ICT in university of Joensuu,and my student number is 186109.
– Where are you from originally?
Well i’m Chinese,come from Beijing,but my hometown is Chongqing,another metropolitane city in China.
– Why are you interested in taking this course?
I found it’s a interesting things that to get known of some other cultures and be firends with who in the different place of the world.As well as i want to gain the ability that to deal well with the inter-relationship,i think that would a significant advantage for me in the future’s job hunting

My name is Ella Gustafsson and I’m a student of Media Studies from the University of Turku, Finland. At the moment I’m living in Slovenia and studying for a semester in the beautiful town of Koper.

I’m really internationally minded and interested in intercultural communication and at the moment doing research about online communities. I’m interested in ICT from many different points of view (sociological, political, psychological) than most of the participants so I think I could bring interesting ideas into the conversation.

Good afternoon. I’m Finnish, study Computer Science at the University of Turku, Finland, and have no interesting international background.

I find myself more occupied with IT ethics, our changing relationship to information, and other such pretentious things, and less with the actual ones and zeroes. I eagerly talk about the implications of casual worldwide communication, but my theories have little substance. I’m interested in seeing what this course can pull off.

Hello,

I am Guillaume, I come from France and have been working in a variety of environments besides my own country in the field of education in developing countries, as well as ICT applied to education. I graduated from a Masters Degree in Media Engineering applied to Education. It is an ERASMUS MUNDUS program sponsored by the European Community. I focused on massive implementation of ICT in education systems in developing countries and did my master’s thesis investigation in Peru on the notorious One Laptop Per Child program.
I currently live in Accra, Ghana, working as a Technical Assistant for the French Embassy at the University of Ghana, Legon.
As a person with a special interest in education I have found overtime that the best places to learn are usually the ones where you know least, with people coming from a different background than yours. I find myself doing a lot of international cooperation, and I am looking forward to learning more in that subject. I am also very interested to see how the use of ICT will influence communication between us. Looking forward to working with all the interesting people who introduced themselves on this page, and many greetings from Ghana.

Hello,
This is Raghu doing masters in Information Technology in University Of Joensuu.I am very much interested in this course as i am from developing country like India.Tell me how can i get into this course.