Tag: techchange

It was a long Sunday night for the TechChange Selection Committee. After everybody else was long asleep, brackets printed, hours of analysis on ESPN consumed, and even the angry tweet of Nate Silver had lost its glimmer, the Selection Committee left the nerd attic with a bracket that will make March Madness look like child’s play.

There aren’t a billion dollars online for a perfect bracket. Nobody will emerge victorious with a ring. This won’t affect anybody’s lottery pick.

This is simply for glory.

Over the past year, we have amassed an incredible number of potential band names in our office. With every random utterance of an unexpectedly catchy phrase, somebody yells “Band name!” And the ingenious, or just lucky, speaker gets the enviable task of adding the new band name to the already cluttered wall–basking for a moment in the limelight.

In the spirit of March Madness, we selected the best of the best and placed them in a seeded* bracket. In the end, our highly scientific process created the bracket below.

battle-of-the-bands-bracket

Help us choose the winner of the Battle of the Band Names by casting your votes below! Each week, we will release a new set of matchups (and an updated bracket) until we find our winner. The winner will become the official band name of the Official TechChange Band.**

The stakes have never been higher.

Make your voice heard.

* We believe our Selection Committee is as qualified, if not more qualified, than the NCAA’s Selection Committee. We would have seeded Louisville much higher.
** We are currently looking for talented guitarists, bass guitarists, drummers, keyboardists, accordionists, singers, songwriters, and woodblock players for our band.

What a year 2013 has been! Last year we did our first State of TechChange 2012 and figured it was time to look back on a year of learning.

More than ever, we are grateful to the growing global TechChange community that has more than doubled since last year to over 3000 participants in more than 100 countries. Thanks to your support, we’re continuing to provide innovative online learning solutions for international development.

Here’s a few highlights we’d like to share:

Press and Public Appearances

poptech nick

Online Courses and Platform Upgrades

techgirls

Offline Education and Fun Stuff

  • Taught classes at George Washington University, Georgetown University, and more.
  • Traveled abroad to convene workshops for the Amani Institute in Kenya, THNK in Amsterdam, and TOL in Prague. 
  • Hosted the TechGirls for #JobShadow Day. Thanks to the State Department for introducing us to Nagham and Sondos!
  • Brought our logo to life. Finally, right? Looks and sounds cool too. Learn about how you can optimize your logo for video.
  • Donated a bunch of iPhones to help empower global health practitioners in developing countries via Hope Phones (check em out).

Hope to see you in 2014!

In Online Learning, There Are No Shortcut Keys

TechChange at Fail Fest 2013, Erik and Nick

Tonight, we’re having a blast celebrating lessons learned in ICT4D and international development at the 2013 Fail Festival in Washington, DC. Hosted by FHI360, and co-sponsored by Kurante, Plan International, and TechChange, we’re gathering over ignite talks, spoken word poetry, and song in the spirit of taking failure not so seriously.

Since TechChange was established in 2010, we’ve experimented with many different tech tools, platforms, products, and content; some of which that worked and others that didn’t. From continuing to recognize the importance of cultural and national contexts when applying technology worldwide, to testing hybrid learning models, we’ve strived to make online learning for social change better and better, and even wrote a song about it.

Check out a recording of the song:

And for the musicians out there, here are the lyrics with the guitar chords!

Curious about the other acts? Check out the photos we took at the event!

One of the most difficult things as an entrepreneur is transitioning from a single person with an idea to a team of colleagues with a shared creative vision. Such a transition involves trust, time, and a certain degree of terror. But finding these fellow travelers who bring new skills, perspectives, and outlooks to bear on the original idea is without question the key to everything.

Over the past three years at TechChange, I’ve had the privilege working with hundreds of inspiring individuals: staff, advisory board members, and partners. Given the incessant pace of start-up life, it is sometimes easy to neglect the distance already traveled, the road already taken. Today, I’d like to to reflect on that journey and the contributions of one amazing individual: Chris Neu.

I first met Chris in the spring of 2010 while he was still working at the US Institute of Peace (USIP). I got a call from Dominic, my colleague and co-founder, saying “Chris Neu one of the smartest people I’ve ever met – he’s interested in coming over to work with us.” I remember thinking to myself, “One of the smartest people – huh? We’ll see.”

Three years later, I can confirm that Dominic was right.

Chris Neu is a firestorm of creativity, intelligence, and hard work. He is hardwired for start-up culture and possesses a rare unbridled energy for everything he does. He is the chief operations officer, the chief of staff, the photographer, the bookkeeper, the proposal writer, the facilitator, the blogger, the project manager, and so much more.  He wears a TechChange t-shirt to every event and can be found enthusiastically sharing our story and message late into the night. And while he’s a frequent contributor to the many hilarious conversations that emerge in our tiny 3rd floor loft, he’s not afraid to take the hard line or unpopular stance in the interest of keeping the organization on track. He’s also the one hassling to me write more blog posts, so here you go, Chris!

Every leadership team is different but I believe the successful ones have people with complementary skill sets and fundamentally different personalities at the helm. To those sitting on great idea, I can confidently say: find someone who challenges you and disagrees with you, someone who pushes you to work harder and do more. Chris Neu is that person for me.

While in some sense the journey for TechChange is still just beginning, so much of our current success is a direct consequence of Chris’s tireless efforts over the past three years.

So today please join me in saying: Happy Birthday Mr. Neu and thank you for all you do for TechChange!

(Stay tuned as a I profile other staff members in weeks to come. Next up: Will Chester)

It’s back to school time for many students including incoming Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) freshman, Michael Holachek, who just spent his summer with the TechChange team in Washington, DC. As he starts off his university career in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he reflects on his time as a Junior Programmer Intern a.k.a. “Code Ninja” at TechChange.

How did you hear about TechChange? Earlier this year I was searching the web for summer tech internships in the DC area. That’s when TechChange came into the picture.

Why did you choose TechChange to spend your summer before beginning college? I wanted to work at TechChange for several reasons. First, the job posting for Junior Programmer Intern really appealed to me because it offered a chance to learn cutting-edge web development and system administration skills. I wanted to expand my programming experience in PHP, Javascript, bash, and other languages as well as apply it to real world projects.

But the posted job responsibilities were just part of the story; I also wanted to work at an organization that was rooted in helping people. TechChange’s personal expectations spoke to me: “[interns should exude] a passion for technology, a commitment to education, and a desire to help create social change.” Not only would I be gaining useful skills building software with the latest technologies, but I’d be contributing to a startup dedicated to the global community as well.

What are your interests? I’m interested in programming and web development, as well as Mandarin Chinese. I’m also intrigued by the hardware side of technology. I think I’ll major in electrical engineering and computer science in college. For fun I like playing the alto saxophone, biking, and kayaking.

How did you use your TechChange internship to explore your interests? Over the summer, I set up TechChange’s new server infrastructure, the system that hosts the TechChange website and course platform. I worked closely with TechChange developers to design a system that was both fast and secure, as well as scalable and reliable. The challenge of creating such a system from scratch let me explore everything from the low level hardware to the TechChange user experience. I used this freedom to explore many types of programming and software development, both directly for the current task and more experimental for the future. The practical experience helped me immediately apply my new skills as soon as I learned them. I’ve always been interested in learning more about Linux, networks and servers, and system administration.

I also would occasionally bring in a hobby electronics project I had been working on and explain it to our team. Many people in the office also spoke Mandarin, so it was fun to occasionally brush up on my conversational Chinese.

What did you learn during your time at TechChange? What specific skills have you gained? Every day at TechChange was filled with critical thinking, new programming skills, and business inspiration. I learned that being a sysadmin is difficult! But I also learned a lot about how a startup works.

Specific skills:

  • How to automate servers with Salt Stack

  • Writing quality documentation

  • How to configure nginx web server

  • How to set up WordPress Multiuser on nginx

  • WordPress plugin development

  • Google Pagespeed caching

  • Working in a small development team, ensuring strict adherence to version control standards and diligent task management

  • Time management

Did your TechChange experience end up going as you expected? Well, some might say that! The startup life was much more exciting than I expected—it certainly didn’t just involve programming. S’mores-making Fridays and the occasional “Tim Tam Slam” really kept it interesting.

Was there any aspect about TechChange that surprised you?

While at first I thought the TechChange office (fondly known as the “nerd attic”) was a bit small, I quickly learned that a cozy work area can actually a benefit. There was no communication barrier to asking questions or discussing something. Constantly being exposed to everyone else’s work was also really exciting because I got a preview of all the pieces of TechChange and how they fit together.

Would you come back to work at TechChange one day? Definitely. TechChange has a certain energy that makes me excited about why I’m interested in tech. The combination of a technically-minded but socially conscious group of animators, artists, entrepreneurs, programmers, and writers made my experience at TechChange unique.

What advice would you give to future TechChange interns?

  • Explore everything. TechChange gives you a lot of flexibility both in terms of how you work and what you work on, so make sure to appreciate it and reach out to explore your interests.

  • Bike to work. Although it might sound boring especially if you live far away, biking to work in good weather can be a meditative way to start the day.

Ever wanted to become a famous voice actor? Now is your chance. Over the next month, we will be holding virtual auditions to find the next Voice of TechChange. The winner of this competition will become the voice of our animations & course modules – an international voice superstar heard by TechChange students drawing from over 100 countries.*

Imagine the unique opportunity to provide the voice for our expertly-crafted animations, such as the one below, on “Why is it so hard to try something new in ICT4D?”

Do you think you (or one of your friends) have what it takes? To enter the competition, follow these three, simple steps. The deadline for entering is August 15.

1. Sign up for a free Soundcloud account, if you don’t have one already

2. Record, or upload onto your Soundcloud account, a clip of yourself reading this text.

3. Share your audition sound clip via e-mail to info@techchange.org, with the subject: “Audition for the Voice of TechChange – [Your Name]”

After all the audition tapes are in, we will sift through the entries and find the Final Four candidates for the position. We will post these in a follow-up blog post for our readers to vote. The two entrants receiving the most votes will be invited into our offices for in-person auditions this Fall, and then we will crown the Winner of The Voice (of TechChange).

As you can probably tell, we’re all very excited here at TechChange. Former TechChanger, long-time Ushahidi guru, and eternal Zen Archer Rob Baker has been selected as part of the second round of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program. Yes, Rob will be contributing to Open Data Initiatives at USAID  where he will develop innovative solutions in areas of national significance.

For those who are unfamiliar with the program, the White House website has details:

“The Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) program pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate during focused 6-13 month “tours of duty” to develop solutions that can save lives, save taxpayer money, and fuel job creation. Each team of innovators is supported by a broader community of interested citizens throughout the country.”

But don’t just take it from the White House. Have a listen to last year’s fellows about what their experience meant:

While we’re pretty stoked about open data in general (and even teach it as part of our course on Open Government) and this development in particular, the timing couldn’t be more perfect for our first-ever upcoming course on intrapreneurship. Intrapreneurship is defined as entrepreneurial behavior from within a large, established institution. But the truly interesting part of this program is that it shows an angle that institutions should consider: institutionalizing a process for insourcing innovative talent and new ideas. While most of our posts have thus far focused on the role of individuals in pushing their organizations forward, the truth is that forward-thinking organizations are looking just as hard for entrepreneurs to help rethink their business. After all, if ideas like this can deliver solid results for an institution as large as the federal government, then your organization is hard-pressed to find an excuse.

And so from the bottom of our hearts and the top our nerd attic, we’re sending our best to Rob and all of the incoming fellows! We know you’ll crush it.

Rob Baker Speaking at DUPictured: Rob Baker speaking at DU

 

If you’re interested in contributing to PIF projects, you can learn about current and future rounds of the PIF program at whitehouse.gov/innovationfellows, contribute code on GitHub, or visit Data.gov to help turn openly available government data into new products, services, and jobs. 

Our mHealth: Mobile Phones for Public Health Online Certificate course will run for its second time from June 3rd – 28th and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Along with The mHealth Alliance, we have had six months to reflect on course feedback and refine curriculum to make sure we are offering the most comprehensive and enjoyable online instruction possible.

mHealth101 Twitterchat (1)

Twitter Chat Contest:

Want to win a free seat? Then join us for a Twitter chat using #mHealth101 on Thursday, May 17th at 2 pm EDT to be entered in a random drawing! @Techchange and@mHealthAlliance will be co-hosting the event and will be discussing course curriculum, mHealth trends, and case studies. More details to come but tweet at @TechChange or @mHealthAlliance if you have questions and we look forward to having you join us!

What is the Course Structure?

Students will have the opportunity to engage directly with leading applications developers, and learn from practitioners who have had significant experience in implementing mobile phone based communication systems around the globe.

The entire course is delivered online. The total time commitment is a minimum of 2-5 hours a week. The course is designed to be highly interactive and social, but we also work hard to ensure that the majority of the content can be experienced in a self-paced manner. It will feature one or two real-time interactions each week, such as live discussions, live expert interviews, and live simulations. In order to accommodate busy schedules of mission staff from around the world, we’ve set up a learning environment where participants have plenty of options to explore content that is most relevant to them through live content and interactions, readings, and videos.

Facilitators will produce weekly audio podcast recaps for participants to catch up on key conversations and topics. Participants can also access all course content six months after course completion so the material can be revisited later.

Schedule:

●   Week 1: Introduction to Mobile Health

●   Week 2: Strengthening Health Systems

●   Week 3: Moving Towards Citizen-Centered Health

●   Week 4: Large Scale Demonstration Projects

 

For even more information about the course, visit the course page or take a look at the syllabus. To make sure you get a seat, fill out an application here and get enrolled.

 

On February 26, USAID received the “Best Government Policy for Mobile Development” award at GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2013. And while the Mobile Solutions team was receiving an award in Barcelona, TechChange and the MS team were also receiving over 1,500 mobile poll responses from recipients in DRC taking part in an online exercise designed by 173 USAID staff and implementing partners in 21 countries. The way this was possible is through harnessing the same potential for public-private partnerships used for external implementation and applying it to internal education and collaboration at USAID.


Fig. 1: MapBox visualization of GeoPoll responses.

The exercise was part of a 4-week online course in Mobile Data Solutions designed to provide a highly interactive training session for USAID mission staff and its implementing partners to share best practices, engage with prominent technologists, and get their hands on the latest tool. Rather than simply simulating mobile data tools, USAID staff ran a live exercise in DRC where they came up with 10 questions, target regions, and desired audience. The intent was to not teach a tool-centric approach, but instead begin with a tech-enabled approach to project design and implementation, with an understanding of mobile data for analysis, visualization, and sharing.


Fig. 2: Student locations for TC311 class.

This would have been a formidable exercise for any organization, but fortunately we augmented USAID’s development capacity with the abilities of three organizations. TechChange provided the online learning space, facilitation, and interactive discussions. GeoPoll ran the survey itself using their custom mobile polling tool. And MapBox provided the analysis and visualization needed to turn massive data into a simple and attractive interface. (Want to check out the data for yourself? Check out the raw data Google Spreadsheet from GeoPoll!)

But while the creation of an interactive online workshop for small-group interaction requires barriers to scale, the content is under no such restrictions. One of the videos from our previous course on Accelerating Mobile Money provided an animated history of M-PESA, the successful mobile money transfer program in Kenya, which allows everything mobile phone users to pay for everything from school fees to utility bills and is proving transformative in cases such as Haiti.


Fig. 3: M-Pesa animation used for TC311 and USAID Video of the Week

But there’s still plenty of work to do. As mobile phones continue their spread to ubiquity, the challenges for applying their potential to development will only increase, along with the continuing possibilities as the technology continues to improve. However, in the short term, we’re focused on increasing mobile access, which is the topic of our next course. If you work at USAID or with an implementing partner, we hope that you’ll consider joining us and lending your voice to this process.