These are the proposals from Mara. How does the debate start?
- Is there a time when all the debaters make a first comment on their main position? And then pick up some points? Do the facilitators have a few questions, as plan B, if the debate is goin low on energy and input?
- Is the facilitator going to make a summary of the points at the end and can that summary be made public, as a conclusion of the debate?
- Will the people involved in the debate then be invited to Join the Movement and what exactly do we invite them for? I would place an emphasis here on the Hate speech watch, to be honest … not that I do not like people’s photos, but content wise … HSW is more substantial
- How to communicate to debaters the way they put forward their points? Can they write 3 lines, 10, 200?
- I think some of these issues can be also made in a short doc on how to facilitate discussions on the Join the discussion, and then it can be improved based on this experience this week.
Regarding question 1) I think we should introduce the subject and ask people if they have something to share on the general topic. Then we can unpick the pointers that we have set if the discussion gets out of topic. What me and Steven were thinking is that we can have video links and more interactive means to keep the interest high..So that is our plan B you can say!
Now question 2) I believe it is important to make a summary of points discussed and the conclusions and this could be made public ( I don't see a point in just keeping it to ourselves) perhaps through a blog post or something similar..Maybe in the next newsletter which people get to see more directly!
One disadvantage of this forum might be the fact that you do not see other people's comments unless you post the one you are writing at the time..if you get what I mean!
That seems a good idea to have video links. And I think we should also write out that in order to particpate in the discussions they will have to register as users.
Hello people!! Neringa, I think that people who are interested in the discussion will be there since the start..unless of course they have other obligations. But I'm dreading if people come since the beginning and then leave soon because they don't like the discussion or how it's going.. Maybe we should make it clear since the beginning that if at any point someone feels that they don't get what they expected from this discussion they should point it out so we can see how to resolve it!
Start of debate: I like the idea of open starts, where people can simply declare what they wish - maybe why they're here, what they'd like to discuss and anything they'd like to say.
Yes, I think it makes sense it we note the points people make so they can be responded to during the discussion.
Yes, I agree that we should prepare some 'prompts' for discussion, whether they are questions or just ideas and examples to provoke debate.
Again, yes, I think it makes sense to summarise so that the talk can be made public. If possible it would be ideal to present the summary to the group at the end so people can add anything they feel has been overlooked. This way it is truly collaborative. I do realise that this can be hard work though, so it is just a thought for those who manage to pull it off.
Yes! They should certainly be invited to Join the Movement, and yes, with emphasis on HSW. I agree entirely, HSW is the strongest and central part of this movement (in my opinion).
I am not sure we should advise debaters how they should put forward their points. We can say, however, that if people make large posts (like this one - I'm sorry! Laszlo made so many points to start with :D ) it might be tough to keep the discussion fluid?
Yep, why not! A short doc. makes sense. There is so much written on how to conduct meetings etc. already and it is a very contested area, so we might want to look at that material to see what suits this situation best,
Sorry again for the long post. They'll be short from now on xx
In case we cannot have it to refresh automatically by the beginning of discussions, would it be possible to post a mini disclaimer somewhere? Many of participants might assume that this feature is installed, and thus there could be some confusion.
Neringa, my feeling is (like in this discussion) people will arrive at different times. I guess it is just something we will have to deal with.
Raf, don't worry too much about people leaving :) We are learning as we go so we will try to make it engaging but we cannot concern ourselves too much if people decide to leave x
Yes Gubaz...if we have some back-up videos related to the topics we want to unpick, for example Neringa could post a link with an EDL member talking about Islam and make an open-ended question, e.g. 'What do you think about this video? Why does it relate to hate crime?' :D
I like the idea of including it into the introduction paragraph. Perhaps something like: 'Please remember to click the refresh button to see the new comments''
Thanks Steven :) Although I could just turn around and say it to you I will write it instead on the forum hehe:p If I am right, you cannot see the amount of people that are in the discussion, can you?? Because there might be more people than the ones commenting..
So we decided about two things. oNe is a guidline for ourselves that contains some ponts about how to facilitate communication here. And the other is the disclaimer that we add to the intro of each discussion forum.
True, true. The video link it pretty dominant. Maybe if we are using them just a few times throughout it won't be disruptive to the flow of conversation.
Still, if you will speak to Latte, maybe people think it would help if videos appeared at a smaller size? I don't know, how do others feel?
Good point Raf, so there could be others watching but they remain 'invisible' to us. Worth remembering.
Yeah, I like that we can view the video without leaving the page too. It helps us continue talking. However, since we have to refresh the page to see new comments we can't do that until the video is finished, so that's the downside with how it is right now.
I like how the video appears, it makes it more engaging... Laszlo regarding the points for facilitation, for me it is what Steven also said, to have an open start and encourage input from the start on how the discussion will be shaped. Also, do you think is good to set some 'discussion rules'..what if someone starts being hateful??how do we deal with that??
My photo is not visible somehow, and i cant change it. can you help me in this till tomorrow? If you create a profile you cant change the pic. people love to do this, so maybe it would be cool to use it here as well. A another comment for latte.