The sessions in the workshop focussed on building a perspective with knowledge about the subjects in focus. The sessions in the first day aimed at building a perspective about technology with its various components and introduced the concept of Information and Communication Technologies in relation with Advocacy. The participants were also familiarized with relevant examples and initiatives from different parts of the world and from India as well. The sessions were interspersed with group exercises and participation from the participants in which they narrated their own experiences and opinions about the usage of technology. One of such good debates was on the use of propriety technology Vs Usage of open-source technologies for development organizations from the moral/ethical perspective.

.The sessions on the second day build upon the understanding of the functioning of the Internet while giving inputs on , search-engine listings and how to do an effective search on the Internet and which are the sites where they can find relevant information for non-profits. The emphasis in these sessions was also to build familiarity with the various tools that can be used for advocacy in an efficient and cost-effective mannerThe second-day concluded with the session on the tools and techniques for making a website for NGOs.

The third-day was designed as a hands-on session for the participants which included making group presentations on the case studies given them and a practical session in the computer lab. Participants were given case studies and were divided into groups and they had to come up with their own solutions for the cases/situations after discussing it within their groups. The lab session was utilized to make the participants familiar with the usage of Microsoft PowerPoint and how to make e-groups. A e-groups was made for the participants in the lab itself.

Feedback so far……..

Most of the participants found the session on Information and Communication Technology and Advocacy very useful. The group exercise done to illustrate the components of Technology was widely appreciated. Some of the participants found the sessions on day 2 very technical and felt that there was a information overload and the sessions on second day should also have been interspersed with group exercises/activity. Another issue was of the lack of hands-on experience for what was being talked about in the sessions.