A recent Frontline episode (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/vaccines/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=bigimage&utm_source=bigimage_) exploring the vaccine controversy was fascinating and suggests several openings by which a couple of our less...
Colleague Jeff Prudhomme and I spent this last weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Central States Communication Association Conference at the invitation of 2009 Summer Institute participant Professor Laura Black. We were there to participate in a “beyond the town...
The raucous debate last month (March, 2010) over the health care bill was hardly unexpected. For more than one hundred years, efforts to provide better access to decent health care for all Americans have been thwarted. And, in fact, when universal health care was...
If you’re thinking about taking part in one of our Sanctuary Discussion Projects, you might wonder about the directions the discussions might take. You might wonder whether the discussion Facilitator, or the Interactivity Foundation, has in mind some particular...
Blogging, like most forms of communication, can serve various purposes. It can contribute to both IF’s learning by doing (through recruiting, say) and teaching (by drawing attention to the lessons we have learned by doing). But it is a fundamental error to value...
IF’s policy possibility discussion process was developed with face-to-face meetings in mind. From time to time I have been asked whether or not this process might lend itself to use in web-based discussions or video-conferencing of various types. IF has been fairly...
One of the primary tasks of an IF facilitator is to ensure that his panels’ discussions keep to the task of exploring and developing possibilities, and do not degenerate into debates. But isn’t debating the validity and utility of ideas a way of exploring their...
Two previous installments in this practical tips series have attempted to glean wisdom from the facilitators who have led dozens of discussions on IF reports. We have looked at some of the issues involved in putting behinds in the seats and jump-starting conceptual...
The Interactivity Foundation (IF) engages in a number of different activities. We help faculty across the country integrate a student-centered discussion model into their classrooms to transform how students learn within the university classroom. The skills...
So much of what goes on under the name of political discussion is aimed at persuading people to accept certain public policies. And so much of what goes on in facilitated public policy discussions is aimed at bringing a group to consensus. This is not the aim of...