 This course will help you use the Internet for advocacy. It will be of particular interest to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and grassroots groups, trainers, activists, organisers, and researchers working in the field of human rights and advocacy.
The course is part of Learning for Change, an integrated collection of courses developed by Fahamu in conjunction with the University of Oxford.
Learning for Change pioneers a unique and innovative approach to learning. Using CDROMs, workshops and a learning community mediated by email, these courses will help you build capacity with minimum disruption to your own work. Each course includes practical projects that will benefit your organisation directly.
Every participant who successfully completes a course will be awarded a certificate from the University of Oxford.
Objectives
The objective of the course is to promote the effective use of the internet for advocacy, through the development of online research skills and the creation of effective online resources. In addition, the course will help you critique existing internet research and advocacy materials.
When you have completed this course you will be able to:
- Identify target groups of an advocacy campaign
- List the desired outcomes of an advocacy campaign
- Assess the impact of an advocacy campaign
- Plan an advocacy campaign using both online and offline resources.
In addition the course teaches you how to:
- Draft basic press releases and action alerts
- Create an online petition
- Create a basic web resource integrating several online tools
- Critically analyse and assess both strengths and weaknesses of an assigned internet research and advocacy case study.
USING THE INTERNET FOR RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY
Structure
The course includes the following modules.
- Introducing online research
- Searching the web
- Optimising web research
- Planning for advocacy
- Advocacy toolkit
- Organising an advocacy campaign
- Linking advocacy and research
The workshop is mainly devoted to practising some of the skills you have learned. You will also have a chance to review the first part of the course. You will discuss with your tutor the subject of your main assignment.
Assignments and project
There are a number of assignments for you to complete. There are no tricks in the assignments; they simply aim to check that you have acquired the skills outlined in the module. The assignments tend to get longer as the course goes on. If you are unsure about how to tackle an assignment, contact your tutor. You will not lose marks for doing so! You will also be required to undertake a practical project through which you will be mentored by your course tutor.
Email group
You are not doing this course on your own, though it may sometimes feel like it. You are encouraged to communicate by email with the rest of the group doing this course. Some activities are specially marked for email discussion. There is at least one discussion topic each week. You should also feel free to communicate with the group on any other exercises.
You can choose not to participate in a discussion if you feel it is becoming too time-consuming. However, we strongly recommend that you participate as actively as possible in email discussions to get the most out of this course.
Email discussions will be copied to the tutor but not assessed or moderated. Your tutor will not give automatic feedback unless you specifically ask for it. However, they will give you feedback or advice on the planning and execution of assignments.
When you have successfully completed the course, you will be awarded a certificate from the University of Oxford and Fahamu.
This course was originally developed with the financial support of the European Union, the British Department for International Development, and the Canadian International Development Research Centre.
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