|  Information for Faculty
Information.......Contact Us.......Service Learning Requirements.......Past ProjectsHow can faculty members get involved?- Use techshop as a service learning project for an existing class
- Sponsor a student under independent study
- Provide suggestions on how to institutionalize the TechShop program and mission
Contact us if you have suggestions or would like to get involved.University & Community AffiliatesRandy Stoecker, professor in the Department of Rural Sociology at UW-Madison, has a long history in the fields of community-based research and community informatics. He conducts research on the impact of service learning on community organizations and worked with those organizations to set community standards for service learning. In fall 2006, he worked with nonprofit organizations in Madison to pilot an assessment of information practices and information technology needs.
Katherine Loving is the Civic Engagement Coordinator at University Health Services. She works on building UW-Madison’s capacity to offer high-quality opportunities for students to develop and apply the attitudes and aptitudes necessary for effective, engaged citizenship. Katherine also worked with the ePICS course for 3 years managing the participation of nonprofit partners and their interface with students and the course management team.
Eric Howland is the Executive Director of DANEnet, a local nonprofit providing information technology assistance to other nonprofits in Dane County. Eric collaborated with Randy in 2006 on the IT assessment pilot project. From 2003-2006, he worked with the e-Projects in Community Service (ePICS) course at UW-Madison to guide interdisciplinary teams of students providing business and information technology services to local nonprofit organizations.What is TechShop Madison?TechShop Madison provides service-learning opportunities for college students by partnering them with local non-profits to increase non-profit information technology capacity. Students can receive credit through a class with a service-learning component, a one-credit add-on to an existing class, or directed study with our faculty sponsor, Randy Stoecker, or a faculty member of their choice (pending faculty approval). Students meet one-on-one with non-profit representatives throughout the semester in order to complete the technology project. Past projects have focused on Web 2.0 development, such as creating a facebook and/or myspace presence, embedding Youtube videos on a website, creating and managing a blog, and much more! Students gain valuable insight on and experience with non-profits as well as develop their technology, teaching, and consulting skills. The TechShop administrative team provides students with all training and support throughout the semester.History of TechShop MadisonWe began in January 2007 with a small Learn and Serve America grant, administered through Princeton University’s National Community-Based Research Networking Initiative, to establish a program to engage UW-Madison students in providing information technology assistance to nonprofit organizations. We are now also supported by the Morgridge Center for Public Service, University Health Services, and the Division of Information Technology at the University of Wisconsin. The overall model we are basing the project on is the highly successful "science shop" structure used in the European Union. "Science shops" link university research and technical assistance resources to community-generated projects.
During the summer of 2007, we convened a work group to plan the process for determining what nonprofits want and need from technology assistance provided by students. The group created an initial survey asking nonprofits in Dane County how they use their technology, what information technology obstacles they face, and other basic demographic information.
In December 2007, we sent out the survey to about 450 people and received 65 responses. Based on the responses, the planning group decided to direct efforts towards assisting small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations.
In spring semester 2008, a group of UW-Madison students conducted community-based research to follow up on the survey results. They conducted in-depth interviews with 27 of the 65 survey respondents, and found that specialized educational topics and one-to-one, on-site assistance offer the most appeal to nonprofit organizations.
The students presented their findings at a community event in May 2008. Attendees, including members of the university and nonprofit communities, responded to the data and provided input and suggestions for the structure and implementation of a student-based technology assistance program for nonprofits. Our work group reconvened in the summer of 2008 and designed the final implementation plan.
Community groups then responded to the needs survey in August 2008, and a group of organizations working on web project fit best with our current capacity. In the fall of 2008, the pilot semester of TechShop Madison, we had four students and four community groups working together to build nonprofit technology power.
In the Spring 2009 semester, the needs of the organizations and our student skill base led us to select Web 2.0 technologies as our IT focus, and we had 11 students working with 11 nonprofits, including one student from MATC and one nonprofit as far as Black Earth. Students consulted with nonprofits on social networking technologies and similar projects.Project ProposalView the project proposal and related documents.Service LearningFor information about TechShop's service learning philosophy, click hereReading list on community information technology coming soon
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