Destinations, in Partnership with Teesside University have been successful in securing funds to extend Digital Village activity. Through the UK Online Nominet Trust “Community Outreach” program new activity affectionately known as “Four Libraries and a Pub” will take place. Below is a piece of media recorded and geo-located  live during the startup meeting with Paul Davies and Steve Thompson.

Children from Whitecliffe Primary School ,in Carlin How, have created signs to let people in local villages know about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). These signs can be seen in Skinningrove and Carlin How.

You can read the full story on the UNICEF site. Click Here.

It was a Digital Village that brought me to Teesside back in 2000. A small research unit at Teesside University was working with Trimdon Digital Village and brought me to Teesside to manage Tees Valley Communities Online.  Trimdon Digital Village took part in an infamous online pub quiz between The Black Bull in Trimdon and Timms Coffee House in Skinningrove. [ click here ]. Skinningrove won and took the title “Skinningrove Digital Village” Later the concept was emulated again in County Durham with Hunwick Digital Village and then headed South again in several guises.

Now the concept is once again heading North to County Durham. Bearpark, Bowburn, Brandon, Cassop, Esh Winning, Kelloe, Ludworth, New Brancepeth, Quarington Hill, Sherburn Hill, Ushaw Moor & West Rainton are together a Community Network in County Durham. There are more details at this new website www.12villages.co.uk. The purpose of the site and the enterprises  that will evolve from it is to add digital, community media, social media activities to physical activities of the network. The villages concerned are considered to be the most deprived in County Durham. The ultimate aim is to create a ”Village Hub” that is effectively a “Digital Village Network”

The intention  is to use technology to provide services and development for a group of very rural villages and settlements where physically networking is very difficult. The work will begin with the 5 Westerly villages and will eventually roll out to all 12. The 5 Westerly villages are Bearpark,  Brandon, Esh Winning, New Brancepeth and  Ushaw Moor.

Moorsholm Digital Postcards

A journey of images through the village of Moorsholm with comments from the villagers.

The DVN map is now available to view.

The Map can be found under the findings tab on the navigation bar. Just click on DVN map.

DVN Map. You can find this map on the finding tab on the navigation bar

On the map you will find facilities in Redcar & East Cleveland that provide ICT access and training.  Also Village halls and community centres that provide training and community group functions. The Map was compiled by the DVN project community researchers,  who carried out a survey with questionaires,  and were able to map the area and supply the information so that the DVN map could be built. The map can accessed by the public to gain information on ICT training, community and leisure facilities in their area.

It is hoped that this map could be an on-going and continually updated process, where any new or reorganised facilities can be included to provide the information on ICT training available to the community in the future.

Broadband issue makes headlines in the Gazette.

Setting up Skype was a protracted process. My desktop computer is normally set up upstairs in a very small room quite unsuitable for this exercise. I had to live test my equipment and the link quality several days beforehand, and then on the day move the mess of wires and equipment down to the living room, and then test again.

SET UP

Speakers

 Good quality LabTec extension speakers (see Photo) contributed to the success of the event. Sound from the speakers was picked up well by the recorder, though I did turn the speakers up and down a few times in the proceedings.

 Input Microphone

 Surprisingly, the mike from my headset was able to pick up sound from all around the room adequately, and there were no feedback problems. Certainly it did not seem to trouble the listener at the other end, except that the more out range Researcher 2 was less clear.  In the original tests the mike range seemed to be up to 4 ft., but as a precaution participants were asked to keep with 2 ft. However, when trying to use the same set up 2 days later pick up was too quiet except close up (within 10 cm), including on a Skype test call. However the original participant reaffirms it was OK.

I don’t have the precise details of the headset I used, but it was one I had purchased with Skype in mind. The mouthpiece had a flexible stem (see photo) which made it easier to position for optimum.

 Webcam:

 I had recently acquired a more effective webcam, which it turned out had a wide enough field to get in all the participants if they were close together. This was a Trust Spotlight Webcam Pro which had cost me £13.39.

 At the other end the participant was using a Mac Laptop with a built in webcam, and clearly a reasonable amount of Broadband. It could easily have been different however, as there had been problems with Wireless Router reception at that end – yet another factor that could go wrong on the day.

Picture & Time lapse

 On the whole the setup coped well with the situation: there is a nominal 10mbs broadband, and the wireless router was closer by than usual (a few feet – see photo). Generally the sync was very acceptable and the sound good . At times in the evening there was some slowing, typical locally at that time in the evening, but even that was still acceptable.

 HOME SETTING

 Apart from advantages of Skype, the use of my front room was a significant advantage to the focus group. It was easier to provide food in a flexible way, generally fetch anything I’d forgotten, and the setting was cosy and comfortable and more relaxing than it would have been in the community centre.

 Food was part of the promise made to make the event more attractive the busy young people and keep them there long enough to complete the exercise. But it also helped to keep the conversation flowing, and the feedback was positive on this.

 The participant at the other end somehow managed to get some food as well, even though not away from the camera for long. That could easily not have been the case, so worth checking that the remote participant has arranged to get food too, as it would not have been comfortable to watch us eating without being able to do so too.

If you can’t make it to the event in Saltburn today  (Thurs 3rd March) you should still me able to enjoy it online. I say “should” because this is experimental. At http://tvcm.co.uk/animex2011 there is a tweetstream with the hashtag #tvcmanim11 – a chat stream, a live stream and a “blogcast” releasing each film at the same time as the audience sees it.

Thanks to Lynne and Steve for developing our page which lists community websites in the Redcar and Cleveland area. Thanks also to those who helped us to generate this information.

Do check out websites in your local neighbourhood and contact the project if you know of any others that we should include.

Thought you might be interested in the press release we received from Ian Swales MP for Redcar Office
Swales – Broadband not-spots bad for business
Today in Parliament local MP Ian Swales pressed the Government on poor broadband access for businesses. Ian raised the issue with Communications Minister Ed Vaizey MP in the Commons this morning. The Minister acknowledged that there are still patches where broadband connections are not good, but assured Ian that the government is investing a substantial sum for broadband roll-out. Ian commented, “Broadband not-spots are bad for businesses. High-speed internet access is essential for local firms to prosper. “Although high-speed broadband is available in most local residential areas, telecom providers have not rolled out high speed internet access to all our high streets and business parks. “I know some business people on Kirkleatham Business Park who have to leave their offices and go home to use the internet. South Bank Business Centre has similar problems. This is simply not good enough. “It is encouraging to see the Government is investing in high-speed internet, and I will continue to push for the roll-out of broadband access for businesses across Teesside
Swales – Broadband not-spots bad for business
Today in Parliament local MP Ian Swales pressed the Government on poor broadband access for businesses. Ian raised the issue with Communications Minister Ed Vaizey MP in the Commons this morning. The Minister acknowledged that there are still patches where broadband connections are not good, but assured Ian that the government is investing a substantial sum for broadband roll-out. Ian commented, “Broadband not-spots are bad for businesses. High-speed internet access is essential for local firms to prosper. “Although high-speed broadband is available in most local residential areas, telecom providers have not rolled out high speed internet access to all our high streets and business parks. “I know some business people on Kirkleatham Business Park who have to leave their offices and go home to use the internet. South Bank Business Centre has similar problems. This is simply not good enough. “It is encouraging to see the Government is investing in high-speed internet, and I will continue to push for the roll-out of broadband access for businesses across Teesside