FAQS
A series of Frequently Asked Questions have been developed to help you understand more about the Triune project. These have been arranged into five categories:
1. General
2. For Students
3. For Teachers/Mentors
4. For Professionals
5. For Media Interests
1. General:
What does Triune mean?
Triune denotes the essence or quality of being “three in one’ or “being both three and one at the same time.”
The title Triune denotes the projects aim to create unified health messages amongst three groups of people bearing different approaches to health practices.
Why Uganda?
There are many communities in need of a project such as Triune. However, rather than focusing on various locations all over the world, it was decided that for this project to be realistic and effective we should focus on a specific location.
Rural Uganda has been chosen as a main focus for this project as it lacks the most basic social services including proper schools, health centres, shops, clean water sources and roads. A government presence is often nonexistent in these areas.
Many rural areas are on the verge of collapse with many unattended orphans, widows and abandoned children, which can (at least partly) be addressed with appropriate knowledge and resources within the community to deal with certain diseases. The Triune project aims to help raise awareness and knowledge within such communities, to create unified health messages that all sectors of the community can benefit from and ultimately ease the strain on the communities.
2. For students:
Who is eligible take part in the Triune project?
We are targeting students from pharmacy, medicine, nursing, sociology and anthropology for this project, so the only prerequisite is that you are enrolled in one of the above degrees.
What can students expect to gain from the Triune experience?
The Triune project offers Health Sciences students the chance to be part of an innovative and exciting international online project. Using the Omnium interface, the Triune project will form a community of academic and creative young people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. This community allows for a unique and stimulating learning environment, as well as the opportunity to receive on-going feedback to your work from professional practitioners and academics in five fields of Health Science.
Above all, this experience is about collaboration - bringing the fields of pharmacy, medicine, nursing, sociology and anthropology together with traditional healers, church leaders and local medical practitioners in rural areas to create meaningful change where it is needed.
How much does it cost to take part?
The project is totally free of charge for those students selected to take part.
When will the Triune project take place?
The Triune project will be carried out over 7 weeks, commencing April 2009 and concluding in May 2009.
How many hours a week is needed to allocate to the Triune project?
Due to differing time-zones from which participants will be working and the online nature of the activity, there are no official participation times throughout the project. However, it is expected that students will be able to spend AT LEAST 10 HOURS PER WEEK contributing to the project. As this is an online project, regular participation throughout each week is crucial for successful group dynamics. To visit the community only once or twice a week is not enough. Regular daily visits to converse with team-mates and tutors is imperative.
Do students receive credit for their regular academic courses?
Unfortunately the School of Pharmacy at the University of Auckland cannot determine this and this is at the discretion of each institution individually. We are able to provide each educational institution represented by students with full project details in the hope they may influence individual decisions made by your course authority.
What skills do students need? Are there any prerequisites for students?
Other than a good command of English there are no pre-requisites for students. We only ask that you be passionate and committed to the project.
The last Creative Waves 2007 – Visualising Issues in Pharmacy project included students at various levels of study from undergraduate to postgraduate levels.
What equipment do students need?
Access to a computer with the Internet (preferably broadband) is required for all students.
Will students be able use their own computer for the project?
Yes - the Triune project is facilitated using the Omnium interface. This operates efficiently on both Macintosh and PC platforms, via almost any Internet browser (version 5+), and on 56k dial-up connections or faster.
How does the Omnium interface work?
Initially, participants are required to log in using private passwords. They first create their own individual homepages within the Omnium software before accessing the wide range of features provided. Working in small teams, participants work with each other using the file sharing and pin-up wall features. They have several choices for communicating with fellow team-members, supervisors or other working groups including: live chat rooms, asynchronous message boards, and discussion & feedback areas. In addition, facilities are provided for publishing lecturers, seminars, briefs, activities, useful links and galleries of participants' work. Participants can easily transfer a variety of files to each other including: text documents, graphic and sound files, and Shockwave/Quicktime movies.
Will I be able to use the Omnium interface?
Definitely. It is very easy to use. It does not require users to have high-level technical ability or any knowledge of web programming languages such as HTML. Uploading and exchanging work is as simple as choosing files from your desktop and selecting where you wish to send or display them.
Who owns the work that is produced through the Triune project?
As Triune is a non-profit initiative and a collaborative learning experience, no one person can lay claim to own any of the work that is produced throughout this project. However, the convenors (Nataly Martini and Raul Caceres) own copyright on the Triune concept and therefore reserve the right to reproduce and publish any work or contributions created throughout the project. This may mean reproduction for promotional, marketing or educational material, such as magazines, books, newsletters, websites and conference presentations. It must be stated that Triune is intended as a non-commercial project, so any material reproduced must not be utilised for financial gain without consultation with the convenors – and in this event contributors must be credited for their work.
3. For Teachers/Mentors:
In what way can I take part?
In past online projects, involvement by teachers from institutions of the participants has been a very important aspect. There are many roles that teachers can take. They can act as mentors for their own students by observing and encouraging their work through advice and feedback. Teachers can also act as guest mentors to the whole project and visit the various teams to offer advice and feedback. They can also join live chat-sessions to encourage the project participants as a whole or individually within their teams. The convenors of the Triune project encourage mentor participation from a variety of institutions and are more than willing to receive suggestions on how they could contribute in ways than other those suggested above.
How much time would it take?
This would totally depend on how much time could be offered. Unlike the students taking part, mentors can contribute just a small amount of time or be an ongoing contributor. There is no reason why mentors cannot contribute even formally with written guest lectures or provide relevant academic papers for the participants to read and useful web-links to accompany the various stages of the project.
4. For Professionals:
There are many options available for your involvement in the Triune project. Throughout the seven-week period, these could include:
• Option 1 - Acting as a team-mentor: (Time commitment - minimum 1 hour per week)
You may wish to act as an influential mentor by engaging in one particular team's developments. You could respond to their progress by offering regular tips, advice and feedback. Your contributions would not need specific time allocation; they could be made at anytime throughout the week. (In fact, when working online in this manner, more regular shorter visits each day (15-30mins) are better than one block of time, once a week).
• Option 2 - Participating as a Triune guest in a live online chat session: (Time commitment - minimum 1 hour during the 7 weeks)
Throughout the project, discussions via live chat sessions are a productive part of team developments as ideas are thrown about and directed. Several discussions will take place over the 7 weeks and you could become involved in one or more of these by guiding a team with suggestions and advice.
• Option 3 - Provide feedback to works: (Time commitment - minimum 30mins during the 7 weeks)
At the end of briefs, final submissions of work are placed in a gallery for viewing. This is also a time for reflective and constructive comments from all teams. You may be interested in giving teams valuable feedback to their works to help them for the upcoming briefs throughout the project. You may also like to provide feedback during the development process as teams upload their progressive work throughout the week.
• Option 4 - Write a reading: (Prior to project commencement)
During the project, a series of readings are provided to help students throughout the project. If you would be interested in writing a 1500–2000 word reading that deals with health-related issues relevant to the Triune project please contact us. For reading proposals contact Dr Nataly Martini: n.martini@auckland.ac.nz
5. For Media Interest:
Can we sponsor any part of the Triune project?
The decision to allow any sponsorship would have to be decided and approved by the convenors of the Triune project. Any enquiries regarding sponsorship should be directed to n.martini@auckland.ac.nz
Can we give media exposure to the Triune project?
In most cases, we would welcome media coverage and exposure through newspapers, magazines, online journals, websites, etc. If you have enquiries and suggestions, please email n.martini@auckland.ac.nz
Can you give us exposure in exchange for us promoting the Triune project?
In most cases, this is certainly an option although again, this would have to be approved by the convenors of the Triune project. Any enquiries regarding this idea should be directed to n.martini@auckland.ac.nz
