In 2021-2022, the IGF Secretariat aims to extend its support to SIGs through cooperation on a development of an international syllabus framework that can be adjusted to the particular requirements and needs of any local community.
The first version of the syllabus for organizing a school on Internet governance is available for broad use. Please visit this page to access and download the syllabus.
The preparatory work was done in an open, consultative manner with the community. Below are its records.
The project to support schools on Internet governance was officially launched at the 15th edition of the European Summer School on Internet Governance (EuroSSIG) on 20 August, 11:30-13:30 UTC.
The syllabus was implemented through a bottom-up, open, transparent and inclusive methodology by gathering already existing best practices and brainstorming with SIGs on best ways to achieve this objective. The work was developing around the following areas:
- Internet governance focus areas
- Educational and training materials
- Resource persons
- Workshop modules
- Monitoring and follow-up actions
To pursue this effort, the following method and resources were used:
The syllabus structure is organized around:
- Internet Governance Core Modules
- Internet Governance Elective Modules
In order to categorize the core modules, the toolkit provided by the schools of Internet governance was used. In addition to analyzing the toolkit, a qualitative content analysis of all the available schools of Internet governance programs was carried out.
An IG who-teaches handbook
As much as possible, the faculty members and the topics/modules they have taught were also researched and provided in the syllabus.
Webinars/Meetings
Two webinars/meetings were hosted with the community members regarding ways of teaching IG and learning IG:
- Teaching IG revolves around how schools, academics, practitioners and others teach IG, how they deal with the struggle of a fast changing field- and how they select the priority issues suitable for their students.
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The webinar hosted on 17 January at 12:30 UTC related to the following questions:
What is internet governance? And how do you teach it? Capacity building efforts around internet governance resulted in numerous courses teaching this multidisciplinary topic to practitioners, high school students, network operators, engineers, and other stakeholders. Building on past and ongoing educational and training efforts, such as the schools on Internet governance, this round-table aims to engage with the multitude of approaches and formats of teaching Internet governance in academia, Internet governance summer schools, and specialized online Internet governance programs. The conversation will inform the development of a modular syllabus that will allow others around the world to design their own Internet governance courses, summer schools, and other capacity building programs.
We will have educators, organizers and academics that will discuss the questions below:
- Who is the audience for Internet governance education?
- How to decide what an Internet governance course should cover content-wise?
- How to choose the best mode of delivery for an educational effort on Internet governance?
- What structures should we have in place to ensure meaningful participation of underrepresented communities around the world?
- How can we ensure a diversity of ideas, perspectives, and faculty?
- What practical factors should one consider when organizing a course, a summer school, or an online program on Internet governance?
This is a roundtable discussion, and we want it to be as interactive as possible. If you have been teaching IG or been involved in educational endeavors, please sign up, attend and engage. -
The recording is here: https://isoc.live/15025/. The participants contributed to this document about how they teach Internet governance and the challenges and opportunities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kjlpAOTpGjhCKUTLvfEyPXrv7URAN4htylzEaOaQpHo/edit
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- Learning IG webinar focuses on how to make the schools most productive for the students, how do they learn better, which formats they find more effective, what are the mechanisms to encourage them to learn and be active in the field (for example having pre-school courses online, Case Based learning, Practicum and Role Plays).
- Due to lack of time, it was not feasible to hold the webinar on learning IG and instead, everyone were invited to contribute on the matter via email.
Specialized IG courses
Specialized IG courses address a certain group of students, for example, legislators or journalists. If you are offering something like that in your program please let us know.
A how-to guide
On how the community members and teachers and learners can use this global syllabus. What can we envision as its success factor and how can we operationalize it.
Main sources
- Dynamic Coalition on Schools for Internet Governance Toolkit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EMIiNy1UE2BiuND8eWp6V5-ghZ6ZVmqShodpJQyNOuo/edit#heading=h.l424b7maubpa
- Schools on Internet Governance Programs: https://www.igschools.net/
- GIGANET Internet Governance Syllabi Repository: https://www.giga-net.org/repository-of-internet-governance-syllabi/