Randy Schenkat
Winona, MN - USA
E-Democracy

Biography:

I have worked as a director of Winona Council for Quality for 14 years. Prior to that I've worked in teacher education and school transformation for 20 years. We've taken a holistic community wide approach to community transformation grounded primarily in the philosophy of quality guru W. Edwards Deming. I've constantly tried to influence this effort with an appreciation of human development models. I used as lens for 20 years Perry's work and Women's Ways of Knowing.

5 years ago we started Winona On line Democracy , as the lst out state franchise of Minnesota E Democracy. We had been exploring the use of Knowledge Forum, a software to designed for knowledge building across the community prior to becoming aware of the work of Clift, Erickson et. al. in Minnesota.. WOD was ably guided by Steve Kranz until 2004. I'm particularly interested in ways of knowing and means of non defensive responding, listening, and questioning in online forums and in face to face communication.

What's a recent movie you've seen and enjoyed and why?

What the Bleep - as it gets at the new paradigms under girding our changing reality

What is "community" and why is it important to you?

True community to me is authentic communication in endeavors requiring collaborative capacities.

2-3 questions or issues that you hope we'll address at the "Deepening Online Deliberation" meeting?

• How ways of knowing influence participation in Deliberation
• What's a facilitating role that newspapers can play in community online deliberation?
• What are models of transparency that elected officials can show in participating in online deliberation?