Re: our conversation, this piece of the Knight News Challenge proposal is exactly what would help SOO programs on the ground in Africa and elsewhere!
What would be a successful outcome for your project?
Phase I (spring 2015): Five study groups (5-10 people) participate and successfully complete an online course. Study groups meet regularly at CPL, work through the materials of the course together, help each other to stay motivated, and act as a peer-support community for content questions. Beta version of study-group platform allows promotion of courses, sign-up for study groups, and scheduling of face-to-face meetings. Phase II (fall 2015): Refine, repeat and scale the model to other CPL branches and increase the number of study groups to 25. Deploy updated version of the platform and open it up to other libraries across the US who want to experiment offering local study-groups.