Fast learners, an article by Beverley Head in the June/July 2008 issue of Information Age (pp26-29) describes how companies and tertiary institutions are moving their teaching and learning environments online.
Wikis are being used as information radiators - academics in universities use them to radiate information out to students. Cochlear has been using wikis for project management.
e-learning can be done informally 'on the go', eg by participating in email listserv communities. TSA Telco Group uses e-learning systems to keep its staff up to date on OHS and EEO issues.
Online universities are starting to compete with physical uni campuses. MIT's Open Courseware (OCW) initiative makes online courses provided by traditional universities freely available. The courses are published under a Creative Commons licence agreement so the content may be reused and mixed (with approriate attribution) to construct education mashups. Wikipedia is establishing an online campus, Wikiversity.
Virtual worlds, of which Second Life is probably the best known, are being used more and more frequently for training by organisations, particularly where the cost of bringing trainers and employees together in the one physical location is expensive and environmentally unfriendly.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Travelling with Web 3.0?
Virtual journey, by Kendall Hill, outlines how 'intuitive and intelligent search engines' will enhance the would-be traveller's ability to plan the perfect trip online.
The article, published in June 2008's Financial Review Boss magazine, tells us that 'travel is the world's largest industry, accounting for 8% of global employment, 9% of capital investment, and 10% of GDP.' Moreover, 2007 was the first year in which more than half of all travel was booked online, in the US at least.
Web travel began with companies such as Flight Centre setting up shop online. Then user-generated sites such as Lonely Planet's forum Thorn Tree, with travellers' reviews, photos and recommendations, allowed prospective travellers to make their own decisions rather than having to rely on travel agents.
The next big thing, Hill says, will be Web 3.0's intelligent search engines that understand what you want and only deliver sites that fit your criteria. For example, a search for somewhere to ski in March would suggest only resorts that actually have snow in March and have space available. To put it another way, the websites will understand the context of a user's query, rather than just matching on keywords.
Also emerging are sites that try to tailor suggestions to your interests. Triporati, a website that asks you to indicate your interests and preferred activities, will make recommendations based on what you've said about yourself.
Also becoming more common are mobile travel appliances. The mobile phone is such an appliance - you can now have weather and flight time updates sent to your phone by SMS, and GPS software can help you find the nearest hotel.
The article, published in June 2008's Financial Review Boss magazine, tells us that 'travel is the world's largest industry, accounting for 8% of global employment, 9% of capital investment, and 10% of GDP.' Moreover, 2007 was the first year in which more than half of all travel was booked online, in the US at least.
Web travel began with companies such as Flight Centre setting up shop online. Then user-generated sites such as Lonely Planet's forum Thorn Tree, with travellers' reviews, photos and recommendations, allowed prospective travellers to make their own decisions rather than having to rely on travel agents.
The next big thing, Hill says, will be Web 3.0's intelligent search engines that understand what you want and only deliver sites that fit your criteria. For example, a search for somewhere to ski in March would suggest only resorts that actually have snow in March and have space available. To put it another way, the websites will understand the context of a user's query, rather than just matching on keywords.
Also emerging are sites that try to tailor suggestions to your interests. Triporati, a website that asks you to indicate your interests and preferred activities, will make recommendations based on what you've said about yourself.
Also becoming more common are mobile travel appliances. The mobile phone is such an appliance - you can now have weather and flight time updates sent to your phone by SMS, and GPS software can help you find the nearest hotel.
Wikepedia in the schools
An article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Stephen Hutcheon on 26 May tells us that NSW HSC students will be able to take a course in studying Wikipedia.
HSC students to get Wikipedia course says that Wikipedia has been listed by the NSW Board of Studies as a prescribed text for an elective course in the English syllabus for 2009-12. Wikipedia will be one of the texts that students choose to study to examine how the world's communities interact and communicate. The elective is called The Global Village. The course is intended to teach students the analytical skillls to be more discerning about web content.
HSC students to get Wikipedia course says that Wikipedia has been listed by the NSW Board of Studies as a prescribed text for an elective course in the English syllabus for 2009-12. Wikipedia will be one of the texts that students choose to study to examine how the world's communities interact and communicate. The elective is called The Global Village. The course is intended to teach students the analytical skillls to be more discerning about web content.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Facebook vs. LinkedIn: Which is better for business?
Preston Gralla and Jake Widman's article in Computer World describes 6 business scenarios and compares the use of the social networking sites, Facebook and LinkedIn, to solve them. These are:
- Look for a job without your boss knowing. The answer? It's a tie - LinkedIn seems to have better job search services but it's much easier to use Facebook anonymously for this sort of task.
- Find information about a job you're being interviewed for. The answer? LinkedIn - both sites are good for networking but LinkedIn provides more chances of finding and communicating with the right contacts.
- Find a contract worker for a 3-month Web project. Facebook comes out ahead here - its networking abilities are better and cheaper.
- Solicit ideas and discussion from team members. Facebook wins here too - it's set up to allow communication within groups of people while LinkedIn is focussed more on the individual.
- Get feedback on a nasty IT problem from peers outside the company. LinkedIn is superior here - it has an Answers area where you can post a question to your network, categorise it eg by subject and see what others say about it.
- Keep track of former associates. Another tie here - networking is what both these sites do.
All A-twitter
This short article by Rhea Kelly, published in Campus Technology on 1 March 2008 has some positive things to report about Twitter. (I was struggling to find much of a use for it, too!) She starts by lamenting the trend towards no longer reading books now that it's so much easier and quicker to read online sources such as blogs and so on.
She describes the experience of Dave Parry, an assistant professor at The University of Texas at Dallas. After using Twitter with his students he suggested that what it IS good for is - "getting a sense of the world (what people around the globe are paying attention to at any moment); tracking language trends (how a word is used from post to post, or how the 140-character limit can affect spelling, grammar and communication); and utilizing a "public notepad"(gaining inspiration from the creativity of others)."
Parry feels that Twitter "can enhance a sense of classroom community". Twittering students came to see their fellow students as real people and not just fellow students they saw for a short time each week. They were more likely to speak up in and out of class and, even when not in class, to continue to discuss isssues raised in class. This, Parry said, reinforced and connected the issues and the real world.
In conclusion, Kelly says she'll be twittering some book recommendations as a way of encouraging people to read, or read more.
She describes the experience of Dave Parry, an assistant professor at The University of Texas at Dallas. After using Twitter with his students he suggested that what it IS good for is - "getting a sense of the world (what people around the globe are paying attention to at any moment); tracking language trends (how a word is used from post to post, or how the 140-character limit can affect spelling, grammar and communication); and utilizing a "public notepad"(gaining inspiration from the creativity of others)."
Parry feels that Twitter "can enhance a sense of classroom community". Twittering students came to see their fellow students as real people and not just fellow students they saw for a short time each week. They were more likely to speak up in and out of class and, even when not in class, to continue to discuss isssues raised in class. This, Parry said, reinforced and connected the issues and the real world.
In conclusion, Kelly says she'll be twittering some book recommendations as a way of encouraging people to read, or read more.
Science 2.0 - Is Open Access Science the Future?
Or, to rephrase the question, is posting raw results online, for all to see, a great tool or a great risk?
M Mitchell Waldrop's article discusses how Web 2.0 tools enhance the ability of researchers to communicate, collaborate and cooperate. This article is a very positive look at scientists' use of tools such as blogs, wikis, and so on, and it suggests ways that they will fit with the traditional publication process.
Published in Scientific American Magazine, April 21, 2008.
M Mitchell Waldrop's article discusses how Web 2.0 tools enhance the ability of researchers to communicate, collaborate and cooperate. This article is a very positive look at scientists' use of tools such as blogs, wikis, and so on, and it suggests ways that they will fit with the traditional publication process.
Published in Scientific American Magazine, April 21, 2008.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
HULU & new trends in program distribution
This report on ABC Radio National's Media Report on Thursday 24 April 2008 segues well from the previous post on the future of television.
Anthony Funnell talked to James McQuivey, a senior media analyst with Forrester Research in Boston.
James recently attended the 2008 conference of the National Association of Broadcasters. He came away feeling that the organisation should be renamed something like the National Association of Video Programmers because that's what the so-called broadcasters are now doing - they're getting into internet-delivered television (IPTV).
So what's HULU? Well, Wikipedia already has an entry for it so you can get an idea there of what it's about. It's a combination of shows from multiple broadcasters (with ads, which helps to pay for it). Users can share videos, or just the bits of videos that they want to share. This in turn gets more people interested in the shows and makes them want to look for and try more, and ... viral marketing takes off.
Anthony and James then moved on to the deal between MySpace and a British-based production company that allows users to post their own home-grown videos. The production company then picks up on any that it thinks have potential as the basis of successful professionallly produced shows. It makes them up and then users who've seen the original think, "Oh, there's a show now based on that video I saw? I must try it." Result? Viral marketing takes off.
Anthony Funnell talked to James McQuivey, a senior media analyst with Forrester Research in Boston.
James recently attended the 2008 conference of the National Association of Broadcasters. He came away feeling that the organisation should be renamed something like the National Association of Video Programmers because that's what the so-called broadcasters are now doing - they're getting into internet-delivered television (IPTV).
So what's HULU? Well, Wikipedia already has an entry for it so you can get an idea there of what it's about. It's a combination of shows from multiple broadcasters (with ads, which helps to pay for it). Users can share videos, or just the bits of videos that they want to share. This in turn gets more people interested in the shows and makes them want to look for and try more, and ... viral marketing takes off.
Anthony and James then moved on to the deal between MySpace and a British-based production company that allows users to post their own home-grown videos. The production company then picks up on any that it thinks have potential as the basis of successful professionallly produced shows. It makes them up and then users who've seen the original think, "Oh, there's a show now based on that video I saw? I must try it." Result? Viral marketing takes off.
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