An article by Antony Loewenstein in the Weekend Australian Review sectoin (23-24 August, pages 6-7) suggests that bloggers in non-Western societies are providing a more balanced view of their cultures than we in the West are used to hearing.
He found that, 'blogs offered a window into mainly middle-class segments of societies rarely examined by the West.' They helped to elucidate such issues as what does a Saudi Arabian male thinks about his country's adherence to Wahhabism, how the average China user copes with multi-national-assisted filtering, and what is Cuba's likely future after Fidel Castro.
He also found that most people in these countries didn't want revolution, they wanted gradual change (reform), and they were actually quite happy with the way their countries were heading.
Loewenstein has written a book, 'The Blogging Revolution', about to be published by Melbourne University Press.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Blogs - taking their place in the mainstream?
A recent article in the Australian Financial Review (Review section, pages 9-10, 29 August 08, 'Attention grabber with legal byte', by Andrew Keen) suggests that blogs are definitely taking their place in the mainstream world of journalism.
Keen discusses Ariana Huffington, a Greek-born American who in May 2005 launched the Huffington Post (HuffPost), a 'progressive news blog'. Contributors include Huffington's 'hand-picked network of celebrities and experts'. Most 'content is produced by unpaid contributors', many of them celebrities who gain by the exposure, so costs are low - there is a small number of paid staff, but nothing like the number employed by traditional news media. And these contributors' work is rarely edited - which saves on costs as well. Visits to the site are increasing, in comparison to traditional news media that aren't doing so well in the online world. But is it quality journalism?
Keen discusses Ariana Huffington, a Greek-born American who in May 2005 launched the Huffington Post (HuffPost), a 'progressive news blog'. Contributors include Huffington's 'hand-picked network of celebrities and experts'. Most 'content is produced by unpaid contributors', many of them celebrities who gain by the exposure, so costs are low - there is a small number of paid staff, but nothing like the number employed by traditional news media. And these contributors' work is rarely edited - which saves on costs as well. Visits to the site are increasing, in comparison to traditional news media that aren't doing so well in the online world. But is it quality journalism?
Monday, August 11, 2008
Learning Online
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.
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.
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.
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