Topic 10 -
1) Go to athene.riv.csu.edu.au/~ajohnsto and click on Book1 and Star.jpg
I have only done the diagram for one of the questions of our discussion topics.
2) A pattern i found was that someone would post something, and a bunch of people would reply underneath that, then people would in turn reply post to the users that replied to the other people. So even though there may not have been direct chat or linking witheach other there was discussions and ideas passed around all members of the pod group. Someone just had to get the ball rolling for ideas and such.
Another pattern is that of Users agreeing with each other and not having an opinion of their own. This may just be coincidence, or the fact we all wanted to stay chummy until the assignment was done, but no one seemed willing to make rebuttles or disagree.
3) I think that if the exercise was repeated and i was to get my hands on one of the other groups findings, i would be able to draw similarities to our pod group. Maybe not complete similarities, but there would be some there. For example, their group may have found it easier to get the ball rolling. I still dont think they would have had arguments at all though, unless there were two very headstrong people in the group.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Topic 9
What are the arguments for and against social networking being classified as a business model?
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value - economic, social, or other forms of value. The term business model is thus used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes and policies.
The fors for social networking would include being close to the user, associating with a user on a more personal level (ie the user doesnt see the company as the place down the stree) information can be delivered to the user at home with updates such as new season stock has just arrived at ****** a place. If they teamed social network presence with an online store they would have a winning combination.
The negatives are that it makes the business look too casual, or informal, or decreases the reputation of the store. If the profile of the business wasn't maintained to be correct information it could also impact negatively.
9.2 -
Wiki's are an acceptable format for drafting papers for public discussions because the people assigned to write these papers can work together, and suggest different wording or omitting/adding information. It may not be as fast asif the same people were in the same room discussing this in person, but you wouldnt have to wory about getting them to the same place or even timezone as they can work on the document simultaneously.
Twitter in govt im not such a fan of. I don't think politicians can ever say the right thing, so giving them more tools to use to talk to the general public with isn't a good thing. It's like when Kevin tried to appeal to gen y with his promotion with "Kevin '07" and such campaigns. I don't think politicians should be allowed to use Twitter - it also gives the media another thing to hound them on.
I don't support the majority of Govt 2.0 mainly because it give the media an action point if something that is posted can be misconstrued, or if something goes wrong. Politicians can also say the wrong things, so i dont think it is wise for them to be using personal social networking sites, however i am a fan of a party (such as the labor party) having it's own social networking profile.
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value - economic, social, or other forms of value. The term business model is thus used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes and policies.
The fors for social networking would include being close to the user, associating with a user on a more personal level (ie the user doesnt see the company as the place down the stree) information can be delivered to the user at home with updates such as new season stock has just arrived at ****** a place. If they teamed social network presence with an online store they would have a winning combination.
The negatives are that it makes the business look too casual, or informal, or decreases the reputation of the store. If the profile of the business wasn't maintained to be correct information it could also impact negatively.
9.2 -
Wiki's are an acceptable format for drafting papers for public discussions because the people assigned to write these papers can work together, and suggest different wording or omitting/adding information. It may not be as fast asif the same people were in the same room discussing this in person, but you wouldnt have to wory about getting them to the same place or even timezone as they can work on the document simultaneously.
Twitter in govt im not such a fan of. I don't think politicians can ever say the right thing, so giving them more tools to use to talk to the general public with isn't a good thing. It's like when Kevin tried to appeal to gen y with his promotion with "Kevin '07" and such campaigns. I don't think politicians should be allowed to use Twitter - it also gives the media another thing to hound them on.
I don't support the majority of Govt 2.0 mainly because it give the media an action point if something that is posted can be misconstrued, or if something goes wrong. Politicians can also say the wrong things, so i dont think it is wise for them to be using personal social networking sites, however i am a fan of a party (such as the labor party) having it's own social networking profile.
Topic 8.3, 8.4
For people that use social networks religiously or have a vested interest, it is a good thing that their data can be shared or rolled around their various sites.
For others - it is not a good thing. They may want to stay anonymous on one site, and have only shared some infrmation with close people on another one. The fact they all link in could be very bad for users who are trying to keep things apart.
FOAF forms a part of the semantic web and web services via social networks as it plays a service to users by being able to link all their information together. It plays as a service to hold all the info together for a users own web presence.
8.4 -
a) RSS (most commonly translated as "Really Simple Syndication" but sometimes "Rich Site Summary") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.
Web syndication is a form of syndication in which website material is made available to multiple other sites. Most commonly, web syndication refers to making web feeds available from a site in order to provide other people with a summary of the website's recently added content (for example, the latest news or forum posts).
Data aggregation is any process in which information is gathered and expressed in a summary form
What RSS + syndication + aggregation has made concise highly update information avail to users who wish to subscribe to it, making information all the more easy to find.
b) Del.i.cious doesn't "tag" data, it bookmarks it for other users. Bookmarking would be easier to relate to as books were popularised centuries before the internet appeared, and pages were marked so that one could find their place.
c) Go 2 Web 2.0 - provides so many links to tools i've never heard of! I can see much research being done on these to find out how they all work, and which ones can benefit furture workgroups for collaboration whether it be for uni or another reason. I never knew so many existed!
d) Elgg operates on web sites it is installed on benefitting the user in creating their own online networks. It looks to be exactly the same as any other social networking tool. I wouldn't however want it installed on my machine. I find that the colour scheme and design layout is terrible, plus wanting to get other users on it would be a hassle.
For others - it is not a good thing. They may want to stay anonymous on one site, and have only shared some infrmation with close people on another one. The fact they all link in could be very bad for users who are trying to keep things apart.
FOAF forms a part of the semantic web and web services via social networks as it plays a service to users by being able to link all their information together. It plays as a service to hold all the info together for a users own web presence.
8.4 -
a) RSS (most commonly translated as "Really Simple Syndication" but sometimes "Rich Site Summary") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.
Web syndication is a form of syndication in which website material is made available to multiple other sites. Most commonly, web syndication refers to making web feeds available from a site in order to provide other people with a summary of the website's recently added content (for example, the latest news or forum posts).
Data aggregation is any process in which information is gathered and expressed in a summary form
What RSS + syndication + aggregation has made concise highly update information avail to users who wish to subscribe to it, making information all the more easy to find.
b) Del.i.cious doesn't "tag" data, it bookmarks it for other users. Bookmarking would be easier to relate to as books were popularised centuries before the internet appeared, and pages were marked so that one could find their place.
c) Go 2 Web 2.0 - provides so many links to tools i've never heard of! I can see much research being done on these to find out how they all work, and which ones can benefit furture workgroups for collaboration whether it be for uni or another reason. I never knew so many existed!
d) Elgg operates on web sites it is installed on benefitting the user in creating their own online networks. It looks to be exactly the same as any other social networking tool. I wouldn't however want it installed on my machine. I find that the colour scheme and design layout is terrible, plus wanting to get other users on it would be a hassle.
Topic 8.1, 8.2
My Walk -
I took my heavily pregnant dog for a walk today. It was sunny out and slowly dark was creeping in, with very minimal wind, and barely anyone else on the road, so i took Skye around the block as the poor thing hasn't been able to get out lately due to her ever-increasing belly. We started our leisurely stroll, stepping onto the warm bitumen, and breathing the warm, flavoursome air that is our neighbour hood at dinner time. Skye and I took off around the corner in the fresh evening atmosphere and smelling the different smells around the neighbourhood, walking under trees and smelling their flowers and fruit, and past water features that give a familiar smell of rain. We set up the hill back towards our home past the Quarry and it's small pine forest, smelling the strong, clean scent of pine needles, and watching baby magpies being fed as we reached our home, where Skye promptly curled up on the couch to sleep.
(She is having 6 pups! :D)
8.2 -
Well this is certainly weird - im interviewing myself with my OWN questions :S. It is hard to think of questions to ask myself.
1) In Facebook, where do I draw the line between the workgroups with fellow students and work colleagues and keeping in touch with friends and relatives?
So far i hav not kept a distinct line between these two groups. Since joining facebook my friends list just keeps growing and growing and if someone requests me as a friend, i will usually accept provided i know who they are, not making sure they are close friends, if i know the name i will add them.
2) With all the new social networks i have joined where do i draw the line at time spent on these sites?
Each one ive joined i like, and i wont be deleting them after this subject comes to a close. I think that if i check these sites a few times a week it will be ok. I have found a sense of belonging at each site, so it will be hard to break from my once per day checking and posting to 3 times per week tops.
3)Do i plan ti stay in contact with my peers from this subject?
Some of the users i was already friends with before the start of this subject. Others i have become friends with, and some i am willing to keep in contact with via social networks as a purpose for discussing uni only, not my personal life.
I took my heavily pregnant dog for a walk today. It was sunny out and slowly dark was creeping in, with very minimal wind, and barely anyone else on the road, so i took Skye around the block as the poor thing hasn't been able to get out lately due to her ever-increasing belly. We started our leisurely stroll, stepping onto the warm bitumen, and breathing the warm, flavoursome air that is our neighbour hood at dinner time. Skye and I took off around the corner in the fresh evening atmosphere and smelling the different smells around the neighbourhood, walking under trees and smelling their flowers and fruit, and past water features that give a familiar smell of rain. We set up the hill back towards our home past the Quarry and it's small pine forest, smelling the strong, clean scent of pine needles, and watching baby magpies being fed as we reached our home, where Skye promptly curled up on the couch to sleep.
(She is having 6 pups! :D)
8.2 -
Well this is certainly weird - im interviewing myself with my OWN questions :S. It is hard to think of questions to ask myself.
1) In Facebook, where do I draw the line between the workgroups with fellow students and work colleagues and keeping in touch with friends and relatives?
So far i hav not kept a distinct line between these two groups. Since joining facebook my friends list just keeps growing and growing and if someone requests me as a friend, i will usually accept provided i know who they are, not making sure they are close friends, if i know the name i will add them.
2) With all the new social networks i have joined where do i draw the line at time spent on these sites?
Each one ive joined i like, and i wont be deleting them after this subject comes to a close. I think that if i check these sites a few times a week it will be ok. I have found a sense of belonging at each site, so it will be hard to break from my once per day checking and posting to 3 times per week tops.
3)Do i plan ti stay in contact with my peers from this subject?
Some of the users i was already friends with before the start of this subject. Others i have become friends with, and some i am willing to keep in contact with via social networks as a purpose for discussing uni only, not my personal life.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Topic 7.2
A Roobma can aid elderly and/or disabled people greatly. A Roomba is a vaccuum cleaner-robot that scoures the floors in search of carpet food and grime (ON NOM NOM). Arguably one of the worst home jobs has now been completely automated, with the use of a small circular robot. The Roomba makes it's way along floors sucking up dust, dirt and anything else, and when it's battery is getting flat it makes its way back to it's docking station to recharge. The only thing people need to do it to empty the Roomba once it is full of dust and dirt, however this shouldn't be too often as when we do a vaccuum it's the whole house, once a fortnight or so, and we fill the bag. The roomba isn't designed for that.
The roomba comes with "stoppers" that tell the roomba the furthest they can go. It's like an invisible wall that the Roomba cannot get past.
The roobma would be great for elderly people with limited capabilities or arthritis, or for disabled persons, such as wheelchair bounds persons. The roobma cleans for these people so that they do not have to ask for help, and do not have to be embarrassed at the state of their living quaters when they get visitors.
The roomba comes with "stoppers" that tell the roomba the furthest they can go. It's like an invisible wall that the Roomba cannot get past.
The roobma would be great for elderly people with limited capabilities or arthritis, or for disabled persons, such as wheelchair bounds persons. The roobma cleans for these people so that they do not have to ask for help, and do not have to be embarrassed at the state of their living quaters when they get visitors.
Topic 7
7.1 - Touchscreens
Touch screens work by using the natural electricity properties embedded in humans. Touch screens such as iPod touches use a layero f capacitors under a protective covering. When your skin touches one of these surfaces, the amount of charge it holds changes.
The iPod's can use one of two methods to register the electrical changes, the first being circuitary mointoring of changes in an array of electrodes, and the second, a layer of driving lines carries current, and a separate line detects changes in electrical charge.
When the charge is changed (ie you touch the screen) - The iPod records the change and mathematically pinpoints where your fingers are on the screen.
The iPod touch's processor keeps track of where you put your fingers and where they move once you've placed them on the screen. You can slide your fingers from place to place, or you can make pinching or spreading motions to zoom in and out. The iPod touch matches what your fingers are doing with what's happening on the screen:
* The iPod touch determines the shape, size and location of your finger -- or fingers -- on the screen.
* The device uses gesture software in its memory to classify your touch. It takes into account whether your fingers move and what your iPod is doing at the time.
* The processor sends instructions to the iPod touch's display, software and hardware based on the data your fingers create.
The touchscreen would be great over any other device when you are travelling in a car and trying to use a GPS. you do not want to be searching for the right buttons, or anything, you want GPS to be as hands free as possible. by being able to pinch the screen and slide fingers around it could make navigation much simpler!
Touch screens work by using the natural electricity properties embedded in humans. Touch screens such as iPod touches use a layero f capacitors under a protective covering. When your skin touches one of these surfaces, the amount of charge it holds changes.
The iPod's can use one of two methods to register the electrical changes, the first being circuitary mointoring of changes in an array of electrodes, and the second, a layer of driving lines carries current, and a separate line detects changes in electrical charge.
When the charge is changed (ie you touch the screen) - The iPod records the change and mathematically pinpoints where your fingers are on the screen.
The iPod touch's processor keeps track of where you put your fingers and where they move once you've placed them on the screen. You can slide your fingers from place to place, or you can make pinching or spreading motions to zoom in and out. The iPod touch matches what your fingers are doing with what's happening on the screen:
* The iPod touch determines the shape, size and location of your finger -- or fingers -- on the screen.
* The device uses gesture software in its memory to classify your touch. It takes into account whether your fingers move and what your iPod is doing at the time.
* The processor sends instructions to the iPod touch's display, software and hardware based on the data your fingers create.
The touchscreen would be great over any other device when you are travelling in a car and trying to use a GPS. you do not want to be searching for the right buttons, or anything, you want GPS to be as hands free as possible. by being able to pinch the screen and slide fingers around it could make navigation much simpler!
Topic 6:-
6.1 - Go to http://athene.csu.edu.au/~ajohnsto/ and click "Purpose.docx"
6.2 -
The design of moodle was ok once i had 5 mins or so to play around with it. Afetr that time period it was quite easy to navigate. The colour scheme was terrible - very bland. I didnt like all the dates in the middle that were all unused. I found the whole of moodle to be quite clunky infact. Easy to use but very clunky and mechanicalistic, much like interact when it was first made available.
Moodle includes such features as Site entries (in intereact these would be announcements), a blog, resource tools, a chat tool, wiki, a forum, a list of current online users and a calendar. All of these are also found in Interact. Interact isn't as clunky as moodle is.
Moodle on:-
Usability - Moodle is very usable. It has a high degree and standard of usability. It has a degree of learnability - that is users can learn and adapt with how to use it. It offers some robustness, however it could do with some more. It has flexibility in all the different tools it offers. Flexibility includes all the interactions between a user and moodle and getting info accross. It does succeed in all the tools, such as wiki, blog and the rest.
Sociability - Moodle has great potential for a solid sociability network. This includes interactions between people in real time - via the chat room, but also via blogs and wikis, and collaborative sharing and learning. Moodle has great potential - just needs users to catch on.
Sustainability - How long will it last? Will it convince the pickiest of users? Moodle has great potential for online social networks. Moodle needs to divise a plan or set of goals to achieve acceptance.
6.3
Trust and Reuputation:-
Trust and reputation is centred around a user and their willingness to use a certain product. The factors that contribute to product trust are:-
Credibility consisting of Honesty, Expertise, and Reputation,
Ease of use, and
Risk.
Honesty is about the company or product doing what it says it will. If it is telling you it can fly - it must be able to fly. If it is telling yu it won first prize in a test, when it actually came second, that is lying to sell a product. Consumers are spending hard earned cash in order to by products, and they do not wish to be lied to. If their product doesn't do something that it said it would, the customer would feel cheated, and would not openly trust the company anymore.
Expertise - Things should not be cheaply made. There must be some standard of quality that a user will be happy with the overall product. If the run-time of the product is minimal, the user wil not be happy. It must have some sort of lifetime, and be durable and hardy, and expertly made.
Reputation - Reputation is important because word of mouth is one of the best ways to introduce new customers to your product. Having a good reputation (lets say for example in vaccuum cleaners) - A customer should be able to purchase on in Big W and it is the exact same quality as one purchased in Harvey Norman 2000KM away. Having a good reputation invokes that you can count on the business/product, and in turn trust it.
Ease Of Use - It must be easy to use. If not - people will give up, or feel lost. To make users feel comfortable and included, it is important to make things easy to use.
Risk - What is the risk involved? In a toy - are there small parts that could easily be swallowed? in machinery - Is it durbale enough that it wont break and cause injuries? In IT systems - what are the security measures for attackers/identity theft/viruses/online abuse? What does the company do to protect the user? Ideally a company will have thios online somewhere for the user to see, so they feel like they are in safe hands.
6.2 -
The design of moodle was ok once i had 5 mins or so to play around with it. Afetr that time period it was quite easy to navigate. The colour scheme was terrible - very bland. I didnt like all the dates in the middle that were all unused. I found the whole of moodle to be quite clunky infact. Easy to use but very clunky and mechanicalistic, much like interact when it was first made available.
Moodle includes such features as Site entries (in intereact these would be announcements), a blog, resource tools, a chat tool, wiki, a forum, a list of current online users and a calendar. All of these are also found in Interact. Interact isn't as clunky as moodle is.
Moodle on:-
Usability - Moodle is very usable. It has a high degree and standard of usability. It has a degree of learnability - that is users can learn and adapt with how to use it. It offers some robustness, however it could do with some more. It has flexibility in all the different tools it offers. Flexibility includes all the interactions between a user and moodle and getting info accross. It does succeed in all the tools, such as wiki, blog and the rest.
Sociability - Moodle has great potential for a solid sociability network. This includes interactions between people in real time - via the chat room, but also via blogs and wikis, and collaborative sharing and learning. Moodle has great potential - just needs users to catch on.
Sustainability - How long will it last? Will it convince the pickiest of users? Moodle has great potential for online social networks. Moodle needs to divise a plan or set of goals to achieve acceptance.
6.3
Trust and Reuputation:-
Trust and reputation is centred around a user and their willingness to use a certain product. The factors that contribute to product trust are:-
Credibility consisting of Honesty, Expertise, and Reputation,
Ease of use, and
Risk.
Honesty is about the company or product doing what it says it will. If it is telling you it can fly - it must be able to fly. If it is telling yu it won first prize in a test, when it actually came second, that is lying to sell a product. Consumers are spending hard earned cash in order to by products, and they do not wish to be lied to. If their product doesn't do something that it said it would, the customer would feel cheated, and would not openly trust the company anymore.
Expertise - Things should not be cheaply made. There must be some standard of quality that a user will be happy with the overall product. If the run-time of the product is minimal, the user wil not be happy. It must have some sort of lifetime, and be durable and hardy, and expertly made.
Reputation - Reputation is important because word of mouth is one of the best ways to introduce new customers to your product. Having a good reputation (lets say for example in vaccuum cleaners) - A customer should be able to purchase on in Big W and it is the exact same quality as one purchased in Harvey Norman 2000KM away. Having a good reputation invokes that you can count on the business/product, and in turn trust it.
Ease Of Use - It must be easy to use. If not - people will give up, or feel lost. To make users feel comfortable and included, it is important to make things easy to use.
Risk - What is the risk involved? In a toy - are there small parts that could easily be swallowed? in machinery - Is it durbale enough that it wont break and cause injuries? In IT systems - what are the security measures for attackers/identity theft/viruses/online abuse? What does the company do to protect the user? Ideally a company will have thios online somewhere for the user to see, so they feel like they are in safe hands.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
CIO Recommendations
It is recommended that the CIO:-
They must assign one team to fully research and take ownership of the project to implement a social network - defining the scope, whether they will extend invitations to part or all of the social networks to the consumers and customers to get the updates on the latest products or to get help when it's needed.
They will need to liase with the project manager to see if it is feasible at all to implement this project. - If the benefits outweigh the projected costs.
The CIO should liase with the project manager about what functonality they want and what purpose this is to serve. How many people will be added? What would be the projected budgets for this project? What would be the lifetime of the entire project?
The CIO must decide whether or not the project should go ahead.
I would recommend that the CIO researches NEW technologies and new releases instead of twitter and facebook. The functionality of the new social networking tools would by far outweigh the current technologies. The trend seems to be swaying towards sites that can offer many different tools, such as google wave which has been called a "Collaboration Dashboard" by Sydney morning herald. The new tools and new sites house greater functionality for a collaborative learning effort.
The CIO must appoint IT persons, or admin persons to monitor the appropriate usage of the Social network within the confines of the business, and to monitor who has access. The CIO must make sure someone has written a list of guidelines before using the social network, such as language and addressing others.
Lastly, the CIO needs to make sure that users aren't going to become too informal with the way they talk, commune and collaborate. Also, it must be enforced that the social networking site is to be used constructively or not at all.
They must assign one team to fully research and take ownership of the project to implement a social network - defining the scope, whether they will extend invitations to part or all of the social networks to the consumers and customers to get the updates on the latest products or to get help when it's needed.
They will need to liase with the project manager to see if it is feasible at all to implement this project. - If the benefits outweigh the projected costs.
The CIO should liase with the project manager about what functonality they want and what purpose this is to serve. How many people will be added? What would be the projected budgets for this project? What would be the lifetime of the entire project?
The CIO must decide whether or not the project should go ahead.
I would recommend that the CIO researches NEW technologies and new releases instead of twitter and facebook. The functionality of the new social networking tools would by far outweigh the current technologies. The trend seems to be swaying towards sites that can offer many different tools, such as google wave which has been called a "Collaboration Dashboard" by Sydney morning herald. The new tools and new sites house greater functionality for a collaborative learning effort.
The CIO must appoint IT persons, or admin persons to monitor the appropriate usage of the Social network within the confines of the business, and to monitor who has access. The CIO must make sure someone has written a list of guidelines before using the social network, such as language and addressing others.
Lastly, the CIO needs to make sure that users aren't going to become too informal with the way they talk, commune and collaborate. Also, it must be enforced that the social networking site is to be used constructively or not at all.
Findings for CIO
The findings we decided on for the CIO was that:-
They must assign one team to fully research and take ownership of the project to implement a social network - defining the scope, whether they will extend invitations to part or all of the social networks to the consumers and customers to get the updates on the latest oroducts or to get help when it's needed.
We found it is alot harder to implement security in a social netwrok than first thought. By setting up two accounts called Ash Johnston, yellows had no idea which one was the legitimate Ash.
We found it difficult to come up with a proper list of what tools we wanted to use. We found that social networking sites such as twitter and second life probably dont have much room in the contexts of an organization striving for professional development. The only one we would consider using is Facebook bacause of the pages options, however they dont have a group chat tool, wiki, blog or anything and we would need to implement that INTO facebook instead of picking an off the shelf social networking utility that has these in-built features.
We found it difficult to maintain the site, knowing if everyone had a presence in it or if we were missing people.
They must assign one team to fully research and take ownership of the project to implement a social network - defining the scope, whether they will extend invitations to part or all of the social networks to the consumers and customers to get the updates on the latest oroducts or to get help when it's needed.
We found it is alot harder to implement security in a social netwrok than first thought. By setting up two accounts called Ash Johnston, yellows had no idea which one was the legitimate Ash.
We found it difficult to come up with a proper list of what tools we wanted to use. We found that social networking sites such as twitter and second life probably dont have much room in the contexts of an organization striving for professional development. The only one we would consider using is Facebook bacause of the pages options, however they dont have a group chat tool, wiki, blog or anything and we would need to implement that INTO facebook instead of picking an off the shelf social networking utility that has these in-built features.
We found it difficult to maintain the site, knowing if everyone had a presence in it or if we were missing people.
Monday, October 26, 2009
How is a work-related social network developed and sustained?
Once testing and research has been done on a particular social network, the CIO must decide if the project to implement a social network is feasible or not. If the project is feasible abd the implementation goes ahead:-
A work-related social network is set up and maintained by a core user of the organisation. This core user will have waited for instructions from a superior or boss figure before any such online content was set up. The core user is the "owner" of the tool, and has administrative privileges to the social network. The core user implies ownership - they are the contact if something goes wrong. They are able to control what happens in the social network. The core user then creates the social network, whether it be a ning, a blog that users can share, a wiki, a forum, or some other online tool.
Once it has been created, the core user must sit with their superior and discuss appropriate uses of the site. This includes hours or minutes spent on the social networking site per day, how many people can be added, what other tools they can include, appropriate behaviour, and use of language, the structure of the organisation and communication, the appropriate conduct when replying to colleagues, and the appropriate way to take action on resolving a disagreement or argument. The appropriate usages information sheet needs to be fully documented and handed to staff.
Once the guidelines for usage have been documented and given out, the owner needs to add users to the social network. They can do this by creating accounts for users and then giving out the details (this isn't so good though because users have a stigma about their identity being protected), or the easier method - to send out email requests for employees to join.
If staff are being expected to use the social network, adequate up-to-sctratch training needs to be provided to use the social network and the tools included on it. The training should be offered to all parties who plan on using the social network. The training should happen before users are expected to use the new system.
Once all users are trained, and uses documented, the core user can launch the social networking site for all users to play with and learn. The core user is then responsible for maintaining the availibility of the social network, performing any additions to the features and upgrading if necessary.
Pages can be created just like in facebook where you can have a page to house a group of related users to a task at hand.
The core user needs to add (or send requests) to new employees when they arrive at the organisation, and also, remove illegitimate users who have left the company. This is crucial for the value of the organisation's information and knowledge. This task can be extremely messy for organisations with large numbers of users.
Many businesses have banned the use of social networking sites, because of the trend in how they were used - for socialising online only. There was little to do with support, and collaboration. From one aspect you have the whole distraction factor making it easy to go off task and end up concentrating on chatting to other colleagues. In addition there is also the downward spiral of work completion, as time is taken over by chatting the percentage rate would naturally fall. It would encourage procrastination, and allow people who work and maintain a work related social network to refine the art of procrastination.
A work-related social network is set up and maintained by a core user of the organisation. This core user will have waited for instructions from a superior or boss figure before any such online content was set up. The core user is the "owner" of the tool, and has administrative privileges to the social network. The core user implies ownership - they are the contact if something goes wrong. They are able to control what happens in the social network. The core user then creates the social network, whether it be a ning, a blog that users can share, a wiki, a forum, or some other online tool.
Once it has been created, the core user must sit with their superior and discuss appropriate uses of the site. This includes hours or minutes spent on the social networking site per day, how many people can be added, what other tools they can include, appropriate behaviour, and use of language, the structure of the organisation and communication, the appropriate conduct when replying to colleagues, and the appropriate way to take action on resolving a disagreement or argument. The appropriate usages information sheet needs to be fully documented and handed to staff.
Once the guidelines for usage have been documented and given out, the owner needs to add users to the social network. They can do this by creating accounts for users and then giving out the details (this isn't so good though because users have a stigma about their identity being protected), or the easier method - to send out email requests for employees to join.
If staff are being expected to use the social network, adequate up-to-sctratch training needs to be provided to use the social network and the tools included on it. The training should be offered to all parties who plan on using the social network. The training should happen before users are expected to use the new system.
Once all users are trained, and uses documented, the core user can launch the social networking site for all users to play with and learn. The core user is then responsible for maintaining the availibility of the social network, performing any additions to the features and upgrading if necessary.
Pages can be created just like in facebook where you can have a page to house a group of related users to a task at hand.
The core user needs to add (or send requests) to new employees when they arrive at the organisation, and also, remove illegitimate users who have left the company. This is crucial for the value of the organisation's information and knowledge. This task can be extremely messy for organisations with large numbers of users.
Many businesses have banned the use of social networking sites, because of the trend in how they were used - for socialising online only. There was little to do with support, and collaboration. From one aspect you have the whole distraction factor making it easy to go off task and end up concentrating on chatting to other colleagues. In addition there is also the downward spiral of work completion, as time is taken over by chatting the percentage rate would naturally fall. It would encourage procrastination, and allow people who work and maintain a work related social network to refine the art of procrastination.
How do Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts and video lectures) complement such social networks?
Web 2.0 tools can complement any social network by increasing functionality, offering more features, and making styles of communication easier for all involved. It is one thing to have everyone have a web presence and say, be able to receive distribution list emails, but it is another thing to have all those users log in to a page and collaborate, share and disseminate information. Web 2.0 tools make this happen!
Yellow group decided that to get the most out of the social networks, you had to match the right tools to the right style of social network. We also decided that Second Life, while being a social network, has no place for structure and language for it to need web 2.0 tools. It is a game, so we left it out of the confines of our results.
Facebook - With the many different pages you can have, i think that any type of web 2.0 tool would be useful or suitable for facebook. A member can have three different sites - 2009 report, xmas party plan, and november proposal. Each page might have 5 different members. These members need to commune their ideals and proposals. They should do this (as it is structured, and you can see the members of the group clearly) through blog or wiki format. In highly structured circumstances, video lectures would be appropriate for demonstrations, teaching, and showing processes for things, or steps for a function. So a blog would be appropriate for collecting ideas, such as where should we hold the xmas party? A wiki would be handy if you were writing a report such as november proposal....how to start it, fixing and deliberating on the content, the way it is written etc. A video lecture would be good for demonstrations on how to do things for geographically scarce employees or group members ie, how to fix a certain error message. It would also be good for presentations, or project representations, which could enhance the productivity or understanding of the group.
Twitter - Twitter produces many small amounts of information as posts. I think that a video lecture would be an appropriate tool here. For example you could back up the 'tweet' "Check out Mike's presentation at AuSakai 2009" and post a video underneath it of the presentation. The majority of the employees wouldn't have been able to make it so showing them would be a great communication move. You can also post things such as "this is how you download and install the new software we will be using" While Twitter is extremely basic, its uses can be greatly enhanced by becoming a learning page full of posts and video tool, and how to guides.
Yellow group decided that to get the most out of the social networks, you had to match the right tools to the right style of social network. We also decided that Second Life, while being a social network, has no place for structure and language for it to need web 2.0 tools. It is a game, so we left it out of the confines of our results.
Facebook - With the many different pages you can have, i think that any type of web 2.0 tool would be useful or suitable for facebook. A member can have three different sites - 2009 report, xmas party plan, and november proposal. Each page might have 5 different members. These members need to commune their ideals and proposals. They should do this (as it is structured, and you can see the members of the group clearly) through blog or wiki format. In highly structured circumstances, video lectures would be appropriate for demonstrations, teaching, and showing processes for things, or steps for a function. So a blog would be appropriate for collecting ideas, such as where should we hold the xmas party? A wiki would be handy if you were writing a report such as november proposal....how to start it, fixing and deliberating on the content, the way it is written etc. A video lecture would be good for demonstrations on how to do things for geographically scarce employees or group members ie, how to fix a certain error message. It would also be good for presentations, or project representations, which could enhance the productivity or understanding of the group.
Twitter - Twitter produces many small amounts of information as posts. I think that a video lecture would be an appropriate tool here. For example you could back up the 'tweet' "Check out Mike's presentation at AuSakai 2009" and post a video underneath it of the presentation. The majority of the employees wouldn't have been able to make it so showing them would be a great communication move. You can also post things such as "this is how you download and install the new software we will be using" While Twitter is extremely basic, its uses can be greatly enhanced by becoming a learning page full of posts and video tool, and how to guides.
What are the issues involved with using social networks for professional development in the workplace?
Professional Development is essential. It is vital for every business and professional organization to increase the knowledge and skills of their employees. They should strive to enhance the quality of performance, to ensure an improvement on the personal and professional front. As professional development is needed for every business and every group of close working employees, it swings into Web 2.0, social networks and wikis. Today, you have businesses that operate globally. The CSU IT Service desk services lecturers and students over in Ontario, Canada, and Singapore, China and Malaysia. There is a high need in these situations for users to be brought closer together. To make communication swift, fast, accurate, and easy. Phones arent good because of time differences. Video Conferences arent good because of time differences. This leaves email, and possibly the use of social networks.
After researching with yellow poddies we came to the conclusion that social networks are detremental to professional development and to organizations. After tossing up the pro's and con's of having them we decided that with the current web 2.0 tools and a few new betas, that there was no good reason that outweighed all the bad ones. In short, it wasn't feasible.
Many of the tools don't fit in with the current social contraints or business constraints of an organistaion. The organization would have to be a learning organization and be willing to grow.
Some issues regarding social networks -
By using such a medium, you are actively promoting slang, and in-formal language/communications - the opposite of what is achieved with professional development. So in a bound and a leap, we are already having a detremental effect on Professional Development by making communication so casual as it's transferred. This would in turn ruin business ethic and respect. The only thing i cant think of here that it would be good for is geting to know your colleagues out of the confinements of the virtual and/or physical office.
Information may be lost while attempting to share it. For example in Twitter you can only use 160 characters per post. So if you use all your 160 characters, but havn't finished the sentence there is a loss of information.
Identity theft - social networks and online sites that are not set to private can easily be looked up by others, and those details used to create a fake account. This becomes extremely important in an organization where what you are selling is capital knowledge. You want to stay ahead of your competitors at all costs, and by posting and housing information anywhere other than your heavily guarded servers is a big no-no! You must also control who has access to certain pages and sites. You never give any one person more access than they are going to need.
Moderators of the group sites and pages will need to keep inviting or removing people from the group as employees start with the company or leave the company.
From what we saw and studied it seems professional development promotes the use of recreational behaviour, and because it is recreational behaviour during normal work hours, it is negatively effecting productivity as it cuts into your work day hours. By making yourself contactable via business social networks it can allow your professional life to interfere with your private life. People have been let go or penalised for posting things online that their bosses or similar dont agree with or like. The risk that you will think something is ok to say, but your boss disagrees is high.
There is huge risk that things can be mis-communicated. Such that three people can read one sentence and get three different things out of it. As you could have colleagues from all around the globe it is also important you articulate what you say with care so you do not accidentally offend someone's culture, religion or looks.
Yellow group and i thought that maybe some of the new web 2.o tools (such as googlewave) coming out would be better used for professional development, or even smart conferencing software where you can share desktops, but for now, professional development should steer clear of social networking sites.
After researching with yellow poddies we came to the conclusion that social networks are detremental to professional development and to organizations. After tossing up the pro's and con's of having them we decided that with the current web 2.0 tools and a few new betas, that there was no good reason that outweighed all the bad ones. In short, it wasn't feasible.
Many of the tools don't fit in with the current social contraints or business constraints of an organistaion. The organization would have to be a learning organization and be willing to grow.
Some issues regarding social networks -
By using such a medium, you are actively promoting slang, and in-formal language/communications - the opposite of what is achieved with professional development. So in a bound and a leap, we are already having a detremental effect on Professional Development by making communication so casual as it's transferred. This would in turn ruin business ethic and respect. The only thing i cant think of here that it would be good for is geting to know your colleagues out of the confinements of the virtual and/or physical office.
Information may be lost while attempting to share it. For example in Twitter you can only use 160 characters per post. So if you use all your 160 characters, but havn't finished the sentence there is a loss of information.
Identity theft - social networks and online sites that are not set to private can easily be looked up by others, and those details used to create a fake account. This becomes extremely important in an organization where what you are selling is capital knowledge. You want to stay ahead of your competitors at all costs, and by posting and housing information anywhere other than your heavily guarded servers is a big no-no! You must also control who has access to certain pages and sites. You never give any one person more access than they are going to need.
Moderators of the group sites and pages will need to keep inviting or removing people from the group as employees start with the company or leave the company.
From what we saw and studied it seems professional development promotes the use of recreational behaviour, and because it is recreational behaviour during normal work hours, it is negatively effecting productivity as it cuts into your work day hours. By making yourself contactable via business social networks it can allow your professional life to interfere with your private life. People have been let go or penalised for posting things online that their bosses or similar dont agree with or like. The risk that you will think something is ok to say, but your boss disagrees is high.
There is huge risk that things can be mis-communicated. Such that three people can read one sentence and get three different things out of it. As you could have colleagues from all around the globe it is also important you articulate what you say with care so you do not accidentally offend someone's culture, religion or looks.
Yellow group and i thought that maybe some of the new web 2.o tools (such as googlewave) coming out would be better used for professional development, or even smart conferencing software where you can share desktops, but for now, professional development should steer clear of social networking sites.
Facebook findings:
Facebook was by far the best option seemingly, but also the most distracting. There are many different ways that facebook can be used. You can post messages on pages, create private inbox messages for people to read, you can create pages for people to join, and control who has access to them, you can post pictures and links and videos.
The negative aspects of this is it takes alot of formality out of socializing with colleagues, and slang will most likely start to be used. That, and that there are tons of quizzes and applications to keep you distracted from doing proper work on there.
Facebook was by far the easiest to navigate and use, however.
The negative aspects of this is it takes alot of formality out of socializing with colleagues, and slang will most likely start to be used. That, and that there are tons of quizzes and applications to keep you distracted from doing proper work on there.
Facebook was by far the easiest to navigate and use, however.
Second Life findings:
I found second life to be annoying. Annoying and useless. There were always requests and comments made by people i didn't know and it was too distracting. I wouldn't be able to use this to get to know my colleagues as it seems everyone on second life has an avatar they hide behind, whether it is making themselves more appealing looks-wise on their toony selves, or acting different to what they normally would, hiding behind a character that you can move around.
I cannot see the benefits or the applications for second life to be used as a tool to promote professional development in the workplace.
I cannot see the benefits or the applications for second life to be used as a tool to promote professional development in the workplace.
Twitter Findings:
Once we had set up our presence on Twitter I found that information was passed different ways by different people. I would say this was because of an outgoing personality or a closed personality. Some people would only tweet stuff about the assignment, others would tweet everything - what they had for breakfast and what they were browsing for online etc.
I have mixed opinions about twitter. It seems like a great tool USED IN CONJUNCTION with something else, but little quips posted by many people can get very frustrating to use, and very hard to follow.
If you were to post something and then add a picture, or a video to twitter, this would be the best way to get the message accross, not using twitter as the be all and end all, but by assisting twitter, so you can post and house things on the online community. The aliases thing was a bit annoying. If you used it for business, you wouldnt be able to have the organizations usernames as the twitter usernames and controlling who can see your page would become a nightmare!
I have mixed opinions about twitter. It seems like a great tool USED IN CONJUNCTION with something else, but little quips posted by many people can get very frustrating to use, and very hard to follow.
If you were to post something and then add a picture, or a video to twitter, this would be the best way to get the message accross, not using twitter as the be all and end all, but by assisting twitter, so you can post and house things on the online community. The aliases thing was a bit annoying. If you used it for business, you wouldnt be able to have the organizations usernames as the twitter usernames and controlling who can see your page would become a nightmare!
Preparing for group work.
Our scenario states that we have been asked by a CIO to work with the IT manager to report on the use of social networks in providing professional development experiences for staff. From the definition of Professional Development:-
- refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. This includes rapour with clients, co-workers and alike.
In today's society it is becomming more and more commonplace to have web presence, and to cater for a 24/7 audience. The CIO of the company wants us to research and test new ways of interacting with staff, colleagues, and customers. Three mediums were suggested - Facebook, Second Life, and Twitter. Our yellow POD set themselves up on each of these three tools, and we attempted to research the ways that these three mediums COULD POSSIBLY bring a higher degree of skill and knowledge, not only inter-personally, but intra-personally.
Professional development is all about advancing one's self within the confines of the business to become someone that is approachable, friendly, and whom upholds themselves as a business professional. Profession Development should also be used to better inetractivity, and possibly using this to increase market share.
The CIO knows how important it is for colleagues to get along - it makes things run much smoother, it gets customers fast turn around times, and it helps the business mesh together and run seamlessly.
As previously mentioned, businesses today are global conglomerates of suppliers, manufacturers and deliverers, meaning staff could literally be anywhere in the world. Web 2.0 is helping to break down the structure of a physical office and thrust employees into the world of the virtual office - that is being able to work anywhere, at any time. Many of these employees will not get the chance to meet and greet with their colleagues, let alone get to KNOW them.
The CIO sees Social Networking as a way to fix this issue. By researching the idea that Social Networks can help you get to know your colleagues, employees will have a better understanding of how to get along and work together, no matter the distance between them.
- refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. This includes rapour with clients, co-workers and alike.
In today's society it is becomming more and more commonplace to have web presence, and to cater for a 24/7 audience. The CIO of the company wants us to research and test new ways of interacting with staff, colleagues, and customers. Three mediums were suggested - Facebook, Second Life, and Twitter. Our yellow POD set themselves up on each of these three tools, and we attempted to research the ways that these three mediums COULD POSSIBLY bring a higher degree of skill and knowledge, not only inter-personally, but intra-personally.
Professional development is all about advancing one's self within the confines of the business to become someone that is approachable, friendly, and whom upholds themselves as a business professional. Profession Development should also be used to better inetractivity, and possibly using this to increase market share.
The CIO knows how important it is for colleagues to get along - it makes things run much smoother, it gets customers fast turn around times, and it helps the business mesh together and run seamlessly.
As previously mentioned, businesses today are global conglomerates of suppliers, manufacturers and deliverers, meaning staff could literally be anywhere in the world. Web 2.0 is helping to break down the structure of a physical office and thrust employees into the world of the virtual office - that is being able to work anywhere, at any time. Many of these employees will not get the chance to meet and greet with their colleagues, let alone get to KNOW them.
The CIO sees Social Networking as a way to fix this issue. By researching the idea that Social Networks can help you get to know your colleagues, employees will have a better understanding of how to get along and work together, no matter the distance between them.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Prep for assignment 2
Yellow group and I started with some brief chatting and getting to know you stuff on Facebook first. Diana then set up a ning for all of us to join so that we could discuss the objectives of the assignment. We did this using the forum functions of the group ning.
First we were to identify:-
Social Network - We decided they were web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.
Professional Development - Professional development refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement.This includes rapour with clients, co-workers and alike.
Web 2.0 - "Web 2.0" refers to what was perceived as a second generation of web development and web design. It is characterised as facilitating communication. It includes tools such as blogs and wikis, podcasts and vodcasts, and alike.
Blog -A personal or corporate website in the form of an online journal, with new entries appearing in sequence as they are written. Usually updated by one person, and often with the use of an alias or fake name to aid anonymity.
Micro-blog - a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user.
wiki - is a website that allows multiple users to create, modify and organize web page content in a collaborative manner.
mash-up - a new breed of Web-based applications to mix at least two different services from disparate and even competing companies.
Stay tuned for more on assignment 2!
First we were to identify:-
Social Network - We decided they were web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.
Professional Development - Professional development refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement.This includes rapour with clients, co-workers and alike.
Web 2.0 - "Web 2.0" refers to what was perceived as a second generation of web development and web design. It is characterised as facilitating communication. It includes tools such as blogs and wikis, podcasts and vodcasts, and alike.
Blog -A personal or corporate website in the form of an online journal, with new entries appearing in sequence as they are written. Usually updated by one person, and often with the use of an alias or fake name to aid anonymity.
Micro-blog - a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user.
wiki - is a website that allows multiple users to create, modify and organize web page content in a collaborative manner.
mash-up - a new breed of Web-based applications to mix at least two different services from disparate and even competing companies.
Stay tuned for more on assignment 2!
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