When I was younger, I was a big fan of just doing things. I would jump into a project and did not want to listen to the advice of others. It took one day in a Home Depot for me to finally switch that mentality. I don't remember what I was shopping for, but it was very difficult to find. My friend went one way and I went the other way. He asked someone and found the best tool in 5 minutes. I wandered for 10 minutes and came back with a similar, but wrong tool. It was at that point that I decided to try to rely on experts as much as possible. For me, this is no different on the web as anywhere else.
Deciding who the experts actually are is one difficulty on the web. In a face-to-face setting like Home Depot, the experts are clear. They are wearing orange smocks or they are covered in the same dirt/ paint/ lawn clippings you are except they walking around with more purpose. On the internet, it can be more challenging. I could introduce myself as the most highly regarded home construction expert in the world and you may not realize for a while that I am just a beginner.
Another obvious, but important point here is that someone could be an expert in home repair, but not have any knowledge about neuroscience or instructional design. So, choosing the right experts is important. Going to the right sources for the right information is important.
The Sharky book talks about "publish now, filter later." To find an expert, you would need to filter through many more non-experts. However, those experts have more channels to reach you, so what may have cost a subscription in Web 1.0 would be free on a blog now.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
My game I made from Scratch
In my other class, I had the opportunity to make a game with the programing site called Scratch (scratch.mit.edu). It was a really fun experience. People can create their own projects and share them online for the community. It's primarily used for games, but I could see lots of uses like demonstrations and virtual worlds.
Without further ado, here is my game: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/bryanbiggers/2710541. There was a rotational issue you will see that I could not figure out how to resolve. Otherwise, it was incredibly fun making up a voice and playing with it. My fiance was cracking up listening to me make voices and play with different things on the site. It took a LONG time to get the hang of it, but I'm confident if I spent another couple hours or so, it would really come together.
Let me know what you think about my project and what other uses you see for the software.
Without further ado, here is my game: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/bryanbiggers/2710541. There was a rotational issue you will see that I could not figure out how to resolve. Otherwise, it was incredibly fun making up a voice and playing with it. My fiance was cracking up listening to me make voices and play with different things on the site. It took a LONG time to get the hang of it, but I'm confident if I spent another couple hours or so, it would really come together.
Let me know what you think about my project and what other uses you see for the software.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
A blog by any other name
How do issues such as authorship, copyright and open access impact your desire, ability and willingness to engage in produsage, both personally and professionally?
Whether I decide to keep using this blog or not, it is going to be a really funny artifact to look back on in a few years. As technology and opinions change, I will probably laugh out loud about certain comments I made. Also, being a student, I know that I have a lot to learn and probably have some misconceptions that a more experienced ID would probably read and have at least a good chuckle.
The open access component of web 2.0 caused me to debate how much ownership to take over my thoughts as I started this blog. Should I use my full name and build recognition or should I grow in my experience and create a new blog once I have more experience? Ultimately, I settled somewhere in the middle, but it was a concept that I had to wrestle with for a while. Professionally, there could be serious implications either way. This is true for all forms of produsage. There are many examples of people being fired for their what they write on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other sites. There are also many examples of people getting jobs (or in my case and internship) for what is on those same sites.
There are also personal implications of web 2.0. I could blog about something that upsets one of my friends. My fiance may have viewed me posting the picture of us running as a violation of privacy. Neither of those situations happened, but they were very real possibilities as I dove into this blog.
There are also some clearly helpful components to web 2.0. For instance, if I post this journal at a certain time with a groundbreaking theory and you post something a few minutes after commenting on mine, I would have undeniable authorship and copywrite evidence for a lawsuit. Don't worry, I probably won't sue you, but it is a very helpful attribute of web 2.0.
Whether I decide to keep using this blog or not, it is going to be a really funny artifact to look back on in a few years. As technology and opinions change, I will probably laugh out loud about certain comments I made. Also, being a student, I know that I have a lot to learn and probably have some misconceptions that a more experienced ID would probably read and have at least a good chuckle.
The open access component of web 2.0 caused me to debate how much ownership to take over my thoughts as I started this blog. Should I use my full name and build recognition or should I grow in my experience and create a new blog once I have more experience? Ultimately, I settled somewhere in the middle, but it was a concept that I had to wrestle with for a while. Professionally, there could be serious implications either way. This is true for all forms of produsage. There are many examples of people being fired for their what they write on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other sites. There are also many examples of people getting jobs (or in my case and internship) for what is on those same sites.
There are also personal implications of web 2.0. I could blog about something that upsets one of my friends. My fiance may have viewed me posting the picture of us running as a violation of privacy. Neither of those situations happened, but they were very real possibilities as I dove into this blog.
There are also some clearly helpful components to web 2.0. For instance, if I post this journal at a certain time with a groundbreaking theory and you post something a few minutes after commenting on mine, I would have undeniable authorship and copywrite evidence for a lawsuit. Don't worry, I probably won't sue you, but it is a very helpful attribute of web 2.0.
How to save money web 2.0 style
Chances are, if you're reading this, you too are trying to save money to pay for your degree like I am. Throw in the wedding and you have one guy looking to save a few bucks whereever possible. I'm not too proud to admit to using restaurants.com, Living Social, Groupon, and the entertainment books they pass out for fundraisers.
One way I always do is check sites like retailmenot.com whenever I buy things online. It's a quick way to save some money. In a 5 minute search, I saved $10 on something I was going to buy anyway today. That's $200/hour of work after taxes! If I made that much for my job, I wouldn't be scouring the net for deals. Actually, I probably would, but that's another story.
Looking for an excuse to write a blog post, I researched the site a little more and found a whole web 2.0 community of coupon clippers. First, all those coupons don't just appear from nowhere. They may have software that searches the internet for deals, but users can submit coupon codes to help other people save. Secondly, you can share your success or failure for a coupon to help other users know its reliability. This is a very helpful feature so you do not have to try every coupon.
None of the sites I looked at had discussion boards, but I know there are other sites that are specifically set up to be discussion boards like fatwallet.com. Those sites have a more community feel.
Anyone else have any ideas on saving using web 2.0?
One way I always do is check sites like retailmenot.com whenever I buy things online. It's a quick way to save some money. In a 5 minute search, I saved $10 on something I was going to buy anyway today. That's $200/hour of work after taxes! If I made that much for my job, I wouldn't be scouring the net for deals. Actually, I probably would, but that's another story.
Looking for an excuse to write a blog post, I researched the site a little more and found a whole web 2.0 community of coupon clippers. First, all those coupons don't just appear from nowhere. They may have software that searches the internet for deals, but users can submit coupon codes to help other people save. Secondly, you can share your success or failure for a coupon to help other users know its reliability. This is a very helpful feature so you do not have to try every coupon.
None of the sites I looked at had discussion boards, but I know there are other sites that are specifically set up to be discussion boards like fatwallet.com. Those sites have a more community feel.
Anyone else have any ideas on saving using web 2.0?
Friday, July 27, 2012
Building my ACC rivalries
As a guy who went to a Big Ten school for undergrad, I'm adjusting to my newfound ACC rivalries and this article written by Mark Edmundson in the NY Times is helping those along with statements like this one:
"Online education is a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It tends to be a monologue and not a real dialogue. The Internet teacher, even one who responds to students via e-mail, can never have the immediacy of contact that the teacher on the scene can, with his sensitivity to unspoken moods and enthusiasms."
These sentences to me raised a huge red flag. Has this guy ever had any contact with an online class at all? I sure hope he hasn't lead one! I believe that online classes are infinitely more scalable than F2F classes in theory and practice with all the web 2.0 technologies.
Also, when he talks about "immediacy," I always found F2F university classes challenging in that regard. If your class meets on Tuesday/ Thursday and you have a question on Friday, you cannot see the instructor again until Tuesday. That's not very immediate. "Oh, but you can email," you say? Isn't that just an online class? Throw in synchronous communication (webex, etc.) and you have an online class with all the benefits of an F2F class.
There are so many counterpoints to F2F only arguements: distance, time, a technology-based culture, energy, money, etc. that I will not go into detail here. My point is just that his point is misguided and his university is equally misguided and unconfident even in that. He points to his university firing and reinstating their president over her not keeping up with the demand for "Internet learning." UVA is a fine university and I'm sure Mr. Edmundson is a fine professor, but they had better keep up with their "Internet learning" while they still are.
"Online education is a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It tends to be a monologue and not a real dialogue. The Internet teacher, even one who responds to students via e-mail, can never have the immediacy of contact that the teacher on the scene can, with his sensitivity to unspoken moods and enthusiasms."
These sentences to me raised a huge red flag. Has this guy ever had any contact with an online class at all? I sure hope he hasn't lead one! I believe that online classes are infinitely more scalable than F2F classes in theory and practice with all the web 2.0 technologies.
Also, when he talks about "immediacy," I always found F2F university classes challenging in that regard. If your class meets on Tuesday/ Thursday and you have a question on Friday, you cannot see the instructor again until Tuesday. That's not very immediate. "Oh, but you can email," you say? Isn't that just an online class? Throw in synchronous communication (webex, etc.) and you have an online class with all the benefits of an F2F class.
There are so many counterpoints to F2F only arguements: distance, time, a technology-based culture, energy, money, etc. that I will not go into detail here. My point is just that his point is misguided and his university is equally misguided and unconfident even in that. He points to his university firing and reinstating their president over her not keeping up with the demand for "Internet learning." UVA is a fine university and I'm sure Mr. Edmundson is a fine professor, but they had better keep up with their "Internet learning" while they still are.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Diigo vs. Delicious (revisited)
Not that long ago I was SOLD on Delicious. I couldn't understand why people would ever journey into Diigoland. Then I found out an instructional designer with a very helpful blog uses Diigo and with a couple clicks, I had access to her own personal library of bookmarked cites (or at least what she wants to share). Just like that, now I'm sold on Diigo. Never going back. Game over. SOLD.
Social media tends to be like that. I am of the right age to remember when everyone was hooked on Myspace and Facebook was for people with lots of time on their hands. "Look at my cool background. I don't know why you'd ever use Faceb-- What? Facebook doesn't let you get bombarded with ads in your mailbox? Sign me up!"
Sometimes people find they like one technology more than another and sometimes something better is created. One of the things I like most about instructional design is that it is always changing. A chapter in a book I'm reading begins by the author expressing his frustration in trying three times within a decade to "take a still picture of moving target" in defining instructional design.
Time to go explore on Diigo... or maybe Delicious... or maybe Diigo...
Social media tends to be like that. I am of the right age to remember when everyone was hooked on Myspace and Facebook was for people with lots of time on their hands. "Look at my cool background. I don't know why you'd ever use Faceb-- What? Facebook doesn't let you get bombarded with ads in your mailbox? Sign me up!"
Sometimes people find they like one technology more than another and sometimes something better is created. One of the things I like most about instructional design is that it is always changing. A chapter in a book I'm reading begins by the author expressing his frustration in trying three times within a decade to "take a still picture of moving target" in defining instructional design.
Time to go explore on Diigo... or maybe Delicious... or maybe Diigo...
Friday, July 20, 2012
Blogs and wikis
For a project I am working on right now, we are leaning toward using blogs and wikis. The blogs will be used to keep students informed of updates to their classes, upcoming events, and more similarly to the announcements section of Blackboard. The Wiki will be so students can work on definitions and summaries of webinars.
The design and implementation challenges we as managment are running into now is how to host the blog and wiki. We are still working on which Learning Managment System we want to use, so we are not sure how to house these still. Also, we do not want the students to have to log into other software at the risk of making everything more difficult. So from a management side, we are trying to find the best way to mesh all this together.
Another issue we have is building value in the blog and wikis for the students. We are overcoming this hurdle by building them into the program as much as possible. Also, the library of blogs and wikis grows, it will be a metaphorical flywheel of information whereby more students will access it because it will be bigger and it will be bigger because more students will access it and so on.
If the students were to implement this, it would be even more challenging. Right now, the site does not have place for such comments or a blog. So, they would need to set up an outside blog or use Youtube to repost the webinars (and run into licensing issues).
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