Archives: social networking

For your next presentation, consider using this tactic to keep people involved with LEARN NC.

On Tuesday, Emily and I presented some LEARN NC resources to Wake County middle and high school teachers. They were a receptive bunch, and our resources went over well. In addition to handing out flyers and lanyards, we passed around an email sign-up sheet so people could sign up for email updates (we put our names and email addresses on the sheet so they could see how to fill out the form, as well as so they could see our email addresses). They could choose to receive updates for general LEARN NC news, as well as professional development updates. After the presentation, we sent an email listing links to all the resources we talked about (Digital Textbook, standard course of study, Instructify, PD) plus a few we didn’t have time for (DiscoverNC, The First Year, Ed Reference).

If you’re underwhelmed by our strategy, I don’t blame you. A clipboard and a pen (even a snazzy LEARN NC pen) are as low-tech as it gets. Besides, folks can sign up for email updates very easily from the LEARN NC website. So why bother?

In my opinion, when asking people to take action, no matter how simple it is, your odds of success are inversely proportional to the number of barriers in their way. While someone can easily go to the site and sign up, they can just as easily decide to check their email instead. Or maybe they’ll visit the site and forget to sign up. Or they can’t find the email updates link (I confess I often miss things right in front of me). Or maybe all the enthusiasm they built up during the presentation has been overwhelmed by test scores, grading and lunch duty. Putting a sign-up sheet and pen in their hands right there and then removes all potential distractions or avenues for procrastination. If they’re not interested, they pass the clipboard along, no harm done. If they are interested, they sign up, and we don’t have to worry that any potential LEARNatics slid off the hook.

Further, sending a follow-up email gives them a direct line to the people they talked to, in case they have questions or ideas. Sure, we had business cards ready during the presentation. But are you more likely to type in the email address of a speaker who gave out a business card, or hit “reply” to an email from the friendly presenter who reminded you of the URL to that neat Digital Textbook project?

In case you’re wondering, we got 23 signatures — roughly one-third of the attendees — all but two of whom signed up for both general updates and professional development updates. I honestly don’t know if that’s a lot, but I’d bet you 11 American dollars that’s at least double what we would have gotten had we just asked them to sign up at the website later.

It’s possible, of course, that all of these folks will unsubscribe once they get their first email from us. It’s also possible — even likely — that at least a few will forward some of the information on to a friend who they think could benefit from it. Remember, each person we speak to is a potential LEARN NC evangelist, and I’m all for making it as easy as possible for them to spread the word to their friends. For them to do that, though, they first have to be excited about what we do. And if they’re new to LEARN NC, the time when they’re most excited is moments after we’ve just shown them all the great stuff we can do. Why risk letting that enthusiasm fade away? Sign them up on the spot so we can keep them in the loop.

From the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, an announcement:

The Center for the Study of the Public Domain is delighted to announce the publication by Yale University Press of “THE PUBLIC DOMAIN: ENCLOSING THE COMMONS OF THE MIND//,” the new book by CSPD Faculty Co-Director James Boyle. Appropriately given the book’s theme, it is both for sale in hardback and available online for free under a Creative Commons license. To download the book or read it online, please visit http://www.thepublicdomain.org/

Not surprising that Boyle would do this; you may be interested though in his explanation/argument for doing so. Read the comments though to see what he thinks about distributed comment and annotation. This is basically what we’re talking about doing with lesson plans, right? His (admittedly brief) comment sounds like some things I’ve said, and it sounds like what the teachers at our user group meeting in April said.

The question is, are our lesson plans more like a scholarly book or more like a blog post?

Gutenberg and the social media revolution, an investigation of the world where it costs nothing to distribute information
Richard Stacy, Social Media Consultant, Publicis Consultants
http://tinyurl.com/5wpd4s

Interesting article, referenced above, published this month in the Journal of Financial Transformation about what is sometimes termed as “social media.” Richard Stacy discusses the transition from institutionalized mass distribution of information to the “dis-institutionalizing” or “disintermediating” social information environment. This environment is emerging as broadband access is more available, simple self-publishing tools proliferate, and people engage in shared activities like tagging, rating and commenting, allowing “… individuals to create the trust and connections necessary to transact and communicate amongst themselves without any institutionalized intervention.” (p. 93)

This article builds on the long-tail concepts of niche markets and reduced transaction and delivery costs allowing individualized preference to trump mass appeal. Stacy talks also about trust. Formerly vested in institutions that built reputations and brand name recognition over time, now trust is vested within the “visible processes;” you can make your own assessment of the process and from that, you can decide how much trust you will allocate to it. People will still trust institutions who will work to build and maintain reputation, but these institutions will need to consider the benefits of transparency in a world where it is so easy to see how people go about their business.

Ideas around user-generated content and community intrigue me. While it has not always been a linear path (!), concepts from this article including Crowdsourcing and crowd wisdom are in some ways the root of our efforts to bring the best in teaching and learning in North Carolina together on LEARN NC. The idea that practicing teachers know best what works in their classroom and sharing that helps everyone…

The rest of the article talks about the keys to success in the post-Gutenberg world. Content, Conversation and Community are the “channels” Stacy outlines, and there is much here that speaks to our current exploration of what it may take to really foster community online and develop the network so that it is more viable and supportive of teachers professionally. We’re spot on with the content piece, spreading the content threads throughout the networks using Twitter, blogs, StumbleUpon, Flickr and perhaps Facebook. Sharing control with your stakeholders (Bill, weren’t we just talking about citizen participation yesterday?) and getting the conversations going seem to be the next steps.

Read the article. Tell me, do you agree with Stacy’s conclusion “The world we are moving into is one where new technologies are making the process of institutionalized mediation obsolescent. Information can flow between one individual and all of the potential individuals for whom that information might be of relevance, without any form of institutionalized intervention except the provision of a freely available technological infrastructure.”

A reminder forwarded by Tim Poe of MCNC. We can look into using CCEE or since MCNC will be participating, there may be an opportunity for you to join in through their facility. Contact Tim if you are interested. tpoe@mcnc.org

The Tenth Anniversary Megaconference will be held on Nov 6, 2008, all day, everywhere.
Because this is the 10th Megaconference, some very special things will happen then that have not occurred in previous Megaconferences. The Megaconference is the largest video conference in the world, with many hundreds of participants from all over the world.
http://www.megaconference.org. Keep checking there for updates.

There is no cost, and everyone in the world with H.323 capabilities is invited to participate.

Registration closes on Oct 15, so you have only a short time to join this event.
http://digitalunion.osu.edu/megaconference/registration.html

There are many interesting presentations and events on the program, as you can see here:
http://digitalunion.osu.edu/megaconference/program.html

Door prizes (video conferencing related) will be given away by random drawing during the Roll
Call events. So far we have 44 prizes donated by 8 vendors. The Roll Calls also give everyone a chance to say hello to the world, in whatever creative way they wish. See
http://digitalunion.osu.edu/megaconference/prizes.html

A number of people who participated in the first Megaconference 10 years ago will be giving brief “Then and Now” presentations about how video conferencing has evolved and how they predict it will evolve in the future.

Special awards will be presented to those people and institutions who have participated in all 10 Megaconferences.

The event is fully interactive, and you can ask questions of the presenters, etc.

Both High Definition and Standard Definition video conferencing is available. People using HD will see SD participants in enhanced resolution, provided by a Codian MCU.

The Megaconference will appear in Second Life, on a big screen in an outdoor amphitheater, provided by the Technology Enhanced Learning and Research group at Ohio State University
(TELRPort in Second Life).

The Megaconference is available to people using the new Vidyo technology.
http://www.vidyo.com

Still under discussion are availability to people using Elluminate, and a guest appearance by the President of Ohio State University.

The Internet2 Commons, OARnet, Ohio State University and many other organizations throughout the world provide support to make this event possible.

I was writing to my father at the sideline of the soccer field Saturday and the dad sitting next to me commented. “I can’t remember the last time I received a letter.” he said, “seems to be a dying practice.” Indeed. The reason my father and I use snail-mail to converse is because we followed the trends in communication from letters mailed to letters faxed, to email and then, finally, IM. The quality of the communication was disappointing to both of us, so we’re back to writing… trading the timeliness of electronic communication for the depth of a written letter.

The New Media Consortium (NMC) just posted a thoughtful paper on just this subject. Social Networking, the “Third Place,” and the Evolution of Communication starts with a non-judgmental assessment of the changes to acceptable communication that mirrors the experience I have had with my father. There is a reduced “cost” in time, effort and attention in technology-mediated conversations. “With instant messaging, we understand that the other party’s attention may wander between messages in some cases and remain focused on us, as with a phone call, in others.” The article goes on to note that the context of a conversation, including the type of technology being used, impacts the “environmental context” of the conversation. An IM conversation will be different in tone from a phone conversation… just the difference in the expectations for attention to the other person can impact context.

This paper goes on to present the Internet as the “Third Place” (after home and work) where people can meet and connect. Beyond tracking the evolution of conversation (old-school) this part of the article claims new means of communication, new places to communicate, and new avenues of interaction afford us new ways of connecting that transcend the possibilities of traditional conversation. Skype, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Second Life, LinkedIn… possibilities for social and professional access are greater and the likelihood that you may create and maintain connections, share experiences, and perhaps, through the variety of media and length of interaction, create an even more significant connection that is possible with the written word alone.

As I read the questions for consideration I recall how I have bemoaned the potential loss of traditional modes of contact. Am I missing out on a potentially richer, sustained opportunity for interaction by shunning electronic modes of communication? NMC also raises questions about the nature of interpersonal interactions as well as the attractions and pitfalls of online communication. Take a look. What do you think?

Lots of disagreement about what can be called community, but one thing is for sure… when you meet people who have a similar interest when it comes to books, you sure hit it off! Not only can you share your experiences and attitudes about specific titles, but (more importantly) you can get recommendations for what to read next. For me, I really appreciate talking with someone who has enjoyed the book I just read… it’s a sure way to find my next good read.

This is called Readers Advisory. Libraries have been referring people to their “next good read” for years… whether in a thematic display, a “staff picks” section, or by purchasing a standard online package like the Gale product, What Do I Read Next?” I get great ideas from the library or even from browsing Amazon by subject, through recommendations based upon what I’ve purchased, or the “others who bought this title also bought…” tools.

These approaches work OK, but once you get involved with LibraryThing you will be hooked. Not only does it allow you to see what others recommend, but it also offers tools you can use that pull titles and ratings from the library catalogs of all the members to make suggestions for you. The Suggestor provides access to titles that “people with your books also have” and well as “similarly tagged books” and “most popular books you don’t have.” Like all such services that draw from your profile, the Suggestor works better if you have more books in your library collection. If you have not aspired to cataloging and rating your entire collection of books (hey, I know this is far cooler to me as a librarian than it is to the average reader) you can always even do a simple Book Suggester search based on a recently read or favorite title.

Don’t despair if you have not found anyone who reads the stuff you love. I read a rather eclectic variety of books and it would be difficult to find someone with the same range of interests. Still, I can connect with people on LibraryThing through common favorites from my catalog, suggestions with common tags and through groups. I don’t know if this constitutes “community” to you, but for me, it works!

I don’t mean what you think I mean… I know you can get books, journals and wonderful rich resources online. I am looking more at what brings people IN to the library… or BACK to the social network.

Stephen Abram presented on “The Future of Search” a couple of ALA conferences ago… he said that if online searches answer all the questions, people will stay home and search. But they don’t. They come to the library… for learning and community. If that’s true, then the library’s biggest competitor is not Google but Facebook! Sites that allow users to share their interests and find connections, these are the communities that people gravitate to.

Ask anyone between 13 and 20 and odds are good, they are into Facebook. Tags, groups, friends and places important to us… that’s what is shared. But what drives this? I think that they are sharing more than is evident at first glance… view someone’s profile and you see inside their heart and mind, you can “see” their aspirations.

So what does this mean to educators and librarians? I am not sure but I have a few ideas for how to find out.

First, try what they’re trying. Be a participant in the process of creation. I’m making a stab at it…

• I’m in Facebook.
  
• I’ve got a Catalog on LibraryThing.
• Then there is this blog…

Then, work to apply what we learn to provide context for our audience, whether it is an online class of students or a web-based community of teachers across the state. The more we come from a place of cooperation, collaboration and imagination the more we’ll help our community to BE a community and to make sense of the stuff they need and want to learn. We are the coach, helping people work through their stuff and move forward.

Sort of evolutionary, eh? Adapt or die. But that sounds so negative… change is awesome!

I am reading "Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles: Implications for Investments in Technology and Faculty" (Chapter 15 of Educating the Net Generation) written by Chris Dede. Seems like maybe it is time to try again with a visit to the virtual worlds. My first attempt was in Second Life and I kept crashing, plus I couldn’t find my way anywhere… I can’t say that I persevered. It was just not interesting enough to me.

Dede mentions Whyville in his article. I just joined and so far I have been able to figure out how to do everything I want to do. If you join, look for me. My name is mrstebo.