My Twisted Brain

I finally got my invitation to join up with Google Voice a couple of weeks ago. For those of you who aren’t aware, Google is now a phone company (well, almost). Essentially, they provide you with a phone number that you can configure to ring any number of telephones when someone calls that number. It also includes voicemail, cheap long distance (including international), and a ton of other bells and whistles. It’s some of these bells and whistles that got me thinking about Web 3.0.

Those of you (all 1 of you…on a good day) that keep an eye on this blog may have noticed a new addition recently. If you look down below the blog roll on the right sidebar, you’ll notice a new “Call Me” widget.

Clicking it gives you a place to enter your phone number and name. When you click “Connect”, Google calls you, then calls me and announces your name, and connects the two of us together. You just called me from my blog! It will ring me on my cellphone, home phone, work phone, and whatever phones I choose to configure Google Voice with. It’s cool, and scary, and very Web 3.0 (I think).

Another feature is the voicemail transcription. When you call my Google Voice number and I don’t answer, Google Voice takes your voice message just as most phone accounts would. However, after you hang up a little magic happens. Google Voice transcribes your message into an email that it sends to my gmail account (or any other account or accounts that I specify) and sends an SMS message to my cellphone, with the text of the voice mail. I can read what you just told me in your voice mail. Very cool, and again, very Web 3.0.

As our voice and text worlds become increasingly intertwined, there are increasing opportunities, I think, for connectivist style education and collaborative experiences. We can connect with our fellow learners however we want to, and they can receive our messages however they want to. We will no longer have to leave a voicemail message because we know that Ludwig doesn’t check email very often. We’ll be able to email him a voice message that he gets as a voicemail on his phone! We will no longer have to email someone who refuses to get a cellphone, but has access to email at their neighborhood WiFi hotspot (I know someone like this, don’t laugh). We’ll be able to send their Google Voice account a voice mail, and they’ll read it within 5 minutes. The lines are blurring day by day, and the ID crowd needs to step up and take advantage of the new “mashups”.

Okay, another project is in my future. Not the “biggie” mind you, but important none-the-less. I need to produce a learning project with Web 2.0 written all over it, and I think that I know what I’m going to do.

My 894 project is slated to be a collaborative learning environment for language learning (for readers who don’t understand the SFSUspeak that is ITEC894, it’s the capstone creative work project that, assuming it passes muster, will usher me into the world of the Masters). My focus will be the Thai language, but it should be adaptable to other languages as well.

Sooooooooo…

I’m thinking about making a supplemental website, based on a Wiki, that will allow learners to collaborate on learning the Thai written language.  I’m still fleshing out the design, but I’m leaning toward a Wiki design because it lends itself quite well to collatorative text learning, and seems like a natural for allowing a large, diverse group to learn a written language together.  It would also allow native speakers (I know a few in Thailand and in the U.S.) to chime in with their input as well.

This would again be a supplemental site to the core learning materials, since a Wiki is not really a full, rich learning tool.  However, given the nature of language, in many cases dynamic, and in all cases unbelievably rich and complex, I think that a dynamic environment like a Wiki would work well for this.  As complicated as the Thai written language is, there will be plenty for contributors to write, and re-write, about!

Comments?  Anyone have any ideas to punch this up a bit?

Very interesting class last week (sorry, I’m a bit late on this post). I enjoyed seeing some examples of virtual worlds like Second Life. It was really interesting to hear some of the anecdotes presented. I’ve been tempted to check out Second Life, although I don’t think I’d stick around very long. You see, I have the urge to kill…

ORCS AND GOBLINS!

Okay, maybe I’m not quite as gung ho as all that, but I’ve had some experience with Massively Multiplayer Online games, or MMOs as they’re commonly called. There are a whole pile of subclasses of games, MMORPGs (MMO Role Playing Games), MMORTSs (MMO Real Time Strategy games), MMOFPSs (MMO First Person Shooters), etc. They all have one thing in common…you’re in a virtual world populated by thousands of computer controlled characters, and thousands of characters (avatars) controlled by real humans. Sounds a bit geeky, and I guess it is. Sue me.

What you’re missing here, if you’ve already written this post off as geek gamer crap, is what this represents. There are over 11 million active accounts in the game world that I visit. That’s somewhere around the population of the country of Greece. The ENTIRE country of Greece. Every dude, chick, and brat. And this is only one MMO type game, although it is by far the largest. There are hundreds of other MMO games and virtual worlds out there, and each one can be built however the builder wants.

Want to fly? Done!

Want to be able to make mountains with the flick of a finger? Done!

Want to dominate thousands without worrying about hurting a fly? Done!

Want to…well, you get the idea.

The true significance of these worlds in the context of education is, of course, making education compelling and collaborative.  Because you can set the world up however you’d like to to be, you have complete flexibility to make learning fit the needs of your learners.  When I take a vacation from reality in World of Warcraft, I’m no longer a mundane human sitting in a chair sipping a beer while punching some keys.  I am TREVIZE, OCCUPIER OF THE WORLD OF AZEROTH with my trusty white tiger by my side!  I am no longer limited by my puny human body!  I no longer have a paunch! I’m no longer balding!  Here’s one of the most important parts…I have my friends at my side as I set off for conquest!

Now, let’s say you could do the same thing to teach a foreign language.  You and your online friends, acquaintences, and maybe a stranger or two set off on a quest to gather the Pronouns of Perpetual Pain in the town of Grammarhaven.  You team up and begin your hunt.  Suddenly, your groupmate announces over the chat line that she’s spotted a wild “us” and you’re off!  But, you have to use the correct weapon/trap/what-have-you, because we all know how slippery those “us” things are…you must use the weapon/trap/what-have-you that corresponds to your native language’s translation of “us”.

Maybe a bit far out, but I think that you get where I’m going with this…before you know it, you’re understanding, speaking, and writing pronouns in a foreign language, and you don’t even remember how you learned them.  Better yet, you had others there to work with you, and together you learned things in a quarter of the time it would have taken you alone…and you had fun doing it!

Mashing Up

One thing that stuck out for me when reading Growing Up with Google was the idea of mashups.  How cool would it be to combine Second Life and Google Earth?  It’s probably already been done (I think that the article mentioned something like this) but in case it hasn’t, imagine the possibilities.  You could travel anywhere you wanted, and have a whole pile of information and photos available as soon as you got there (which would be microseconds).  How about combining that with a GPS and VR glasses…walking around Rome, you’d be able to toggle from a real-time view of your surroundings with little virtual tags hanging in front of historic buildings, shops, restaurants, etc., and full, 3D views of artist’s renderings of what the historic buildings looked like in their heyday.  How cool is that?

Anyway, enough for now.  I’m late enough on this post and it’s time to get ready to go find out more about Serious Games (no smiling when you say that!).

This week in my ITEC830 class we were graced with the presence of Dr. Ellen Wagner. From her blog site:

“Ellen Wagner is a Partner and Principal Analyst for Sage Road Solutions / Sonoma Partners. She is responsible for learning industry market trend research aggregation, trend analysis, forecasting and decision support.”

This is a pale representation of her accomplishments, but I don’t want to scrape her blog too much.  You can learn more about her on her blog’s about page (click it).

In any case, I have to say that this week’s class was easily the most inspiring class so far in this course from my perspective.  Dr. Wagner’s enthusiasm for the subject of Instructional Technology, and in particular the next phase of the Web (Web 3.0…ugh, buzzwords!) could have lit the campus if we’d bothered to plug her into the wall.  At one point in her discussion she pointed out how a simple idea can get into her head and spawn a thought string starting with, “Oooo…and I can use that to do this, and this, and this and this!”  There were several times during the class that her words had me reciting the same mantra.

I could probably spend hours and pages going over all of what she said and the thoughts that were sparked by her wisdom.  However, given the time available to me and the disk space that my web host allows me to monopolize, I’m going to focus on a few points that stuck out for me.

Taking Applications Off of the Desktop

One comment that Dr. Wagner made that started my brain pulsing was that we need to start putting some thought into how we can take applications off of our computer desktop.  She wasn’t referring to things like GoogleDocs.  She was talking about ways to take those applications off of our computers and put them onto devices that we can take with us and connect to the world from anywhere.  Mobile devices.  Mobile phones, portable email and web devices named for small thorny fruit, those sorts of things.  We need applications that will allow us to collaborate wherever and whenever we want, and they need to be accessible.

Sure, I hear you say that we already have them in the form of iPhones, the aforementioned fruit-named things, etc.  However, these things are really only available to an “elite” class of folks…those who reside in affluent parts of the world.  How about parts of the world where the monthly wage wouldn’t buy a bag of groceries here in the U.S.?  Many people in the developing world have access to cell phones, but not the kind that will allow us to take the apps off of the desktop.  Often it’s a half-day journey just to get to an Internet cafe where they can spend a day’s wages just to send a few emails.

How fast do you think the people of the world would progress if access to applications that allow online learning were universal?  I’m not talking about the kind of progress that brings new products and technologies to the market (although that certainly would follow).  I’m talking about allowing people to progress to the point of being able to contribute to world knowledge and benefit from the same.  Think about the benefit that all of that additional brainpower would bring to simple things like feeding people, powering the world cleanly, and giving everyone the chance to improve themselves using existing technology.  It seems to me that the benefits far outweigh the costs, and that brings me to another point…

Business Leaders Just Don’t Get Education

Of course, this isn’t a true statement as written.  Many business leaders do understand the benefits of education and learning.  However, so many are wrapped up in sniffing the bottom line and keeping the shareholders happy for one more quarter that the idea of improving the learning process just doesn’t fit in.  Speaking from personal experience, I can say that in many cases education and training are often given lots of lip service, but beyond things like tuition reimbursement programs and “what you need to know to do your job minimally” training, most companies don’t offer much.  Dr. Wagner put forth this thought based on her experiences in both the instructional and business worlds (read her bio…she’s done it all!)

How much would business benefit by offering collaborative training that in turn is part of every employee’s responsibility?  How many “diamonds in the rough” are out there, working away in a job that they know how to do but have much more to offer in another role?  How about setting up education programs where the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) can offer up their knowledge in a Wiki-like environment that others can easily access and learn from?  When thinking about answers to these questions, consider how current techniques and technology can play a part in facilitating the spread of knowledge throughout a company’s culture.  What the evolving world of online learning technology is offering is a way for these kinds of programs to flourish, and ways for companies to grow new talent.

To bring the first topic back to the fore, this type of learning policy is the perfect match to the desktop-free learning environment. While the accountant is riding the train in to work, she’s learning web design on her iPhone from an internal Wiki that was put together by their IT group.  Next thing you know, she’s directing development of online tools for expense tracking!  Whether or not you think that’s a good example, you get the idea.

Keeping it Simple

One thing that we have to keep in mind though is keeping all of these new ideas in learning manageable for the average learner like me.  One of my favorite quotes from Dr. Wagner’s presentation is, “I want today to work.  I don’t want to have to figure out every new thing.”  True dat!  I’m getting myself updated on Facebook, Tweeting my friends and contacts, all while writing this blog and checking old-fashioned email.  How many new technologies will be coming out in the next few years that will do these things better and keep me even MORE in touch with my world?  Do I really CARE?  DON’T I HAVE ENOUGH TO DO ALREADY?!?

One answer in my opinion is, not  too surprisingly I guess, collaboration.  I’m not referring to collaboration among people.  I’m talking about collaboration among our new Internet toys.  It’s already happening to some extent, such as Facebook’s plugin for Twitter.  However, with the flood of new applications and web gadgets that pop up seemingly every day, it’s hard to keep it all straight.  To add to the complication, what happens when a new gadget hits the market, and half of your collaborators migrate to the shiney new thing, but the other half don’t?  Does that mean that you have to do both?  Do I have to junk my phone and go buy (and learn to use) a new iPhoneMondoCoolio just to keep up with the pack?

Perhaps that’s where we as Instructional Technologists need to take the reigns.  We need to look at what works and what doesn’t in a collaborative environment.  Using collaboration to figure out the best ways to collaborate I suppose.  Of course that means coming up with some standards to start with, and I’m not ready to take that responsibility.  Dr. Foreman has mentioned several times that Instructional Designers are still clinging to the old ADDIE model.  Maybe part of a new learning model should include a way to manage the changing Internet and collaborative learning environment?

Share your thoughts below!

In this week’s class, we had a virtual talk by Dr. Curt Bonk of Indiana University. It was very interesting from the perspective of a virtual classroom. Through the (sometimes balky) magic of the Internet, we were able to see Dr. Bonk live on a monitor in our classroom from a classroom in the Midwest, and he was able to see us. It was easy to see how this type of learning can easily be scaled to hundreds or thousands. In fact, he related a couple of anecdotes of his own in which a small class suddenly blossomed into a worldwide class of thousands through the use of the Internet and video conferencing technology. Incredible.

It seemed that one of the most important points to learn from Dr. Bonk was that…he has written a book! It’ll be on sale later this year. The seemingly constant stream of, “In my book…” or, “As my book states…” or, “I go over this in my book” really detracted from the class for me, for a couple of reasons. The first was that I felt that the time in school that I’ve paid for should be spent more productively than on an infomercial. Secondly, it seems a bit ironic to me that an “old-fashioned” book is the focus of a lecture in a class about collaborative learning.

Now, that said, I have to say that what I’ve read of Dr. Bonk’s book, “The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education” (not sure of the publisher, but the website is located at http://worldisopen.com), was very enjoyable and interesting. He makes many salient points about how learning is changing in our increasingly Internet-based world.  He’s also releasing a companion book over the Internet that brings the book itself into the web-learning forum, so my second concern in the previous paragraph is somewhat allayed. I like his acronymical* model as well:

Ten Openers: (WE-ALL-LEARN)

1. Web Searching in the World of e-Books
2. E-Learning and Blended Learning
3. Availability of Open Source and Free Software
4. Leveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare
5. Learning Object Repositories and Portals
6. Learner Participation in Open Information Communities
7. Electronic Collaboration
8. Alternate Reality Learning
9. Real-Time Mobility and Portability
10. Networks of Personalized Learning

The WE-ALL-LEARN model pervades his writing, and I think it covers the bases fairly well.  It points out the important components of what learning is becoming.

One line that I read made me think back to a previous post in this blog.  When talking about how learning will be distributed in the coming Internet age, Dr. Bonk notes that, “For most members of this planet, such access will begin with their mobile phones”.  I’m very happy that others see this important point as well.  What this means to me is that, if we really expect our teachings to reach the farthest corners of our planet, we need to be very careful about how we present the information.  The mobile phones in use in much of the world today aren’t iPhones or their clones.  They’re relatively simple picturephones with relatively limited multimedia capabilities.

For this reason, although our desire to make everything all whizbangcoolioneatobeato* might be strong, we might be doing the world a favor by keeping to the basics as much as possible.  Wikis, blogs, etc. can thrive in this environment I think.  Bandwidth-hungry video, animation, maybe not so much.  I don’t think that the experience that we had in class with the virtual lecture would be possible over most cellphones.  This is why we need to ensure that what we create includes thought about Dr. Bonk’s 9th tenet: “Real-time mobility and portability”.  For many, this will be the only form of access that they have.

Whatever my first impression of Dr. Bonk may be, I’m looking forward to reading his work.  I think that we see eye-to-eye on many points, and those that we don’t will only serve as points of exploration for me.  I thank him for sharing his time with our class as well, although I’d bet he could write it off as a marketing expense (j/k Dr. Bonk ;-)).  I hope that he continues to share his work and ideas with future classes.  It’s well worth the time to explore.

*It’s a word if I say it is.

This week I was part of an outstanding team of researchers tasked with presenting an overview covering Blogs (thanks Jonathan!), Twitter (great job Brian!), and Wikis (adequate at best Jeff). The presentation was moderated masterfully by Zack.

For those interested in a copy of the presentation materials, I’ve published the original GoogleDoc presentation below:

If you can’t see the presentation, or would like a take-home copy, you can download them by clicking one of the links below:

itec830_class_presentation_1.ppt
itec830_class_presentation_1.pdf

If you can’t download or view either of these files, shoot me an email and I’ll add you to the GoogleDocs share list.

EDIT:  You can now view the presentation directly as an embedded object above!  Isn’t Web 2.0 cool?  Thanks for suggesting this Ethan!

Buzzwords.  I love buzzwords.

Wait, no, I hate buzzwords.

Someone in my office uses buzzwords and buzzphrases (yes, it’s a word! I said so) daily.  Hourly.  Heck, every time he opens his mouth.  The building may be crumbling and falling into a crocodile-infested swamp while your hair is on fire, but he’ll be able to bust out with, “The best is yet to come!” without breaking a sweat.  I think that’s what bugs me about the title of this post.  Web 1.0.  Web 2.0.  Bleh, buzzwords.

But, that’s not really what this post is about.  It’s about the changes taking place in today’s Interweb, and what it means for the future of education.  Wow, that sounds like an ambitious topic to cover in a few paragraphs, and it is, so I promise not to try and do an exhaustive research document.  I’ll just touch on a few of the high points (as I see them), and let you all fight it out.  Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Uploading Your World

This week’s reading in my ITEC830 class covered “emerging” technologies that are accompanying the changes in how the Web works.  One article in particular, Emerging Technologies in E-learning by Patricia Delich, Kevin Kelly, and Don McIntosh really had some excellent points to make (the article is an excerpt from Education for a Digital World - Advice, Guidelines, and Effective Practice from Around the Globe edited by Dr. David G. Harper, and available for free download on the Commonwealth for Learning website).  I was particularly struck by one short sentence: “Web 1.0 was about downloading; Web 2.0 is about uploading.” (Delich et al, p. 9).  I think that this really hits it on the head, and puts in a nutshell what the change is all about.

In the old days of “Web 1.0″ (*gag*), the WWW was primarily a library of information.  You could visit it, browse the stacks, look through the catalog (primitive search engines), and find something that might or might not answer your questions or fill a need.  Unless you had coding skills and access to a web server, that was just about all you could do.  Sure, you could put together a long list of links about HOW TO BUILD A NUCLEAR DEVICE (hey there DHS guys! *wave* *salute* *goose-step*) and email it to your friends, but you weren’t really contributing to the pool of knowledge.  You were just spreading it around a bit.  This allowed a relative few to dominate the information that was available.

Fast forward to the beginning of this century.  Online forums have been active now for a few years.  Wikis are starting to appear (although they were actually developed in 1995).  Blogs are starting to to become the rage (and cause rage) around the world.  Suddenly anyone can spew anything they want all over the WWW.  Even better, others can comment right back, starting online dialogue and discussions on any topic imaginable.  This is what Delich et al is referring to when they wrote, “Web 2.0 is about uploading”, and I think it’s rather profound.  For the first time in modern history, any schmuck can have his or her say on any topic, using just about any language they please.  More importantly, and even more profound, is the fact that chats can now encompass the globe, rather than being limited to the coffee shop down the street.  With the push of a button and a few keys, you can be connected in two-way communication with more individuals with similar interests than you can shake a digital stick at.  Most of them probably don’t even speak your native language or have ever eaten a cheeseburger.

Who Will Be Left Behind?

This change is happening fast.  Blindingly fast.  Does this speed mean that we’ll be leaving behind those who aren’t up to speed on the Internet?  Will they bee stuck in the world of local, simplex communication?  From the perspective of those stuck inside the walled garden that is the United States, it may appear so.  Indeed, those in the U.S. may be more vulnerable to that scenario than those in many other parts of the world.  “How can that be?” you may ask.  After all, aren’t we the pinnacle of technological innovation and development?

Well, I think that much of the rest of the world is poised to leapfrog us poor ‘mercans in the world of collaborative thought.  It’s this thing called momentum that’s holding us back.  In the U.S., we’ve been living in a new digital house with a foundation built of sticks and straw.  We’re stuck with old fashioned copper transmission in a vast majority of communities, while other countries, including developing countries, are forging ahead with wireless technologies that make our system look antiquated.  Developing countries don’t have the momentum of previously installed technology to overcome.  For the most part, they’re starting with current technology, so the natural assumption is that they’ll use the best available (or at least the best that they can afford).  Ironically, it’s currently less expensive to install a network of wireless towers than it would be to install old-fashioned copper!

I’ve experienced some of this first hand in my travels to Southeast Asia.  In Thailand for instance (where my wife is from) it seems to me that everyone has a cell phone.  From the bankers in downtown Bangkok to a near-subsistence farmer in northern Isaan, it’s a good bet that they’ll be in touch via cell.  Of course this isn’t realistic…not even everyone in the US has a cell.  However, consider that in 2005 about 42% of the Thai population owned a cellphone, while in the U.S. the number was about 73% (”Cell Phone Usage Worldwide, by Country.” Infoplease.  © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.  20 Feb. 2009 <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933605.html>).  Keep in mind though, much of the cell network was built in Thailand within the last 10 years.  Many other countries are experiencing a similar telecom growth rate.

Why is this important?  It’s important because I believe that Web 3.0 will be based on true wireless technology.  The “last mile” will be through the ether.  We’ll be doing our Facebooking and our Tweeting and our Blogging, Wikiing, <insert new communication tech here>ing on our iPhone-clones while sitting in a downtown park or hiking in the Cascade mountains.  Those who have the infrastructure in place to be able to handle the new, pervasive, bi-directional communications will be poised to spring ahead in the world of education, business, and everything else.  Who will be left behind?  Those with old fashioned, slow, unidirectional networks.

Look back at the beginning of this post and you’ll be reminded that I put the word emerging in quotes.  I think that the technologies referred to in the article are no longer emerging…they’re here.  As instructors, we need to be able to stay ahead of the game, incorporating other new technologies into our programs in two ways:

1. As a subject, teaching the new technologies and how they can improve your life
2. As a tool, involving learners through more and more collaborative techniques

Speaking of Games…

One last point that I want to focus on that was raised in the article is the use of MMORPG-like environments to teach.  Genius.  The only reason I didn’t think of it is that…um…I’m not smart enough.  I’m not that handy with code.  However, look at wikis and blogs…10 years ago, you had to know C++ and Java and be pretty dang smart to start a blog or wiki.  Now, a 1st grade education (or less) and access to a computer, any computer, will get you blogging and wikiing in under a minute.  In another 10 years, World of Brain-Surgery-Craft anyone?  I think that this has huge potential in the educational world if anyone picks up the torch.  Looking at Gagne’s 9 events:

1. Gain attention - Hey, it’s a game.  How much more attention getting can you get?
2. Inform learners of objectives - The first cut scene.  “You are going to take over the WORLD…by removing brain tumors in 200 patients with your Freezing Blade of Microsurgery (+10 to INT!).”
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning - Remember back in World of Brain-Surgery-Craft 1.0?
4. Present the content - Play it, Sam! The game, that is.
5. Provide “learning guidance” - Game masters, rollover tips, in-game messages…”You should remember to resect her frontal lobe with the Holy Clamp of Patience”.
6. Elicit performance (practice) - Grinding the levels
7. Provide feedback - “Thanks your slip with the scalpel, every time your patient smells tangerines, he hears the ‘My Little Pony’ theme song! You have been sued for malpractice and lost a level!  “
8. Assess performance - What level are you?
9. Enhance retention and transfer to the job - As you build your character’s level, the scenarios become more life-like and complex.  Eventually, it looks and feels like the real thing (thanks to your Logitech “I Can’t Believe it’s not Surgery!” force-feedback gloves).

Need I say more?  It’s all there, wrapped up and sealed with a kiss.

Back to Buzzwords

Ha HA!  Thought you’d escaped the buzzword thing eh?  Well, you haven’t!  Web 2.0 is currently dealing with a new breed of buzzword though…”textese”.  Whats that? U nvr c textese b4?  Well, you’d better learn it if you want to keep up with Web 2.0.  Even if you encourage your learners to avoid it in class, remember that the Web 2.0 classroom includes stuff that happens out of class as well.  Collaborative learning and connectivism thrives on informal information transfer.  You’ll have to take the informal with the formal if you want a truly collaborative environment.

The good news is that I see another revolution on the horizon.  Speech recognition is here, and I think that very soon it’s going to be advanced enough so that you can talk to your computer, or iPhone-clone, or car, or whatever, just like Scotty!

For collaborative learning, this will be huge.  In my opinion, it will be the hole in the dike that brings it crashing down.  With people able to interact with their web devices in the same way that they interact with other humans, the interface will become completely transparent.  We’ll be blogging in the car on the way to the store (with your hands-free Bluetooth headset, of course!).  We’ll wiki while we work (sorry Jiminy).  All that you’ll need to participate at that point will be a phone…any phone.  Interesting thought, eh?

This Week’s Class

This week we were lucky enough to be addressed in class by Mr. Eugene Lee, CEO of Socialtext.  He shared several informative anecdotes and amusing stories, and showcased the Socialtext product.  He is a marvelous presenter besides being an obviously brilliant man, and has a very impressive CV to back up his presentation.

Socialtext calls itself a “Collaboration Platform”.  I think that the term is apt, as it seems to be designed specifically to allow members of a corporate group to share knowledge online in a social environment.  Essentially, it brings together several tools that are currently available online such as Twitter, iGoogle, and the various free blog and wiki environments, all under one interface.  The big hook is that it is handled as an enterprise solution, and thus is housed in a proprietary environment, free from the prying eyes of the general public.  My limited time with it so far tells me that it does its job well, and offers a way to help break down the silos that seem to exist in so many organizations, business or otherwise.

However, as with any social networking tool, it still offers an opportunity for abuse, and if mismanaged can add another dimension to the silo issue, IMHO of course.  Proponents argue, convincingly and I think rightly, that social networking tools can allow groups to thrive thanks to quick, convenient, and compelling ways to communicate thoughts and ideas.  The anecdotes that Eugene brought up in class support this.  But does this mean that it will be used in that fashion?  Just as I’ve seen in MySpace, Facebook, and similar applications, there is the opportunity for counterproductive activity like cliquing, sharing “misinformation”, etc.  In an interesting twist, in response to one of my questions along these lines, Eugene brought up the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” as an example of  supposedly credible sources of information spreading deceit.  Can you imagine how social networking tools might be used in a cutthroat world such as that depicted in the real estate offices of that film?

A New Look at Privacy

Okay, I’ve been the gloom and doomer for a bit, but I think that there is an up side to the direction that social networking seems to be moving in.  It seems to me that the definition of Internet privacy is shifting.  Back in the day (yeah, I’m old enough to remember “the day”) there were many Internet forums, known then as electronic bulletin boards, or bbs.  They are still plentiful, and I would suggest that perhaps they were what spawned the blogosphere.  In any event, when they were first introduced, you could almost always count on a good flame war erupting regularly on any forum that you cared to track.  There was the unwritten rule that you were anonymous, and could therefore vent your spleen to your heart’s content whether or not you were right, or fair, or even knew correct grammar.  That feeling of anonymity was, of course, false, but nevertheless the thought that you could post under a pseudonym brought out the worst in people, even people who were normally polite, kind individuals.

It seems that the more recent forms of Internet communication are moving toward something that at least offers a glimmer of responsibility.  I use Facebook from time to time, and I think about what I post on my page, and on other people’s “walls”, because I know that I have an identity that at least has a rudimentary link to my real life persona.  The Twitter examples that Eugene showed us, along with examples from his own organization’s Socialtext environment, indicated that people had no qualms about posting under their real names, complete with a photo of themselves just in case the name alone wouldn’t let us look them up IRL (In Real Life, for those who don’t already understand).  With the increased connection between the online and real-life identities comes a change in how we consider the information that we share, and the words we choose when sharing.

We Still Need to Teach Responsibility

Here comes that old dead horse again…

My father was an educator.  He worked very hard in the Seattle school district, in his later years as the director of the district’s Human Relations Task Force.  His job was to work with young people and instructors to bring them together on common social, cultural, and racial ground.  I think that the next great challenge for the educational system (and for corporate Learning & Development) will be to teach instructors to work with their students to establish common ground in the new Internet world.

Instructors need to be able to communicate with learners about the Internet medium, as well as using it effectively themselves as a learning tool.  A big part of this will be teaching social networking responsibility.  Learners need examples of good behavior and productive use of tools like Facebook and Twitter, as well as examples of the havoc that these types of tools can bring, ranging from social networking fraud (creating pages specifically to discredit the apparent page owner) to the echo chambers discussed in John Seely Brown’s Learning in the Digital Age (part of this week’s readings).  Tools like Socialtext have much to offer, and used effectively they can give an organization a huge advantage over organizations stuck in older forms of collaboration.  However, throwing these tools out there and expecting people to “just get them” and use them productively is, again IMHO, giving dynamite to a child.