Social Networking for Corporate Benefit

My company is currently exploring the ways in which social networks, blogs, twitter, etc. can benefit our organization. As an instructional designer, of course I can list several ways in which these tools and technologies can be used to enhance learning. However, I’m a bit weaker on other fronts. How has your organization successfully used Web 2.0 tools?

3 comments Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  July 16, 2009

Exercise #6

BLOG/FLICKR

For my EDIT772 design project, I have considered using one of the social media sites as my base tool. Our exploration of Flickr captured my interest in its potential use for a CLE. For this reason, I’ve completely changed my design idea and am now planning a course in basic photography using Flickr and a blog as my two primary tools.

PROS: Besides the obvious convenience offered by all online tools (reaches a geographically diverse audience, available 24/7, etc.), Flickr allows learners to share visual output, receive feedback on that output, and provide feedback to others. In addition to allowing people within a class to share images, the instructor can point to other images available on Flickr to illustrate certain concepts.

CONS: The disadvantages to this solution is that instructor will have to access each learner’s separate Flickr photostream when providing feedback on images. While this effort is minimized by use of RSS feeds, it may still be inconvenient. When providing peer feedback, learners may also have difficulty in either subscribing to each classmate’s photostream or following links to them.

FACEBOOK

While I had not selected Facebook as my tool for this exercise, I think it would work very well.

PROS: By creating a Facebook group for the class, I would have a single location in which I could:

  • Easily send messages to group members (sharing each week’s instructions)
  • Facilitate class discussions (to share thoughts and perspectives)
  • Enable learners to post images (showing their attempts at skill mastery)
  • Allow commenting on images (for feedback from peers and/or the instructor)
  • Upload sample images (to illustrate teaching points)
  • Posting of links (for course resources)

From that respect, Facebook offers all the features of the combination blog/Flickr in my chosen solution. There would be no cunfusion about separate student accounts as all the course information would be housed within the single Facebook group.

CONS: The only reason for not choosing this solution is that – in our design project – we’re meant to merge separate Web 2.0 tools as part of our solution.

6 comments Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  , , April 11, 2008

Yahoo’s Flickr Expands Into Online Video – AOL Money & Finance

According to this article Yahoo’s Flickr Expands Into Online Video – AOL Money & Finance, Flickr is set to challenge YouTube in the online video game.

2 comments Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  , , April 9, 2008

Wikis for Translation

One concept I picked up at a conference last year is the potential use of wikis for translation. If you have online content and a diverse group of learners from around the globe, this could come in handy.  Make the wiki accessible from each page of content – either with tabs, or by having it be in a frame on the main screen.

If your audience is large enough, those members who are bilingual will start to use the wiki to translate the content into their other languages. Interestingly, those people who are experts in the subject matter will also frequently use the wiki to provide additional explanation and descriptions, even in the original language.

Add comment Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  , April 4, 2008

Digital Natives Lecture

There’s a lecture scheduled at 4pm on April 7th at the James Madison building in DC. It’s titled “The Anthropology of Digital Natives” and will be presented by Edith Ackerman. If you’re not local to DC, you can view it via webcast live at www.loc.gov. 

Add comment Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  , March 31, 2008

Quanta, OoVoo to Take on HD Conferencing – AOL Money & Finance

Here’s an article about a ooVoo’s plans for the future. Quanta, OoVoo to Take on HD Conferencing – AOL Money & Finance.

6 comments Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  , , , March 24, 2008

Blogs for Professional Mentoring

In a discussion for a class I’m taking, another student made a comment that spawned an idea. In many organizations, newly hired or promoted employees are frequently paired with a buddy. This buddy will act as a mentor by providing advice and answering questions. I have a suggestion that may capitalize on this mentor/mentoree sharing and allow a larger group to benefit: a Newbie Blog.

What is it?

This blog would be comprised of posts by the newbie during the new person’s transition into the role. Presumably the newbie’s posts would be comprised of problem descriptions and questions. Any experienced employee can use the comment feature to respond to a problem/question. However, the designated mentor would – as part of his/her role – regularly respond to posts.

What are the benefits?

There are several potential benefits.

  1. The first is that all posts with related comments would be available for access by current and future employees in that role – so everyone would have an opportunity to learn from the exchanges. This would effectively capture institutional knowledge.
  2. This would give management a clearer picture of the challenges and complexities of the role, enabling them to pinpoint system-based concerns for later fixing.
  3. The newbie will receive information from not only the perspective of his/her assigned mentor, but from all people in that role as well as higher ups who choose to contribute. This would provide a more well-rounded transition into the role.

What are the Challenges?

  1. As with most of the potential internal web 2.0 uses, this idea will only work if the team embraces it and uses it with some regularity. I think that enthusiastic, vocal support from various functions & levels in the organization would go a long way toward motivating people to use these tools.
  2. The lack of immediacy would be another challenge. If the newbie needed an answer RIGHT NOW, obviously a blog post would not be a reliable way to get a quick answer. In that case, I’d suggest that the newbie call his/her designated mentor and then – after the fact – post the question and response on the blog. That way future blog readers would still benefit from the conversation.

Add comment Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  , , March 23, 2008

Web Conference Registration Application?

I’m looking into arranging a series live web conferences. However, I’m running into an obstacle regarding finding a good, cheap registration application. I’d like to allow people to register and have an email with the conference information automatically sent. I’d also like to retain the attendee’s information for later marketing purposes. Do you know of anything that might work?

2 comments Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  March 19, 2008

Dimdim

The beta for Dimdim: Free Live Meeting, Web Conference, Net Meeting, Online Meetings, Online Training, Desktop Sharing, Web Meeting, Free Web conferencing, eLearning, Presentation Software, Web x collaboration, Collaboration software is now available. It’s a free, open source web meeting application. It allows desktop sharing, chat, webcam broadcast, etc. Thanks to Judy for letting me know about it!

1 comment Posted in  Web 2.0  Tagged:  , March 17, 2008

Sarris Candies – The Worlds Best Chocolates

If you’re looking for some nice chocolates for Easter, check out Sarris Candies – The Worlds Best Chocolates. I grew up near their store in PA. They make really good chocolate. I especially like the coconut clusters.

2 comments Posted in  Food  Tagged:  , March 15, 2008

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