My issues with authorship, copyright, and open access depend on the context, both professionally and personally. In some instances, such as the Online Seminole Student Association, I freely engage in produsage with no reservations. I post personal and professional knowledge to share with other students and fellow site members, in addition to a lot of other silly things that have very little value, other than a chuckle, perhaps.
With other sites where one might share information, whether personally or professionally, I am careful about what I post. Personally, I don't post anything I wouldn't want my grandmother to see (although my grandmother is quite progressive and enjoys living life). Professionally, I don't post anything that could affect my ability to earn a living. For example, anyone can go on the Internet and find an answer to a question, but will that answer solve their problem? Does the information found on the Internet provide a solution to a problem, or just more information? Often, my job is taking information and creating solutions that work. Why would I post those solutions on the Internet for free?
As a consultant, companies hire me for my ability to make things work. Although I do provide information, which the client could probably find on the Internet, I provide a custom framework to mold information into a tool to complete a specific task. When the Internet can provide solutions straight from my head, then I'll start freely sharing information. Until then, I'll reserve the good stuff to help me earn a paycheck.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
A Nice Surprise for Me Today
A few months ago I was invited to submit a presentation to the Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning by Jill Lingard, Associate Director of Online Programs at UF's College of Business, who would be my co-presenter if our workshop was accepted. Happily, a short time later, we received notice that we would be allowed a 35 minute spot in a breakout session to present our work "Creating Connections: Using Technology to Build Student Community".
Today, I got an email from Jill telling me that Sloan-C notified us that our presentation has been awarded Best in Track, doubled to 70 minutes, moved to the largest track room, and will be streamed live and recorded for future use on their website.
I considered myself very fortunate to have Jill's support and UF's dollars to attend and participate in this event. Now I consider myself very lucky for this new honor. Hopefully, I can live up to all the hype on presentation day.
If you're attending the event in Orlando the end of October, please say hello. I'd love to meet some FSU classmates face to face. :)
Today, I got an email from Jill telling me that Sloan-C notified us that our presentation has been awarded Best in Track, doubled to 70 minutes, moved to the largest track room, and will be streamed live and recorded for future use on their website.
I considered myself very fortunate to have Jill's support and UF's dollars to attend and participate in this event. Now I consider myself very lucky for this new honor. Hopefully, I can live up to all the hype on presentation day.
If you're attending the event in Orlando the end of October, please say hello. I'd love to meet some FSU classmates face to face. :)
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Week 4 - What did I do?
This week just flew by. On Monday, it was Monday, on Tuesday, it was Saturday. Where did the week go?
Anyway, for week 4 I:
Anyway, for week 4 I:
- Submitted Produsage 1
- Reveiwed and commented on Produsage 1 for other students
- Wrote on the course blog
- Wrote on my own blog
- Worked with Chris and Lee Ann on Produsage 2
- Had a knock-down drag-out with a wiki software package
- Wrote on the course discussion board
- Refinished a 56 year old oak dressing cabinet (what, did you think all I did was this class?)
- Tried out twiddla.com for the first and last time (not all Web 2.0 technology is great...apparently)
- Got super excited that a few people created some stuff in SL from my tutorial (it was an empty island when I started and now it is slowly growing).
- Read the Bruns book (are we almost done reading that thing?)
I can't believe it, but Week 4 is in the books. Only two weeks to go. I'm having way too much fun for this to end. Maybe we can have a class for the fall called Web 2.0.1 - if we do, I'll register.
Expert or Pretender?
I judge the value of expertise on the web by looking for other instances of work from the same author, as well as checking on credentials online. However, I also find the term 'expertise' to be a bit subjective.
In our exploration of Pro-am throughout this course, we've seen that experts don't necessarily come with traditional credentials, such as degrees or certifications. In some of the open source communities I frequent, the 'experts' are people brave enough to try something and fail often. Would most people consider someone who fails 9 of 10 times an expert? Well, it depends on the context.
I try to define expert using the context in which I am researching. Once I have defined expert for myself, then I look for articles or writings which match that definition. In an open forum, where I can ask questions, I do that too. Often, asking a question will also prove valuable in determining the real skill of an author.
In person, I ask a lot of questions, but the basics of the the process are still the same. Expertise is always determined in the context of the search for knowledge. For example, if I'm consulting, it would seem most prudent for me to go to senior leadership for expertise on the business. I prefer, instead, to go to where the action is and ask the employees. Even though society would tell us that expertise is how managers rise through the ranks, I know that senior leaders lose touch with the process, often leaving the employees with the real expertise.
In our exploration of Pro-am throughout this course, we've seen that experts don't necessarily come with traditional credentials, such as degrees or certifications. In some of the open source communities I frequent, the 'experts' are people brave enough to try something and fail often. Would most people consider someone who fails 9 of 10 times an expert? Well, it depends on the context.
I try to define expert using the context in which I am researching. Once I have defined expert for myself, then I look for articles or writings which match that definition. In an open forum, where I can ask questions, I do that too. Often, asking a question will also prove valuable in determining the real skill of an author.
In person, I ask a lot of questions, but the basics of the the process are still the same. Expertise is always determined in the context of the search for knowledge. For example, if I'm consulting, it would seem most prudent for me to go to senior leadership for expertise on the business. I prefer, instead, to go to where the action is and ask the employees. Even though society would tell us that expertise is how managers rise through the ranks, I know that senior leaders lose touch with the process, often leaving the employees with the real expertise.
Beat up by a wiki
I've been working on produsage 2 with Chris and Lee Ann and it's going well. We spent several hours online today, working on Twiddla (a web-based whiteboard and conferencing program that I will never, never use again and wouldn't even suggest to my worst enemy). We made a lot of progress and the discussion board is coming along nicely.
After adjourning from our brainstorming and private messaging, I turned to integrating the site wiki, for which I am using Mediawiki. I researched wiki software extensively and decided that the database format of Mediawiki would make it better for the site and, more important, scalable as the site grows. Chris and Lee Ann are waiting patiently (I hope) for me to complete the integration so they could start adding content, so I was working diligently to get it running. But then the wiki reared its ugly head, showed all of its razor sharp teeth and, with a snort of smoke and fire, proceeded to beat me like a heavyweight prizefighter punching a 98 pound weakling.
After 4 hours of rolling around through the integration, it still isn't working properly. So the lesson is, Web 2.0 is great when it works for the end users, but can be a real pain in the rear for the administrators. Makes me wonder what goes on behind the scenes at Facebook and Twitter. Ever seen the "Facebook has experienced a problem" quote? They're probably fighting the same heavyweight prizefighter who just whooped me. ;)
This is a promise though: fsuonlinestudents.com will be ready for submission on the produsage 2 due date...and it will be great. Come check it out now if you want to have some fun interacting with other online students. The discussion board is ready now for posting (though I'm sure we'll add more stuff before submission).
After adjourning from our brainstorming and private messaging, I turned to integrating the site wiki, for which I am using Mediawiki. I researched wiki software extensively and decided that the database format of Mediawiki would make it better for the site and, more important, scalable as the site grows. Chris and Lee Ann are waiting patiently (I hope) for me to complete the integration so they could start adding content, so I was working diligently to get it running. But then the wiki reared its ugly head, showed all of its razor sharp teeth and, with a snort of smoke and fire, proceeded to beat me like a heavyweight prizefighter punching a 98 pound weakling.
After 4 hours of rolling around through the integration, it still isn't working properly. So the lesson is, Web 2.0 is great when it works for the end users, but can be a real pain in the rear for the administrators. Makes me wonder what goes on behind the scenes at Facebook and Twitter. Ever seen the "Facebook has experienced a problem" quote? They're probably fighting the same heavyweight prizefighter who just whooped me. ;)
This is a promise though: fsuonlinestudents.com will be ready for submission on the produsage 2 due date...and it will be great. Come check it out now if you want to have some fun interacting with other online students. The discussion board is ready now for posting (though I'm sure we'll add more stuff before submission).
Friday, July 24, 2009
Produsage 2, Web 2.0, and Changing Lives
I'm working on Produsage Assignment 2 and I'm enjoying creating something from scratch, although I have a good working knowledge of what I'm doing already. The general idea is to create a community that will be a student run association, built to be a place to meet and interact with like-minded individuals, building teamwork and friendships as we tackle our programs at FSU.
So far, the home page is built and the discussion forum is fully integrated. By the end of the weekend, I'll have the associated wiki running smoothly (if I can figure out how to edit the custom skin for mediawiki and integrate the auto-login so that users only have to log in once on the home page). I'm happy with the progress so far.
(The web address is http://fsuonlinestudents.com/. If you're reading this, come check it out and make suggestions on how it can be better.)
Saturday, I'm speaking again at UF's orientation for the Online Business Program. It's a chance to get to know new students from the program and tell them about my other site, which is very similar to what I'm building now. After working on the FSU Online Students site a lot over the last week and a half and posting on GOSA, the other site I run, I'm reminded of the disconnect that occurs with distance learning. There are course discussion boards in almost every LMS, but those boards rarely work to forge friendships because they end when the class ends. Also, the knowledge of one class dies when the class is over, because the discussion boards get purged and a new class starts over from zero posts. It's a shame too, because learning isn't static. Learning is a cumulative effort, yet classes don't usually interact from one term to another, aside from the student carry-over that happens naturally from one course to the next course.
I remember when we created GOSA. I remember 4 students registering the first month. I remember messing up the forum so bad technically that we had to crash the whole site and start over. But the registered students were patient and came back a week later when it was fixed. Then something strange happened. The next month, we had 43 new members, then 45 the next month. The original 4 students told their friends and then the 43 told their friends, and three months in we had 92 members. The fourth month was the start of the fall term and we added 104 new members, more than doubling the size of the membership in one month. By that time, people had met more friends than many campus students do and the site took off.
Saturday, I get to share what GOSA does for the UF Online Business Program, but after being in this class I understand that it's much more than I really new. Web 2.0 has changed the life of more than 1050 GOSA members, forging lasting friendships, raising the average GPA of GOSA members, and creating a body of knowledge that can't be found anywhere else. And who did all of that? Me?...not really. Students did it, for themselves and for future students, using Web 2.0 technology and a desire to be connected.
I'm hoping that several of the current Web 2.0 students will come and join me for their Produsage 2 project, in a collaborative effort. It's exciting being in at the beginning and cheering each new member as they join.
So far, the home page is built and the discussion forum is fully integrated. By the end of the weekend, I'll have the associated wiki running smoothly (if I can figure out how to edit the custom skin for mediawiki and integrate the auto-login so that users only have to log in once on the home page). I'm happy with the progress so far.
(The web address is http://fsuonlinestudents.com/. If you're reading this, come check it out and make suggestions on how it can be better.)
Saturday, I'm speaking again at UF's orientation for the Online Business Program. It's a chance to get to know new students from the program and tell them about my other site, which is very similar to what I'm building now. After working on the FSU Online Students site a lot over the last week and a half and posting on GOSA, the other site I run, I'm reminded of the disconnect that occurs with distance learning. There are course discussion boards in almost every LMS, but those boards rarely work to forge friendships because they end when the class ends. Also, the knowledge of one class dies when the class is over, because the discussion boards get purged and a new class starts over from zero posts. It's a shame too, because learning isn't static. Learning is a cumulative effort, yet classes don't usually interact from one term to another, aside from the student carry-over that happens naturally from one course to the next course.
I remember when we created GOSA. I remember 4 students registering the first month. I remember messing up the forum so bad technically that we had to crash the whole site and start over. But the registered students were patient and came back a week later when it was fixed. Then something strange happened. The next month, we had 43 new members, then 45 the next month. The original 4 students told their friends and then the 43 told their friends, and three months in we had 92 members. The fourth month was the start of the fall term and we added 104 new members, more than doubling the size of the membership in one month. By that time, people had met more friends than many campus students do and the site took off.
Saturday, I get to share what GOSA does for the UF Online Business Program, but after being in this class I understand that it's much more than I really new. Web 2.0 has changed the life of more than 1050 GOSA members, forging lasting friendships, raising the average GPA of GOSA members, and creating a body of knowledge that can't be found anywhere else. And who did all of that? Me?...not really. Students did it, for themselves and for future students, using Web 2.0 technology and a desire to be connected.
I'm hoping that several of the current Web 2.0 students will come and join me for their Produsage 2 project, in a collaborative effort. It's exciting being in at the beginning and cheering each new member as they join.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Week 3 - What did I do?
In week 3 I worked like a crazy person on the produsage assignment, trying to get it done and posted on Sunday. Unfortunately, I spent so much time developing the Second Life Island and the corresponding wiki that I didn't do a lot of anything else.
I did:
I did:
- Finish my produsage assignment, including Second Life Development and a new wiki
- Post to my own blog
- Post to the course blog a bit
- Participated briefly in the course discussion board
- Read the Bruns chapters
- Slept and ate a little
- Prematurely looked at everyone's posted produsage assignments (really good stuff too!)
I was more active on my own this week, spending many, many hours on the produsage assignment, but I neglected the class participation a little over the course of the week. Thank goodness the participation grade is over a three week period, rather than week by week.
Now, I'll turn in my 3-5 pages tomorrow and start on Week 4.
Week 3 is in the books!
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