Social web browsing

[Peter Enderby]

A couple of things I thought I would share. One is social web browsing
something that has been developing behind the scenes for a while with
applications like "Flock" but this one looks really interesting from a
networked learning point of view. It makes surfing the net a shared
experience by the look of things and lots of applications spring to
mind.
http://gigaom.com/2006/10/30/medium-to-make-web-browsing-social/

The other is the discussion about the trendiness ( and predicted short
life span) of some currently popular online applications which have
been likened by some to popular TV programs which are eventually
replaced by something else. I guess the question is whether the
popularity of a particular application with our students would make it
a more effective delivery tool and how much we should consider it's
popularity with the learners before implementing it, or in a networked
environment do learners make these decisions for themselves? I
couldn't find the original link that got me going on this so here is a
list of fads from the 1990's from wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s_fads_and_trends
Are there parallels?

Peter Enderby

[stevenray...@gmail.com]

Pick up and drop a tool as and when you see fit is the way of Web 2.0,
being able to imprt and export social data using open standards such as
http://openid.net/ is an emerging trend it seems

I reckon accept the learners will make the decison in whta they want to
use for themselves, advocate multiple web 2.0 tools that do the same
thing but MUST follow open standards, hmmm how to legitimise this
premise this within an organisation.

http://identitygang.org/

Interstingly it seems Microsoft have advocated open ID and google well
they have their own proprietry system it seems ha ha ha

http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/10/19/technorati-announces-support-for-open-id/

http://blogs.zdnet.com/digitalID/?p=50

[Peter Enderby]

Steve,
One of the most important things I have seen is this draft policy for
Web 2, of which I am sure you are aware, from North Sydney Institute.
That to me is the most important step to legitimising Web 2 in the
voced environment.

http://web2debate.wikispaces.com/Guidelines+for+using+Blogs+and+Wikis

Peter Enderby

[sparker]

Peter good to see the guidelines, positive for future reference with management when we have to go through the looming firewall implementation.  Heres a post that reflects my understanding of how to make Web 2.0 mainstream for networked professional development based on the work I've been involved in with the THED network... http://networklearning.blogspot.com/2006/11/organisation-innovation-info-flow.html

www.networklearning.blogspot.com

Skype: stevenraymondparker

"Half of what you know today will be obsolete in five years. That prospect
should fill you with excitement."  -Vimala Blavatsky

[Peter Enderby]

Steve,
I still reckon you need to assess the readiness of a department for
change and target your resources to those where results are going to
stick. I have done quite a bit of work on organisational climate and I
reckon some of that type of thinking could really be of value here.

Peter Enderby

[sparker]

Hi Peter

How from your experience does one start on assessing organisational climate to implement change... working with the management level to  facilitate change is the next obvious stage . we're focusing on these two outcomes at the moment:

•Engage 'Top Down' support for bottom up networking necessity
Change management - To achieve ongoing benefits TAFE Managers and Head Teachers need to drive and facilitate change to a culture of innovation in day-to-day activities

•

•Sustainability - Follow through with the support of the implementation of mentor networks at an organisational level through PD- Professional Development

•

•Adaptability – Be flexible and responsive to the emergent needs of the 'Teacher Innovation Network'. Eg: Recognising the time and equipment needed to adopt new innovative practices that work

•

•Enablement - Give teachers ability to self regulate what

gets filtered through firewall, and take on the development

through to the students and Teacher Network

How to get management support across the board? With a view to managmement continuing to promote ongoing participation in day to day teaching. The aim is to pull together the out of the box thinkers across the Institute and start to promote and network their skills and knowledge in the PD process.

What do you suggest?

•

[Peter Enderby]

Hi Steve,
Sorry to take so long with my response here. Dont get me wrong I think
you are spot on with everything you say here and I congratulate you for
the integrated approach you are putting in place. To my way of thinking
we need a continuum of approaches to the way we put our courses
together and the ability to make a realistic assessment of the
likelihood of any of the strategies success in a given situation. I
know for instance the club industry and university academics have been
trying to assess how well the industry will cope with the level of
innovation and change that will be required following the introduction
of anti smoking legislation next year. There is the pro active side of
the equation as you have outlined and there is also the reality on the
ground. That is easily enough assessed through the perceptions of the
people at the frontline level. The hotel system has the Balanced
Scorecard as a means of making sure all the factors contributing to the
long term success of the enterprise are measured and they measure them!
I think that type of info needs to be integrated with the efforts of
change agents like you.
Peter Enderby