Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Assignment 2: Social Networking Research

Keywords

About.com, (2009), < http://webtreandes.about.com/od/web20-glossary.htm>, accessed 8 October 2009.

Teacher.tube.com, (2007) http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=7604&title=Blogs_Wiki_RSS_Basic_training, accessed 10 October 2009.

What is mashup?, http://news.zdnet.com/2422-13569_22152729.htm, accessed 8 October 2009

Blog- short for web log and used like journal

Web 2.0- refers to tools such as blogs, wikis for online human interaction

Mashup- information from a combination of websites to be visually pleasing.

Social network- building online communities

Wiki- website for collaborative editing activies

Microblog- like a blog but limited number of words used. Eg Wiki

Professional development- training to improve work related skills

Baseline Studies

Second Life, http://secondlife.com/>, accessed 5 October 2009.

Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/>, accessed 5 October 2009.

Twitter- users type short messages or updates

Secondlife- social network that uses an imaginative 3D visual virtual world

Facebook- social network that uses photos, video and text

Beyond Baseline Studies

Gralla, P & Widman, J (2008), Facebook vs LinkedIn: Which is better for business, <http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9065398/Facebook_vs._LinkedIn_Which_is_better_for_business_?taxonomyId=16&pageNumber=2> accessed 8 October 2009.

Linked-In

Pros

Cons

Maintain business contacts as well as friends

Expensive to advertise jobs

Opportunity to search for employment.

Provides resume templates

Rats jobs on how close you are to your contacts

Research information about desired employment through your contacts using InMail service for a fee

Can not be anonymous, you need to create a new identity but may lose contacts

Find information about clients and their clients

No group wide communication tool, individuals can not broadcast messages

Job related questions can be answered in the Answers area similar to a blog




Teachade

Teachade online community for teachers, (2009), <http://www.teachade.com/faqs.do>, accessed 9 October 2009.

TeachAde is an American website for K-12 teachers for sharing resources for free, however it incoporates

Web 2.0 tools

Finds colleague feature

Lesson planning

Group forums

edna

Edna Australia's free online network for teachers, (2009) <http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/help/me/pid/2033>, accessed 9 October 2009.

edna is an Australian free online network for educators and incorporates

resource sharing

Career development

Blog entries

Join communities with similar professional interests

Recommendation Four (Recommendation 1 - 5 found on Greenie POD wiki) http://greeniespod.wikispaces.com/


Develop a sociability plan to sustain the community

Preece, J, Maloney-Krichmar, D. (2003) Online Communities. University of Maryland, Baltimore


Supporting sociability to sustain the community Preece says you need Purpose, People and Policies

Purpose- clear purpose defined so that users can see goals of the community. This will encourage only users who share common ground and empathy which then establishes a social presence and thus trust.
People- Access to the community should be restricted to teachers and students to sustain the community as a school community only. Some access could be provided to families too.
Policies- Guidelines developed and enforce to sustain positive behaviour.

Research Questions


A. What are the issues involved with using social networks for professional development in the workplace?

Please feel free to make changes to the table- regards Denise

Pros

Cons

Generally most social networks are free to set up for business Eg Facebook, Secoond Life

Expensive for extra features like advertising for jobs Eg LinkIn

Maintain a large pool of teacher contacts as well as friends in a click of a button without geographical restrictions Eg Facebook

Time wasted at work socialising and using Web2.0 tools

Opportunity to search for employment.

Provides resume templates. Eg LinkIn

Rates jobs on how close you are to your contacts.Eg LinkIn

Research information about desired employment through your contactsEg LinkIn

Can not be anonymous especially if you want to search for employment or ask technical questions you are supposed to know , you need to create a new identity but may lose contacts Eg Facebook??

Find out professional and personal information about teachers and schools Eg Facebook


Gain client confidence due to the use of technology and displaying personality

Personal information can expose embarrassing information

Job related questions can be answered in chat room

Loss of potential clients that lack IT skills who prefer face to face contact

Autonomous business model which encourages individual contribiutions




B. How do Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts and video lectures) complement such social networks?

Here are some advantages of Web 2.0 tools- cheers Denise


Web 2.0 compliment social networks and most are free such as these reputable sites Wiki, Blogger, Twitter
Web 2.0 tools are easy to set up (usability) and allow teachers to work from home
Access to use web 2.0 tools is restricted to invited people
Internal school blogs and forums for teachers to communicate work related ideas.
A variety of tools allows a variety of information to be shared eg video, podcasts and digital images
Builds up a interlaced web of connected thoughts
Closer contact to clients
Web 2.0 allows 'word of mouth' advertising to potential clients such enrolments to a school
Reduces spam

C. How is a work-related social network developed and sustained?

Some thoughts below - cheers Denise

A school is an ideal place where a work related social network can be sustained especially with the implementation of the government issue laptops
. Most teachers and students are currently using social networks and Web 2.0 tools in their homes so these skills can be transferred to school. At the moment, there are many In services available for teachers to bring them up to speed with the use of social networks and new laptop software which should sustain a social network at a school.
Schools have been allocated extra IT staff to help with any laptop trouble shooting and to assist in developing and sustaining social networks.

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