Green POD group project

The Greenie POD group have made a Wiki to place our research into for Assignment 2
http://greeniespod.wikispaces.com/


HOW GREENIES STARTED THEIR ONLINE COMMUNITY GROUP PROJECT

We began by emailing each other to discuss how we should meet online. Janice created the Greenie Etherpad where we meet once a week to discuss Assignment 2.
http://greenies.etherpad.com/1?

Its a great tool because it records our discussions for review later if required. We are a very co operative group and our online community has been sustained by sharing the research, reporting our findings weekly and we are sensitive to online etiquette. For example we start and end our discussions with salutations and we wait until one conversation has ended before making a comment for uninterrupted conversation.

Janice then created a Greenie Ning site which worked well.
http://greeniespod.ning.com/?xgi=dASbAkb
We could add chunks of research text like a blog but unfortunately our discussions we not recorded.
Ann then created the Wiki with the address mentioned above where we store our research in appropriate headings. We use the Etherpad to discuss what parts of the assignment, found in the Wiki, need editing.
Our Wiki and Etherpad sites has been very effective because of their usability. These tools over come physical distance between Greenie members, allow continual flow of conversation through synchronous communication, offers security by limiting access to only Greenie members and easy navigation of the sites. I had some difficulties with my internet connection during meeting at times, but I was able to catch up by looking at etherpad conversation the next day.

Topic 9

Exercise 9.1
Research IBM, 2006, Social Computing Group Publications, , accessed 9 October 2009.
Jason Dowell, 2006, LinkIn Profitable – Is Social Networking A Business Model? , accessed 6 October 2009

The advantages and disadvantages of Social Networking, 2009,< com="" tag="search"> accessed 9 October 2009

Pros	Cons
Generally most social networks are free to set up for business	Expensive for extra feature like advertising for jobs
Maintain a large pool of business contacts as well as friends in a click of a button
Opportunity to search for employment. Provides resume templates Rates jobs on how close you are to your contacts Research information about desired employment through your contacts using InMail service for a free	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
Find out professional and personal information about clients and their clients	No group wide communication tool, individuals can not broadcast messages
Gain client confidence due to the use of technology
Job related questions can be answered in the Answers area similar to a blog	Loss of potential clients that lack IT skills who prefer face to face contact
Autonomous business model where users use their initiative to buy and sell products and create contacts

Exercise 9.2

Martin Stewart-Weeks, 2009, Policy 2.0: towards whole-of-government policy development, http://gov2.net.au/, accessed 9 October 2009

Ramon Padilla, 2009, Blogs vs Wikis <http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5711955.html?tag=search > accessed 9 October 2009

Wiki in government used for
Editing documents/policies for public discussion
Help desk tools
FAQs

Graig Thomler, 2009,<>, accessed 8 October 2009
Twitter in government used for
Customer service
Advertise about government blogs
Makes politicians more ‘human’ for voters
Follow topics to keep track of what people are saying about the government
Send out information about an emergency and disasters

With the spread of IT through Australian homes and the world, it is inevitable that the government incorporates IT into it offices. New political university graduates have gained IT skills that should be used in their workplace. Web 2.0 technologies in particular offer better communication across government departments and jurisdictional areas for government policy development for example via a private government website. Wiki tools could be used for developing and drafting policy documents, summarizing policy settings and stresses, and identifying possible directions. Blogs could be used by policy developers to debate and discuss as the policy emerges.
As with the new emerging technology, it will task time for government agencies to adapt with the use of Web 2.0 tools so that experts can contribute freely and without restriction and trust that security breeches will be minimised.