Web 2.0 and the Iowa government

I was pleased to read an article in the DM Register highlighting all the web 2.0 tools that our Iowa government is embracing. The Iowa Lottery alone is using text-messaging, a Facebook page, a widget with winning lottery numbers, a blog and a twitter. They like to air videos featuring their lottery winners (wish I were one!). The Iowa DOT is using blogs for news releases and traffic incidents. This is only a few of the uses mentioned in the article. Very cool!!! Way to go Iowa!!!

Fun Christmas card idea using technology

As I consider which picture to slap on a Christmas card this year I am reminded of a great use of technology. Last year I received an email with a link to You Tube. The clip was of my cousin's family singing Christmas songs (out takes included). It was super cute! And imagine the savings...no cards or stamps. Something to consider.

Review my Wiki

I created a wiki for my final project. The wiki is for my group called the Black Tie Society. You can read more about the wiki and my organization here:
Wiki Overview

BTS Wiki

Bedtime Story Audio File (Single Podcast)

Enjoy the bedtime story I recorded for my daughter.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Significant differences in youth interactions

My friend recently told me a story about her neice and the ill effects of technolgoy...specifically the use of cell phones as a means of mass communication. Her neice had her phone stolen. On that phone was a few indecent pics that she had sent her boyfriend. The person who stole the phone put the pics into circuluation and thanks to technology they spread like wildfire. I can't imagine all the negative implications technology has on youth, teenagers specifically. We hear of all the great things about technology in their lives but it is important to remember the times they back fire. As a teenager you do stupid things. Technology can magnify the situation. I'm sure there are many other examples of such painful experiences.

uh-oh, Second Life could be hazardous to your marriage!

I read in the newspaper over the weekend that a couple in England is divorcing over a relationship established in Second Life. A woman caught her husband "cheating" in the online world. No mention of whether the relationship had crossed over to any other real life activities.
I am on the fence with this. Would I like my husband having a make-believe relationship? NO! Do I think it is grounds for divorce? Probably not. I'm guessing there were some other problems in this marriage that led to it's disolve.
I know many people meet online and have successful relationships. Look how pervasive online dating has become. I know two couples that met through an online dating service and are happily married. Then there is the random hooking up through chat rooms or online groups.
How serious are these Second Life relationships and do they spell trouble for established couples?

Guess who is using Skype?

Today I caught Oprah...who was using Skype to interview Melissa Ethridge! I loved it! I wondered...how many people knew what Skype was before Oprah used it. I also wondered what was being used before Skype. After all, television hosts have been interviewing people in different locations for quite some time. Do you think Skype is reaping any benefits from this?

This class has really helped me!

this week I was travling for business and spending lots of time with colleagues. I shared with them all I knew about web 2.0. It included blogs, wikis, webpages, cloud computing, podcasts and all the different types of online collaboration. I had no idea how much I knew until I just started listing everything! I even sounded like I knew what I was talking about! I think some of them plan to visit the social bookmarking site, delicious. They had never heard of such a tool or concept. I am so thankful for this class! I may not be using all of this stuff but I know about it!

My first podcast

Here is my first podcast!

First podcast

It was extremely easy and even fun. You feel like a music producer!

Delicious Bookmarking Website

There is a great bookmarking website called Delicious. It is a shared space (in the clouds) to save and tag all of your favorite websites. To see the websites I have tagged visit the following website:

Delicious

To enter my user name go to the drop down menu titled People and select Go to a New User. My user name is internetkinson.

There are fabulous Web 2.0 links that you must check out!

Blog policy at work

I recently found out that my employer has a blog policy and a list of approved blogs. I have not had time to check out the approved blogs but am eager to know what sort of topics are being blogged about and how much they are used. Very cool. I encourage others to see if their are similar policies in place for blogs or other Web 2.0 resources.

ASTD State of the Industry 08 Report

As an ASTD member you can download a free copy of the State of the Industry report. There is so much information in this easy to read report. There is plenty of mention of e-Learning and web 2.0 specifically. Here is a little blurb:
One of the most recent technological advancements
involves the learner gaining the ability to control
the content. And the learners themselves are able to make
enhancements through Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis,
blogs, and other social networking platforms. E-learning
has facilitated an unprecedented information exchange
between individuals, teams, and organizations.

ASTD upates

There is a 60th anniversary celebration for ASTD Iowa on Dec. 5. It is open to all. Please consider attending. You can get details on their website.

http://www.astdiowa.org/

2 year old's perception of technology

I work from home two days a week. My 2 year old is certainly exposed to "mommy's office". I have some toys in the office for the times she is home while I'm working or doing homework. She usually has no interest in what I'm doing. I even put an old type writer in the office just in case she wanted to type. Just today she decided to get up on the chair and start tapping on the keyboard. She even did it gently instead of pounding...as if she was typing. It was funny. When I told her she was doing great work and that it was all done, she politely asked me to wait for her to finish the office. Too funny! When should I get her a computer of her own??? There are many electronic toys out there and we have a handful but nothing that resembles a computer.

Wiki roadblocks

Well, my wiki was well received until I spoke with a member of the group in person. She wasn't hating on it but indicated she would not be getting her information there. Instead there will be a continual need to update the group via email. We had anticipated still needing emails, but more to direct people to the wiki to get the full details. Believe me, the wiki is still cutting down on emails and serving as a record or database for our group. For example, to ensure we don't have our monthly gatherings on the same weekday each month we can look back to the previous months to see what day we had it on. Anyway, my concern is that if not all are on board then is it worth keeping up. I feel it is. Any thoughts?

Everyone's input welcome

I've recently come across two products, both of which I use, that are soliciting ideas from the consumer...EVERY consumer. For Crest toothpaste, I just saw a commercial asking consumers to go to the website and submit an idea for a jingle. This type of solicitation is great given that not everyone knows about wikinomics and the concept of peer pioneering or prosumers. I'm sure Crest is offering some kind of incentive or at least bragging rights. The othe product advertising for consumer input is Oreo Cookies. They are asking that you go to their website and submit your favorite memory of the cookie. These are only a few examples...I'm sure there are more. Most of them I"m sure are not advertising the invitation but instead consumers are finding them on their own.

My new Wiki

I have developed my Black Tie Society Wiki and sent the link out to the group (We are a group of ladies, all ages, that call ourselves BTS for short). Check out the wiki for more information. I also sent out the link to Wikis in Plain English for those who are unfamiliar with wikis. So far I am getting some good feedback. I hope to not only create a useful tool for our group but educate others about wikis.

http://blacktiesociety.wikispaces.com/

Shift Happens

You have to see this video on the impact of techology and learning in the 21st century...it will blow you away. I found it on Jeff's blog...good find, jeff! http://jaredsnewdad.blogspot.com/2008/10/shift-happens.html

Wikinomics and Needs Analysis

I recently attended a Needs Analysis workshop and realized yet another place that technology played a part. I can see the use of wikis and blogs in gathering data regarding the participant analysis, training needs and desired performance. These are just a few examples. If gathering data on a topic is your aim and there is a large target population, why not look to the collaborative tools on the net? There is less need to rely on the often abused and over used survey. Just think of all the advantages of wikinomics in needs analysis!

It's Everywhere!

Maybe now I'm just more tuned in to the new technology craze b/c of the first weekend of class, but for the first time I can't find many scenes without some form of it. For example, I am traveling for business this week. I would venture to guess that every single person on the plane either had a laptop, ipod, mp3 player, or fancy cell phone. I had my laptop only b/c my work provides me with on. I do have a cell phone but not one of those fancy ones with the keyboard or internet capabilities. I do have a mp3 player that holds about 75 songs but I forgot to bring it. I really just read magazines and a book...the old way of passing time and entertaining myself! It was such an eye-opener! I am thrilled to at least be aware of all the things happening around me!

test post

I am a student at Drake University

Wikis in Plain English

Here is a quick demo on wikis. It is 3 minutes and 52 seconds. Provided by Common Craft.

Des Moines, Iowa

Prosumers (Producers + Consumers)

I admit, at first I did not see how every organization would be negatively impacted if they did not embrace the wikinomic revolution, specifically prosumers. I thought of a restaurant. Net users are not going to cook or serve my food. Then after a little more thought I found the connection. If restaurants opened up their ingredients, menus, customer service strategies, etc., they could open the door for great innovation and opportunity. For example, they could solicit ideas for new recipes or exceptional customer service practices or incentives. Of course a restaurant can be affected by openness, peering, sharing and acting globally. Now I'm having a hard time thinking of an organization that would not be affected by the new wave.

The concept of sharing

I completely understand how collaboration leads to great innovation and opportunities. What I did't get was why someone would freely lend their knowledge, skills and abilities to an initiative. Now I am a little more clear. The idea of being free to contribute (what and how much) is a nice break from the typical organizational structure. But still, doing it for no pay??? The key is tapping into what motivates people...letting them do what triggers their interest and expertise. A side benefit is experience, exposure and connections. With this in mind, I can see how production is occuring by peer pioneers. The three conditions tied it all together for me. 1. the object of production is information or culture. 2. tasks can be chunked into small pieces for individuals to contrinbute. 3. costs of intergrating those pieces into a finished end product must be low.

Check out a similar blog on peering from one of my colleagues.

The Net Generation

Who knew? I am a member of the net gerneration. Of course, I can easily use a computer and shop online. I even thought I was pretty savy for downloading and printing my own pictures from my digital camera. But I do not think I fit the mold of the Net Generation. I do not text, I do not blog (until now!), I do not have a MySpace. Before reading Wikinomics I merely used the web to surf, read, shop and email. I now realize that by reading product reviews before purchasing that I was benefiting from the new collective judgement of web surfers. Part of the collaboration that is taking the society and economy by storm. The concept of community is evident...it was put nicely in this book, "the web is not a library...it's the new glue that binds social networks.

Wikinomics Intro

I have begun reading Wikinomics and much of the information is very new to me. While I have heard of MySpace, YouTube and Wikipedia, I did not know what their significant association was. They are all part of peer production or peering. I personally do not use any of these services and think of myself as behind in all the technological fun. I was surprised to read that organizations that are not getting on board with wikinomics are in danger of missing opportunities. I am seeing the word collaboration a lot. It makes sense that reaching outside of ones own walls provides a greater chance for innovation and value.

Let the blogging begin!

Here it is...my first blog. The reading assignment prior to setting up my blog was helpful. I knew the basics (blog, blogging, blogger). However, I had no idea where the name was derived from or other features such as the archive. Good stuff!