Dave :: Blog
http://davetosh.com/?p=376  I had a productive meeting with Biz Stone this weekend, working with him is a great experience as his knowledge of the web space is second to none. Both Andy and Biz are potentially interested in OpenDD, time to get a demo running.
Currently exploring some cool syndication and localisation ideas with Ben and Marcus. I think there is a lot of potential in this space, the trick is wrapping it up into an end-user service that is both easy to use and useful.
I am also putting together an educational technology research group. So far, the response has been positive with a number of excellent researchers and institutions expressing an interest. Should be good.
Next week we have this year’s Elgg conference. Speakers include:
Stan Stanier, Miles Berry, Ben Werdmuller, Marcus Povey, Oliver Lillie, Marc Canter plus a host of microslots. I am debating whether or not to talk about current attitutes towards open source, within education, here in the UK, but am not sure it is really something worth going on about anymore.
 Finding out more about a new SixApart initiative TypePad Connect, Profiles and Comments for Everyone. The idea of loosely connecting bloggers with lightweight social tools is expanding, I am current testing out IntenseDebate on this blog. Personally, I think this is a great direction. Makes me wish we had stuck with our original Explode service, not only did it have the worse logo in Web 2.0 history, it actually had the beginnings of a powerful micro-network through the joining up of bloggers. Ah well, next time. 
http://davetosh.com/?p=368 I have been following the recent discussion about ads on Edublogs with interest. Chris Sessums, someone I really respect, posted about his experiences with Edublogs in a tone that I have never before heard from him, he is angry.
Ben Werdmuller posted some intelligent musings about links being context, which I completely agree with.
Stephen Downes has picked up the story but slightly missed the point. As far as I can make out, it is not the fact that Edublogs introduced ads, it is the fact these ads are embedded within some students actual blog content.
There is no doubt this is difficult space. Online services offer great potential, but nothing in life is free and someone needs to pay the bills, the question is, at what cost?
http://davetosh.com/?p=359 Most social sites advertise how, through connection to others who share the same interests as yourself, it is possible to grow your network, enhance online experiences, share knowledge and so on.
Could this be the wrong approach?
While there is no doubt you can meet like minded people, it could be argued that access to new information, thoughts and increased awareness would come from exposure to those who do not share your interests.
The question of relevance exists, but still, just a thought.
http://davetosh.com/?p=357 I have not had enough time to digest this report yet, but it certainly looks like a comprehensive study into just how today’s youth are utilising online technology.
Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project
Most youth use online networks to extend the friendships that they navigate in the familiar contexts of school religious organizations, sports, and other local activities. They can be “always on,” in constant contact with their friends through private communications like instant messaging or mobile phones, as well as in public ways through social network sites such as MySpace and Facebook. With these “friendship-driven” practices, youth are almost always associating with people they already know in their offline lives. The majority of youth use new media to “hang out” and extend existing friendships in these ways.
http://davetosh.com/?p=343  Today I had the privilege of meeting Andy Peatling, developer of BuddyPress, a social networking solution built upon WordPressMU. It was a very good meeting and I would like to say thanks to Andy for making some time before flying back home.
We were meeting to discuss OpenDD, the social mesh and other thoughts that are emerging as important in the social networking space. There are only so many times that users on the web will be willing to sign up to a new service, fill in a profile, friend people on that service and then invite in their existing network. As more services, products and applications become social, this presents a problem. We see OpenDD playing a part in helping with distributed networks, however, in order for it to really happen, it has to be a community endeavour. It was great to talk this over with Andy and get his initial feedback. Looking forward to continuing the discussion, and experimentation.
On a slightly different note, today, I had the worst pizza imaginable. Those who know me will understand I eat pizza all the time (you can probably tell from the photo on this post). However, I should have realised that even my love of pizza could not stretch to this:
BBQ Meatball
““Chunky slices of our classic beef and pork meatballs, fresh red pepper and onion served on our tangy BBQ sauce base and topped with melted mozzarella. A fantastic feast!”
A fantastic feast is one way to describe it… I have another
http://davetosh.com/?p=334  I am wondering if Twitter might be the most effective web service, at the moment, for keeping in touch with your existing online networks and expanding those networks? Sure Facebook works very well for an existing network, but I find it a little more difficult to expand as finding new people can be challenging.
Twitter on the other hand, while not giving you the depth of information available on Facebook, contains immediate, easily digestible nuggets of content. Tweets can, on the surface, seem throwaway and irrelevant, perhaps too casual, but this type of content; off the cuff, spur-of-the-moment, is a valuable contribution to the rich fabric of conversation. Combine that with the ability to get involved in new conversations quickly, without having to construct an indepth analysis, creates a low barrier of entry - something which can foster engagement.
Three key criteria:
- Very simple to use and understand
- Immediate and lightweight – you can dive in and out, without too much disruption to your daily flow
- Crucially, it works well across a range of devices and services
I am also curious whether a Twitter type service would flourish as effectively within closed situations - services like Present.ly and Yammer are experimenting in this space. Will the loss of random and unexpected conversation, the cross pollination of networks and the casual nature still make such a service valuable? I am not yet sure, but am interested in finding out.
http://davetosh.com/?p=321 You can certainly build networks that help promote social interaction through making it easy for people to link together in a variety of ways. However, setting out to build an online social networking site, is more likely than not going to result in failure unless you have a real reason for doing so. On its own, software is not enough, this is all about people.
It’s sometimes easy to forget that the Internet is just people connected by wires, uplinks, frequencies and protocols.
Social networking is an action, it is something that happens between people when they connect around a particular purpose and it has been going on since the dawn of civilisation, social networking is not a new phenomenon, it is just that the medium changes and evolves.
Technology is gradually becoming more user friendly as well as pervasive, it is finding its way into a range of services and devices in increasing subtle and clever ways. This in turn makes it easier for existing offline networks and emerging online ones to stay in contact, cross pollinate and expand.
A social network is not defined by the technology but instead by the people.
http://davetosh.com/?p=300 This article ‘Social networks, The Next Educational Tool‘ (via George Siemens) got me thinking about the dilemma many within educational institutions are facing: how to embrace the technology their students are using widely on the web to enhance their experience while studying at the institution.
In my opinion, I think institutions should be looking to harness their own flavour when it comes to this technology, explore how it works and apply it locally rather than worry about gaining acceptance on services like Facebook and MySpace.
Most of us will have several networks that we participate in, in life; family, school friends, old work colleagues, college buddies and so on. The same is true online. Therefore, just because a lot of students use Facebook, this does not mean they will not use a service set up at their institution, it will just have a different purpose.
“For example, persistence in college — the likelihood of staying through to graduation — has been shown to have a clear relationship to how well integrated students feel within their social and academic environments.”
Students arriving at university are joining a loose social network – the student and faculty body. Using the right technology can help enhance this network to promote engagement and inclusion, something most would deem benefitial.
I do agree with George that it comes down to experimentation, trying out new approaches, exploring simple ways to let information flow, thus, improving communication. It is hard to know what will work without this experimentation, so, getting creative and finding out what sticks seems like a good starting point.
http://dave.elgg.com/?action=comments&postid=271 I will be the first to admit that I don't get second life.
Found this cartoon by GapingVoid - is it harsh?
http://dave.elgg.com/?action=comments&postid=42 November 2004, Ben Werdmuller and I began a journey, to build a more open and social learning environment. We released a couple of papers via our blogs which were well received.
Some smart ass commented that it was time to end the talk and see some action.
 We started building Elgg. Which, this year, has been voted best open source social networking platform 2008.
We installed the first version of Elgg on the domain elgg.net to test the waters. It quickly grew.
Four years later, we are still here, not as the naive students who started Elgg back in 2004, but as experts in the realm of social software.
Anyway, to celebrate our first ever Elgg powered site, we have given it a face lift and added a couple of features such as twitter push and pull, FriendFeed pull and shouts, not to mention a cool theme.
<< Back
|
|
