Skip to main content

Home/ CurtinNet308/ Group items tagged Internet

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Rosanna Candler

How the Internet brought down a dictator - 4 views

technolog.msnbc.msn.com/...ternet-brought-down-a-dictator

Egypt revolution internet dictator Government social media collaboration

shared by Rosanna Candler on 12 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • peter stanier on 17 Apr 11
     
    Contrasting the prominent role the internet played with political revolutions in both the Arab and Western worlds (Dutta, 2008) the striking notion is how significant the Internet and subsequent social medias are in empowering ordinary citisens. For the first time in history the minorities of society have a place to establish equal-footing, share information and as Conley (2011) notes destabilize the old guard and oppressing political regimes. As we see internet inspired revolutions spreading across the globe the idea championed by Ghonim that "the best way to liberate a society is to give them the Internet (Smith 2011)" is becoming increasingly relevant. There's also an underlying theme throughout this news report that this political collaboration was strengthened by the inept tactics adopted by the Mubarak government. As well as the significant costs to the Egyptian economy and businesses through unplugging the Internet, it only served to advance the cause of the protesters elevating personal political stories to a global audience and invoking internet users and organizations from around the world to partake and assist in this online collaboration. A pressing issue for me is the evolution of this collaboration, the grassroots movement can be traced back to 2008 (Egypt's opposition pushes demands as protests continue, 2011) and since then the underground and organized techniques employed by the protesters online, were crucial in not only this political movement going undetected by an oppressive regime but also the successful outcome of this collaboration. While briefly touching on the potential negative aspects of the greater utilization of social media, this source clearly demonstrates how the internet and particularly social networks have assisted in the liberation of the Egyptian society. Although it remains to be seen whether similar internet revolutions will occur, evidenced here is a political collaboration build online and as Cowie (2011) docume
  • Rosanna Candler on 24 Apr 11
     
    In a media environment where opinion tends to incline toward black or white extremes, MSNBC's technology blogger Wilson Rothman clearly and diplomatically maps out Egypt's January conflict. Performing a simple online search of 'Egypt revolution' will deliver thousands of arguments for two sides of the coin: those reinforcing a dedicated belief that social media conceived and sustained the revolution, and those (such as Mayton, 2011) who consider this estimation a gross discredit to the majority of activists with no online access. Most refreshingly, Rothman refuses to bow to broad and antagonistic statements- preferring instead to present the chain of events and their professional commentary- providing his reader with the means to determine their own position. In light of Wikileaks tracing the seeds of activism from 2008, Facebook and Twitter was used to mobilise numbers for the January 25 demonstration. This is the function for which many consider the Government 'turned off' Internet in Egypt for, however Philip Howard regards the ability to document (photograph and video) and post online the violent police response as a far greater threat and 'kill-switch justification' for the Government. During this time, the leaked media (i.e. SpeakToTweet) were "rendered more uplifting and powerful by their illicit nature" (Rothman, 2011). Journalist John Guardiano has gone as far to say that "Mubarak resigned really because of the pressure imposed on him by CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Twitter, Facebook and the Internet" completely disregarding the Tahrir Square protesters and igniting the online comment "You bring your hyper partisan lens to bear on events you know little about" (Guardiano, 2011). Rothman's article reminds us that although Egypt's Revolution was 'Internet-fuelled' and gave individuals the capacity to "tell the story...and making sure someone is there to hear the story" (Rothman, 2011), it is
Rosanna Candler

Governments and the Executive "Kill Switch" - 2 views

dl.comsoc.org/...niednot.pdf

Government authoritatian Egypt revolution kill-switch internet

shared by Rosanna Candler on 12 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • peter stanier on 17 Apr 11
     
    The role any Government should play in regulating the Internet is certainly an intriguing argument. Having analyzed the liberating power of the Internet with particular regards to assisting revolutionary political collaborations in the western world (Fraser, 2008), it has become apparent that any attempt to restrict access to content or the internet itself only seeks to further the cause of these being oppressed. This is demonstrated throughout this paper with the uprising in Egypt and the documentation that the "internet shutdown only sought to incite the protesters more." Perhaps the most pressing issue presented from this paper is not only Mubarak's ability to shutdown the internet, but that similar scenarios have arisen across the Arab world and the political justification for large-scale shutdowns of the world wide web have all been fundamentally flawed. Moreover the desperate attempts from political factions to prevent online access, and the steps and methods employed to ensure a shutdown demonstrates just how significant the Internet has become from a governments perspective in empowering both the opposition and the individual leading to potential online collaboration in an attempt to cause political revolution. While there is perhaps too much focus on the technical aspects required to implement a shutdown throughout this article, the poor lack of justification for attempting to potentially kill the Internet within the western world is certainly pressing. While political collaboration online did not reach the same aggressive scale in relation to the situation in Egypt, the justification for a potential kill switch being solely based on a fear of online pandemics is certainly flawed and as Chen (2011) notes human presence will "most likely be a hindrance" in the face of a cyber emergency. Whether online terrorism will become a prominent threat in the 21st century remains to be seen but the justification for killing the internet in order to ha
  • Rosanna Candler on 24 Apr 11
     
    It seems rare that such a thorough and enlightening review would be found tucked away in the inside page of a global internetworking magazine. Thomas Chen has produced an excellent overview of the Mubarak Government's rationale in shutting down internet and mobile operators, as well as a world-wide evaluation of the relationship between the Government, private ownership sectors and the Internet. Weeks earlier Tunisia endured Internet control on a lesser scale, with the closure of news sites and political blogs, arresting news bloggers and were even "suspected of injecting hidden Javascript on certain Facebook pages to steal login passwords" (Chen, 2011). Chen tackles the difficult question 'What is the proper role of Government?' with the ease you would expect of a technology magazine's editor, questioning whether the Government is entitled to centralised control (quarantine) as though an online threat were a human pandemic such as SARS or swine flu. Mubarak's 'flicking of the switch' during the January uprising has ignited alarm over free speech in the United States. In 2010 a bill was introduced which suggested giving the President the ability to cut off "the nation's connection to the rest of the Internet during a time of crisis" (Lawson, 2011). At the time Senator Lieberman clarified that this so-called 'kill-switch' was for the safety of the American people, to disconnect them from international traffic 'in case of war' (Lawson, 2011). The idea that this switch is not only technologically possible but also a future prospect caused great concern. At the end of the day, did the 'kill-switch' work? The short answer is obviously "no", as the revolution continued during the blockage, Internet was returned after four days, and the Government fell after 17. However the long answer is far more complex. The existence of the 'kill-switch' technology reminds us that Government control and censorship of the Interne
Ran An

Art Education, Collaboration and the Internet - 1 views

www.artjunction.org/...arted_collab_internet.pdf

education collaboration Internet communication

shared by Ran An on 15 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Ran An on 15 Apr 11
     
    The article elaborates how Internet operates and applies successfully step by step in contemporary art educational field. The article explicitly explained how the Australian Art schools and teachers teach and guide their art students to use online information and different of websites to learn and share their discussions and opinions. Internet education has playing an important role in schools and universities since Internet widely entered to our society and life. In order to achieving their study goal, lots of adult students choose online education in contemporary technological society. In this article, Art online education is a successful example in domain of internet education. As Harris (1999) described a telecollaborative activity as an educational endeavor that is involving people from different areas to work together by using internet tools and resources.The biggest challenge for current art education is how to help students to live this digital communication age. When internet and new technologies provide us with unique opportunities in the life, the thing need to be worried about is how to study and utilize these communication technologies. However, to students, utilizing internet technology to think, to imagine, to create is the significant aspect for catching up this networking era.(Roland, 2003). To young generation, it is not a big issue to learn how to read and gather information from internet, and it is not a problem either to know how to communicate with others by online chatting tools. I think only internet knowledge they need to catch up for their online education is how to use special software to finish their online projects. The topics about internet collaboration and internet education will continue permeating into our society in this technological and digital era. This is an inevitable trend of technological progress and development. Reference: Harris, J. (1999). First steps in telecollaboration. Learning and le
Rosanna Candler

Egypt did not have an Internet Revolution - 5 views

bikyamasr.com/wordpress

Egypt Internet Revolution catalyst collaboration

shared by Rosanna Candler on 12 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Belinda Milne on 15 Apr 11
     
    Very Interesting article. Here I am reminded of Jean Baudrilliard and "Simulacra & Simulation". In it, he talks about how the media shapes the way viewers understand. Effectively he suggests war as it shown on television, was a manufactured by media represention. "The media and the official news service are only there to maintain the illusion of an actuality… of the objectivity of the facts. All events are to be read backward." (Baudrillard, 1994, p.38) Like most things, with recent events in Egypt, it is the media represented accounts, which have become the "real". The idea the Twitter and Facebook can mobilise a revolution is a powerful symbol. "What is perhaps the most telling here is that, as Bikyamasr points out, "millions of the Egyptians that went to the streets probably don't own a computer, and definitely were not checking Twitter or Facebook for where the next gathering was taking place." The article suggests that, by the time the internet was cut off, the protests were already in full swing. Perhaps the Egyptian Government fell for the media reports of the power of Social Media. "It was through word of mouth, not online calls for activism that brought the Egyptian government to its knees". It is important to point out that word-of-mouth is a powerful tool for communication, whether it is through hand-written messages, text or social media, word-of-mouth messages are more likely to be trusted and acted upon by recipients (see Kozinets et.al, 2010) as well as fostering a connection and sense of community between the sender and receiver. References Baudrilliard, J. (1994) Simulation and Simulacra. University of Michigan Press. Translated from the French by Sheila Faria Glaser. Kozinets. R., de Valck, K., Wojnicki, A. & Wilner, S. (2010, March). "Networked Narratives: Understanding Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online Communities" in Journal of Marketing. 74(2). pp.71-89. Retrieved via American Marketing Association/Atypon.com, 13 April 2011. http://ww
  • ...1 more comment...
  • Belinda Milne on 15 Apr 11
     
    I can't seem to see Rosanna's comment.
  • peter stanier on 17 Apr 11
     
    Mayton seeks to address what he views as the Western Media attributing the Egyptian political revolution to the presence of activists online. He underlines that with only a quarter of the population having access to social networks and media online, the idea that a "Revolution 2.0" occurred is seriously flawed. While acknowledging the useful presence of collaboration online, Mayton attributes the success of this political change to a word-of mouth and paper handout campaign, combined with a motivated and committed Egyptian people, preferring to credit the Internet with bringing the issue to the forefront of international politics. However Wael Ghonim a leader of the ground movement that would ultimately topple Mubarak, contradicts the ideas presented in this article. Instead he accredits social networks and in particular facebook (ref) as being the catalyst behind the revolution. While Ghonim acknowledges that any political protest requires bodies on the ground, he attributes the internet and collaboration that occurred on facebook with empowering Egyptian individuals. Furthermore the ability of these networks to spread information at a vast rate, combined with the ability to go undetected were attributed to the success of the initial protest which began in April 2008. This protest organized solely online was the trigger cause for the unrest and the political change that would unfold. Mayton highlights that the common misconception that every Egyptian has direct access to the internet is perhaps symbolism for an Egyptian society that still remains stratified. While this paper underlines the idea that attributing the success of this political collaboration to the internet overlooks the ground work and alternative methods employed to help further this revolution, there can be little doubt that in this course of history social networks did provide empowerment for some of the Egyptian people and played a significant role in this advancing this political colla
  • Rosanna Candler on 24 Apr 11
     
    To most Australians, the conflict in Egypt was not an Internet revolution until their newspapers, bulletin websites and television told them as such. Spurred on by Google Middle East and North Africa Marketing Director Wael Ghomin's announcement that the Egyptian protesters had "the internet to thank for their victory" (Luna, 2011), headlines across the globe were swept up by the 'Revolution 2.0' media darling. It may be a journalist's job to disseminate current affairs- constructing language and presenting palatable news to their public- however the truth and integrity of the Egyptian Uprising reports suffered at the hands of the outspoken. Jordanian expert on branding Ahmad Humeid recognises these synoptic "slogans" (Pickerill, 2011) such as 'Revolution 2.0' as "extremely important for Western media audiences... [to] take an event and package it in a certain light" (Humeid, 2011). Joseph Mayton's commentary works to detangle the internet's 'exaggerated' role in Egypt. He presents the facts: 25 per cent of Egyptians have no access to a computer, let alone a wifi connected iPhone in their back pocket. The 'Online Revolution' label directly discounts the internet "have-nots" who "struggled for the same cause under the same umbrella". Finally, activists continued to mobilise, even during the four days the Government shut down the Internet service (Mayton, 2011). Yes, there was a significant initial online role in the January protests, but this article encourages that we cannot lump strong-willed street activism in its hundreds of thousands as an Internet uprising. Mayton reminds us the well-worn lesson: we should not accept anything at face value. Ignorance is bred through the blind digestion of 'fact'; we can only come closest to the truth by negotiating as many disparate viewpoints as possible. References: Mayton, J. (2011) Egypt did not have an Internet Revolution. Published on BIKYAMASR, Feb
Mandy Burke

Managing the Digital Enterprise in Digital Markets through the internet - 12 views

I think you are correct in saying that there have been great advantages (and many disadvantages) brought upon by the introduction of the Internet to society. For businesses it has made selling and ...

started by FARNAZ SHAMS on 14 Apr 11 4 follow-ups, last by Mandy Burke on 16 Apr 11
peter stanier

Political Online collaboration: How facebook revolutionized American politics: - 1 views

gnovisjournal.org/...acebook-Youth-Mobilization.pdf

shared by peter stanier on 14 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • peter stanier on 17 Apr 11
     
    Although often overlooking the role of politicians in organizing online political collaboration, Sanson documents the crucial role that facebook played in galvanizing and motivating the millennial generation of voters to participate and engage in political debate throughout the 2008 election. There is an underlying theme throughout this paper that it was a case of peer -to-peer relationships that caused this revolutionary collaboration of young voters. Further highlighted is the ease with regards to facebook being an organizing tool, with social actions within the site being reflective of a ground based campaign and helping to form a new kind of politics(Sanson, 2008). Sanson ponders why it is that the youth vote has suddenly became more engaged in the political spectrum, considering factors outside of the political world; noting that both circumstance(BBC News,2008 ) and the timing of incidents over the last decade may well have instigated this youth movement. Yet it is crucially noted that the internet and particularly Facebook became a catalyst for this millennial collaboration, based not solely on political presence online but also the wealth of information and the free-flowing style of messages combined with the vast number of users(Facebook, 2011) and the ultimate chain reaction of a peer-to-peer connection. Noted throughout is the fact that this social network was used for more than just organization and a spear head of this political collaboration - highlighted is how it was used for financial muscle, as well as a tool for micro-targeting and the education of a younger generation on both the candidates and the political process. Throughout this academic paper a thorough explanation is offered as to the triggers of this millennial political collaboration which has led to a new dialogue being opened between the politicians and the voters, there can be no question that Facebook has revolutionized the way that political collaborations are conducte
  • Rosanna Candler on 24 Apr 11
     
    The Internet has presented a medium for people to carry out 'liberal individualist' transactions with government agencies. In 2001, Microsoft announced that the internet will empower citizens "to set their own political agendas, establish government priorities and help implement policies" (Katz & Rice, 2002) and, as Angela Sanson's chapter explains, the 2007/8 United States elections rang this prediction true. Campaign finance was "just one of the many ways Obama's IT and social networking approaches revolutionised citizen participation" (Norquay, 2007): Evidence of internet incensed political dialogue, such as discussion forums, sites indicating support/non-support for parties and leadership (for example, President Obama's 1.7 million friends at the time), videos, art and news combine to create an increasingly potent role for the internet user. Obama endeavoured to "define his campaign by 'conversations' with the American people" (Westling, 2007), and in doing so, formed genuine connections which later translated into votes. As Westling recognises, Facebook is an ultimate campaign tool as it combines the "best features of local bulletin-boards, newspaper, and town hall meetings and places them in one location that is available at any time in practically any location" (2007). Many scholars have likened the transformative role of the Internet in political propaganda to that of television in the 1966 U.S. Election. The impact of the internet, however, far surpasses television because of the vast potential for individual empowerment. Instead of simply voting for themselves, citizens had the opportunity to actively contribute to political change in their peers. From the public's perspective, Facebook "gives amateur activists an easy way to connect with other citizens around the globe and helps them push their collective concerns to the top of political agendas" (Sanson, 2008). This same online influence was successfully em
Kaye England

Factiva - 2 views

global.factiva.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/...default.aspx

online learning collaboration forum chat project

shared by Kaye England on 10 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Novel way for using technology. By PETER LELONG, VINCE SUMMERS. 500 words31 July 2002Hobart MercuryMRCURY26English(c) 2002 Davies Brothers Limited STUDENTS in years 5 to 8 are helping to write a great online novel called Billy Bathtub. As confidence grows in the use of online learning technologies, we are seeing the range of activities made available for students continue to develop. The adventures of Billy Bathtub, supported by the Department of Education, is a topical case in point. Author Damian Morgan is currently engaged in writing a novel, online, in collaboration with Tasmanian students during second term. A teacher and writer for many years, Damian has been working with students from around the state in recent weeks. On the completion of the novel in August, Erica Wagner, a publisher with Allen & Unwin, will be editing the novel for publication. The contributions of the students who participated in developing the story will be acknowledged. The partnership of writer and editor in an online collaborative project with schools around Tasmania is certainly a new and innovative way of engaging students from years 5 to 8 in the writing process. With the completion of four drafts of chapter one completed, the author posted a number of questions on the forum to engage students to take an active part in writing the story with him. "I know this is the story of Will Reynes, but do I call him Will or do I call him I?" Morgan asks. One of the many responses which he received: "I think if the story is going to be written in the present tense it should be written in the third person, but if it is in the past tense, the first person. I personally find stories easier to read if they are written like that." The story revolves around the adventures of Will Reynes, who we first meet in chapter one as he tries to rescue his window-cleaning mother from a high-rise building, where she has become entangled in her safety harness. In chapter two, Will, is with his father in a frantic rush to the airport, to meet an important scientist who comes complete with a large ceramic elephant. Students involve themselves in the writing of the novel by submitting ideas through the Discover Education online forum. The author responds to the suggestions from the students. This interaction between author and reader in the development of a novel demonstrates a very good use of the technology. Schools can also engage in online chat sessions with the author by booking time with him over the web. Alternatively they can invite him to visit their classroom. The Discover web site provides a link to download the software, Microsoft Comic Chat, for the online chat segment of the project. Once configured this program provides a secure online environment for students to communicate with the author. The story will continue to unfold with contributions from students until the end of August. To take part visit the Discover web site at http://www.discover.tased.edu.au/ billybathtub/. Document mrcury0020020730dy7v000nc
  • Kaye England on 10 Apr 11
     
    Even though this article from The Mercury (Hobart) is nearly 9 years old, I believe that it is very interesting, and the first time that I have been aware of an online collaboration to write a children's novel. It also shows that online collaboration need not be complicated. Sometimes we overlook the simple in order to engage in the latest popular online trend or something that is seen to be technologically complex. This article shows how sometimes a simple online collaboration tool works best. The collaboration involved students from grades 5 to 8 and was coordinated by author Damian Morgan. Damian received a grant from the Tasmanian government to undertake the collaboration project. Collaboration for the project was undertaken in an online forum and through online chat sessions. Over a period of time students contributed and collaborated with Damian in order to write the novel. Collaboration can take many forms and often we don't realize that we are engaged in it, I suspect that the children in this project were having fun, learning and collaborating all at the same time and had little notion of it! It is interesting that access to the forum is still available and in fact it details the collaborative conversations between students and Damian. The forum is still available at the following URL: http://forum.education.tas.gov.au/webforum/student/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=97 Final and draft versions of the novel are available at the following URL: http://odi.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/Resources/Framer.asp?URL=%2F2002%2F2%2F010%2Fdefault.htm&ID=00215534 References: Lelong, P. (2002, July 31). Novel way for using technology. The Mercury (Hobart), p. 26. Retrieved from http://global.factiva.com
  • ...2 more comments...
  • anonymous on 12 Apr 11
     
    This resource directly links to my topic of crowdsourcing as it discusses a crowdsourcing project which involved young students having the ability to write a novel in a collaborative manner. Students were part of the process of writing 'The adventures of Billy Bathtub'. The article highlights some of the key benefits of crowd sourcing: non-professionals can make important contributions. Anyone can contribute, in this case, despite their age, their input was deemed valuable. It is important to consider that this project occurred in 2002; the nature of the online context was vastly different to today, and we can see this with the design/appearance of the project's online forum. In http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2007/07/creative_crowdwriting Gorski (2007) explored two popular examples of collaborative novel writing using crowdsourcing. 'A million Penguins' and 'These Wicked Games' also allowed a group of people to write the novel. However unlike 'The Adventures of BillyBathtub' they did not rely on a forum, but rather wiki technology and were also very open and allowed anyone to make edits. Due to this chaotic structure, i believe 'The Adventures of Billy BathTub' was more successful because it was more controlled and restricted. 'A million Penguins' and 'These Wicked Games' faced many issues including vandalism. Many contributors were also contributing content to chapters without bothering to read what was happening in the narrative. However as stated by Jeremy Ettinghausen (publisher of 'A million Penguins') the project was mainly a experiment to see what would happen if anyone could edit and write a novel (A Million Penguins - The More the Merrier, 2007). This article suggests that collaborative narrative writing can be successful if organizers implement some degree of crowd control and impose certain restrictions to avoid chaos, spam, and vandalism.
  • anonymous on 12 Apr 11
     
    References: A Million Penguins - The More the Merrier.(2007, February 1). Retrieved from http://thepenguinblog.typepad.com/the_penguin_blog/2007/02/a_million_pengu.html Gorski, K. (September 7, 2007). Creative crowdwriting: the open book. Wired Online. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2007/07/creative_crowdwriting
  • Jiawen Lin on 12 Apr 11
     
    Hi Kaye, thank you for your interesting article and comments. Following is mine: This article is a good example of how people use internet to communicate and collaborate, which is similar to one of my readings: The American Pain Foundation (APF) and The HealthCentral Network Collaborate to Develop Enhanced Internet Resources for People with Pain. Both articles explain how people are connected by Internet to share ideas, gain information, and interact with each other through a website. Both websites mentioned in these two articles are open for general users, such as year 5-8 students and patients with pain, who may not have professional skills on Internet, so these websites are designed to be simple and user-friendly. Such websites let users easily focus on gaining information and collaboration without technical issues. As Kaye (2011) claims, "a simple online collaboration tool works best". In addition, this article shows the trend of using Internet to improve learning efficiency and allows communication and collaboration after school. As students' contribution will be available to view once they enter it to the website, Internet not only makes collaboration across time and geographical boundaries by global networking but also encourages students to contribute to their projects with more flexibility. Furthermore, as students normally access to Internet at home, this makes learning in a more relax and intimate environment. As Pelton (1996) mentions, online learning allows students to move from a passive learning to an active learning mode. In short, online collaboration helps student to achieve learning goals more efficiently with powerful and user-friendly features. Reference: England, K. (2011). Comment on Novel way for using technology. Retrieved from http://groups.diigo.com/group/curtin_net308 Pelton, J. N. (1996). Cyberlearning vs. the university: An irresisti
  • Kaye England on 17 Apr 11
     
    Thanks Jiawin and Cathy for your comments. It was a very interesting project wasn't it and I agree with you Cathy that one of the reasons that it was successful was probably due to the way it was controlled and organised - not like some of the examples in your readings (which were very interesting by the way). Jiawin - I read your articles too with much interest and would agree that the Internet is a powerful tool as it allows the sharing of ideas and information. Sometimes I think that people are afraid of engaging in some of these new online collaboration tools - but there is much to be gained by simply 'having a go'!! Thanks, Kaye
Michael Nycyk

How organisations collect, manage and share resources through Internet and other Techno... - 41 views

Yes you do post comments on here but it has been made very difficult because there are two groups but just ignore that and post here.

collaborate; collaboration; collect; manage; information; internet; resources;organisation;

started by Jiawen Lin on 05 Apr 11 3 follow-ups, last by Michael Nycyk on 07 Apr 11
peter stanier

The Obama Campaign: How the enthusiasm of supporters created a Political revolution - 3 views

www.wired.com/...propelled-by-in

Politics Online collaboration Supporters Revolution

shared by peter stanier on 14 Apr 11 - Cached
  • peter stanier on 17 Apr 11
     
    Highlighted throughout this wire piece is the principal idea that the collaboration of online political supporters of the Obama campaign did not happen randomly, rather as Benko (2008) notes there was a "clear vision" behind the strategies used to empower, encourage and promote this activism. While this article takes a more statistical approach the vast success that the campaign had in translating online collaboration into an offline political movement is demonstrated as over 150,000 campaign related events were organized through online communities, and in the last week of the campaign online volunteers were asked to make over a million phone calls encouraging others to vote. A key strength of this source is the lack of political ideology or motive present. As a news piece it offers factual and well supported observations and comparisons as to how this online collaboration evolved. This is documented when noting the crucial role that this organized campaign played in generating financial muscle for the candidate, Obama himself noting "that it was the working men and women" who helped to obtain over $600 million most of which was donated online. The Obama campaign employed the right people in Rospars, Hughes an Goldstein (2009) to exploit the potential Youth, grassroots and hard - to-reach voters with an online political strategy they helped to not only involve them in this revolutionary online collaboration but to also give them a feeling of political empowerment. This reliable source is therefore key in documenting how the Obama campaign skillfully executed an online strategy to maximize group collaboration. Offering not only a balanced and factual observation as to how the internet empowered and mobilized the ordinary citizen thus revolutionizing the political scene of the western world, but also crucially that with this campaign there was a clear bridge that activism online can result in political involvement and ultimately change offline. Refer
  • Rosanna Candler on 24 Apr 11
     
    It is important to remember that, although Obama cleverly attached the Internet to his campaign, a combination of factors contributed to his 52 per cent (Stirland, 2008) majority: A compelling and humanising personal narrative, stellar oratory skills, and that "the moment was perfect for his message of 'change'" (Norquay, 2007). Obama's candidacy was a consciously planned and executed national movement that "lent itself to mass mobilisation among that very portion of the population that is the most new media friendly and tech-savvy, the younger demographic" (Norquay, 2007). The youth not only engaged in the web pages and online action groups produced by the Obama campaign, they took it upon themselves to create their own media content; such as the 'Yes We Can' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY, 2008) celebrity-driven music video which reached Youtube notoriety, or the portrait graphic a supporter produced later going on to be assimilated into the official promotion. This content-creation parallels my topic on Middle East revolutions, through activist's construction of uniform slogans, signs and imagery (McHugh, 2011). This article concludes with the prediction that Obama's "rise to the presidency will be studied for years to come as the textbook example of a new kind of electioneering driven by people and technology" (Stirland, 2008), and- to a less successful extent- this was realised in the Kevin07 campaign, in which "Kevin Rudd launched his campaign to online publicity buzz- turning to blogging, Youtube and Facebook" (Best, 2007). The Obama Campaign speaks volumes on trends towards the democratic possibilities of technology; but dystopian thought suggests that "people go online to find out more about a subject, not to be politically transformed" (Lievrouw & Livingstone, 2002). Even though a 2000 ULCA study (Kahn & Keller, 2004) showed only 29.7% of users felt the internet led to people having greater pow
Michael Nycyk

Undergraduate perceptions of the usefulness of Web 2.0 in higher education: Survey Deve... - 5 views

web2integration.pbworks.com/...eb+2.0+in+Higher+Education.pdf

collaboration ouaNet308-2011 308 508 Curtin Net education Google Docs

shared by Michael Nycyk on 15 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Michael Nycyk on 15 Apr 11
     
    Kumar's work has a reasonable amount to offer in terms of a resource; his research gives more clues to the perceived effectiveness of Google Docs users have towards it as a collaborative tool. He has chosen to use the effective research method focus groups with semi-structured questions. Perhaps the useful part of investigating Google Docs as a collaborative tool is how he selected students at the university site who were in many disciplines. Thus he was able to elicit some good insights into why Google Docs is so praised as a collaborative educational tool. One finding was that students preferred Google Docs as a time saving tool where no formal meetings took place. Although the students were on campus, it was surprising that they felt they would rather use Google Docs then all meet to work on a project. The other finding was that the acceptance of this Web 2.0 collaborative technology was greater amongst students that had previous experience with Google Docs or other similar software. Another major advantage found by Kumar (2009) was that overall using such collaborative tools increased interest in the subject matter of their particular discipline. The concept that new technologies add value to existing practice was also interesting. Although Kumar was not clear on this concept, what students indicated this was the case, such a statement suggests that using Google Docs is linked to increased interest in a subject and in turn a desire to succeed. The weakness of this resource is Kumar is not clear of this link; however, as an article to show that Google Docs is of value equating collaboration tools with increased productivity shows how potentially valuable using them can be.
  • ...4 more comments...
  • Michael Nycyk on 15 Apr 11
     
    References Kumar, S. (2009). Undergraduate perceptions of the usefulness of Web 2.0 in higher education: Survey development. In D. Remenyi (Ed.) Proceedings of 8th European Conference on E-learning, Italy, 308-314. Retrieved April 13, 2011, from http://web2integration.pbworks.com/f/Undergraduate+Perceptions+of+the+Usefulness+of+Web+2.0+in+Higher+Education.pdf
  • Kaye England on 15 Apr 11
     
    I was interested in this article as I work in an academic institution (75% of our students are external) and it is a very topical subject for us at the moment. It was of interest to note that many students "expect to learn with new technologies and because higher education should prepare students for the workplace of the future" (Kumar , 2009, p.308). In terms of the use of Google Docs as a collaborative tool in academic institutions I think that we are only just beginning to see the benefits of this type of online collaboration. Google Docs, as stated by Edwards & Baker (2010, p.836) "can be used to save valuable time that would be otherwise spent e-mailing, revising, saving, e-mailing back etc.". Google Docs is a relatively new collaborative tool but the benefits to both lecturers and students are very evident, as anything that saves time and engages students is worth using. It was interesting that Kumar (2009) said that the use of Wikis was not a popular online collaborative tool - although it was easy to see the possibilities of its use. In one of my resources I looked at the positive use of wikis in educational settings as they "assist students in learning new content and support them in connecting new knowledge with personal experiences" (Deters, Cutherell & Stapleton, 2010, Discussion section, para.2). Successful online collaborative work is not necessarily a time saver or a short cut but approached positively and with good planning and leadership I believe that it will become an efficient and well used educational tool. References: Deters, F., Cuthrell, K. & Stapleton, J. (2010). Why Wikis? Student Perceptions of Using Wikis in Online Coursework . Journal of Online Teaching and Learning 6(1). Retrieved from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no1/deters_0310.htm Edwards, J. T., & Baker, C. (2010) A Case Study: Google Collaboration
  • Michael Nycyk on 15 Apr 11
     
    My reading of it Kaye is that Kumar found that was the case at the time the study was done, but I am sure if he redid the study that would be less of an issue. I see Wikis are being quite popular now. Also I agree with your point, it is not always about time saving but if one spends the time learning it, it can be a useful tool for education. Our experiences in this course with Ning last year and the online conference proved that.
  • anonymous on 16 Apr 11
     
    This article is interesting as it highlights the benefits of using collaborative tools in higher education for teaching and learning. Although, it is also interesting how the article mentions wikis as one of the collaborative tools and then Kumar (2009, p. 6) then omits wikis as part of the group focus discussion as the students involved in the focus group had not used wikis in their personal life nor on campus. What is more interesting about this reasoning by Kumar (2009) is that it was not explained to students about the use of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a very popular wiki used as a reference tool both in studies and personal life, so it is hard to comprehend that the students in this focus group did not draw any correlation to Wikipedia and the use of wikis. This article also supports the benefits in using a wiki for both, organisations and for teaching and learning as Kumar (2009) highlights how a wiki "improves students writing" (Kumar, 2009, p. 3) and also engages students to collaborate across disciplines (Kumar, 2009, p. 3). The majority of articles supporting wiki use as a collaborative tool have highlighted how the ease of use allows for communication and collaboration, whilst also focusing on the culture of sharing within these two groups. Therefore, wikis are a great collaborative tool, although it is important to also create a sharing culture and provide guidelines when implementing the use of a wiki so, that the participates will use it to support the organisational culture or teaching and learning outcomes in collaborating and communicating with fellow peers or colleagues. References: Kumar, S. (2009). Undergraduate perceptions of the usefulness of Web 2.0 in higher education: Survey Development. In Proceedings of 8th European Conference on E-learning (ECEL), Italy, retrieved from http://web2integration.pbworks.com/f/Undergraduate+Perceptions+of+the+Usefulness+of+Web+2.0+in+Higher+Education.pdf
  • Kaye England on 17 Apr 11
     
    Yes Michael - I agree - things are constantly changing and evolving on the Internet and as you say if Kumar did the study again it would be a different outcome. Cheers, Kaye
  • Ran An on 17 Apr 11
     
    This paper articulates through research and data analysis from although relatively small focus group the effectiveness of using new technologies 2.0 to enhance learning of students from different background in their respective disciplines. This is as same topic as one of my discussions with article Art Education, Collaboration and the Internet. It talks about internet technology integrates into contemporary education. New generation communicates and shares information differently in current technological society. Computer literate generation are different from earlier generations who rely mainly on books and printed materials. Collaborative online activity as an educational endeavor is involving people from different areas to work together.(Harris, 1999). Internet is also being used in region of high education that adopts Web2.0 to help students learning for their self-study and group projects and leverage strategies. (Kumar, n.d). Not only for undergraduate students, but also those students from high schools and colleges, all gained the benefits of new technologies across disciplines in order to achieving their teaching and learning purposes of education. For high education, I completely agree with that Google Documents is very popular among the students for collaborative projects or assignments, because I often use Google document for my topic research and reference as well. I also believe that the internet generation's familiarity with new media undoubtedly will make this way easier for teachers to craft effective learning experiences and to use such tools to engage students. Reference: Harris, J. (1999). First steps in telecollaboration. Learning and leading with technology. 27(3),54-57. Roland, A. (2003). Art Education, Collaboration and the Internet. Retrieved from http://www.artjunction.org/articles/arted_collab_internet.pdf Kumar, S. (n.d). Undergraduate Perceptions of the Usefulness of Web 2.0 in Higher Education: Survey Development. Re
Mandy Burke

Four Trends in Enterprise Video Conferencing - 5 views

www.readwriteweb.com/...erprise-video-conferencing.php

collaboration online net308 videoconferencing business organisation employees smartphones mobile

shared by Mandy Burke on 12 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Mandy Burke on 12 Apr 11
     
    Due to the global financial crisis, companies globally have been finding ways to cut costs. Instead of staff travelling to attend meetings, businesses rely on methods such as video conferencing to assist in facilitating meetings with geographically dispersed teams. This article published on the technology blogging site Read Write Web discusses four main trends in regards to video conferencing. The four trends stated are consumerisation, mobility, interoperability and providing a social layer. Mobility and the social layer are interesting trends when thinking about collaboration via video conferencing. Smartphones being released are beginning to include video conferencing as a standard functionality. Through the use of smart phones, mobility allows team members to participate and collaborate whilst on the move. It unshackles team members from the restraints of being restricted to an office. For team members that travel regularly being able to videoconference from hotel rooms or other offices through their smart phone provides them with flexibility previously not seen. Social layers being added to software is becoming the norm (Flinley, 2010). The social layer extends video conferencing beyond just audio and video. By adding social layers to videoconferencing software, users are able to communicate in the one location rather than utilising multiple platforms. A social layer provides "social networking, instant messaging, voice and video into one system" also including the ability to share files. By encapsulating all means of communication in the one destination, team members save time and recording communication becomes easier. References: Finley, K. (2010). Four Trends in Enterprise Video Conferencing. Read Write Web. Retrieved on 12 April 2011 from http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2010/10/trends-in-enterprise-video-conferencing.php
  • ...4 more comments...
  • Kaye England on 12 Apr 11
     
    I was interested in this article not only from a business perspective but also from an educational perspective. Video conferencing is something that we would like to use in the presentation of information literacy classes to off campus students in our library. The four trends that Finley (2010) discussed that of consumerization, mobility, interoperability and social layer are trends that will see video conferencing used much more in both business and educational settings (as well as for personal use of course!). Giesbers, Rienties, Gijselaers, Segers & Templeaar (2009) present an interesting case study of two virtual teams. One of the teams used video conferencing and the other team used online forums for their project work. The conclusion of this study was that there were no perceived advantages in the group that used videoconferencing. The debate then became about the advantages and disadvantages of asynchronous and synchronous communication. I for one am a reflective thinker - I like to be able to think things through and respond in my own time - so asynchronous communication suits me well. Synchronous communication such as videoconferencing can put more pressure on people to respond immediately. The key component in the videoconference group that stood out though, was the difference in leadership. It was more obvious in that group who the leader was and that seemed to make a difference to the group. Suduc, Bizoi, Filip (2009), conclude in their study that web conferencing requires much more leadership and organisation than other forms of collaboration. However, with that in place they say that there are many advantages to this type of collaboration, including, cost, time saving, reduction in travel and facility costs, improvement of decision making and communication. I definitely think that video conferencing will become more and more immersed in our day-to-day business and educational functions in the days to come. References: Finley, K. (201
  • Jiawen Lin on 16 Apr 11
     
    This article introduces some video conferencing applications, such as Cisco, Skype, Nefsis Basic, BlackBerry Playbook, and Google Voice, and shows how they are used as collaboration tools in enterprises. Burke (2011) summarizes that the use of such tools helps to establish instant communication, save travelling time, and cut business cost. One of my selected articles, iManage Unveils the First Multi-Platform Collaborative Content Management Suite, announces a new Internet content management application suit called iManage WorkSite MP which is an online collaboration tool as well. Both video conferencing tools and Internet content management applications are network-based, so users' contributions will be available instantly, and shared information can be distributed globally. Both of them aim at improving business efficiency, reducing cost and resource, and finally developing organisational service and product quality. While video conferencing tools focus on communication by audio and video, Internet content management applications, such as iManage WorkSite, has more to do with information management, such as text, image, and spreadsheets. It can be said that online collaboration tools can facilitate meetings among team members geographically, provide access to shared knowledge and ideas, and manage organisational information effectively. I argue that the combination of both video conferencing and content management tools can offer a comprehensive service to an organisation to compete in the global economy. As Fedorowicz, Laso-Ballesteros, and Padilla-Melendez (2008) state, the development of online collaboration "will facilitate multidisciplinary innovation and reduce barriers and inefficiencies among people working together"(p.1). Reference: Fedorowicz, J., Laso-Ballesteros, I., & Padilla-Melendez, A. (2008). Creativity, Innovation and E-Collaboration. International Journal of E-Collaboration, 4(4). Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.
  • Samantha Clews on 17 Apr 11
     
    I was first interested in this article from personal, and educational experiences with one of the tools mentioned. (Skype) The article explores the idea that Video conferencing can be used to cut costs in this growing financial crisis. A family member of mine uses the tool to collaborate with business partners as it is a much cheaper and easier option than flying all over. It is also easier to quickly update somebody without the high cost of international phone calls. the article explores other benefits of using the tool for business, such as the ability to use it on the move and the ability to combine it with social networking tools. Through personal experience, having family that live in another country, the tool is helpful to share photos, information, and to merely see each others faces, something that is much more beneficial than a phone conversation. This then brought me to an article by Mark Blankenship, in which he talks about a skype lecture he gave to a group of undergraduates. He states "They listened, took notes, asked questions, and engaged in discussion. Except for the fact that I never shared a physical space with them, my experience with the students was remarkably similar to the experience I've had with students in the actual world" therefore perhaps developing a fifth trend in which users feel that video conferencing enhances the ability to act as a real face-to-face mechanism, in which the social element is not hugely different than that of a real social interaction. Also proving to be more than just a one-on-one tool, as it can be used to interact with a group of students to aid in learning where a guest speaker is unable to attend the physical lecture. References Blankenship, M.. (2011, March). How Social Media Can and Should Impact Higher Education. The Education Digest, 76(7), 39-42. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from http://proquest.umi.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/pqdweb?index=5&did=2253484511&SrchMode=1&sid=14&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VTyp
  • Kelly Kerr on 17 Apr 11
     
    This article provides a high level overview on video conferencing in a corporate setting and discusses four main trends, such as consumerisation, mobility, interopability and the social layer. It discusses Skype and how quickly it is gaining a business market share in in comparison to other enterprise tools such as TelePresence and WebEX. The success of Skype is due to the fact that it is so easy to use and allows users to share desktops so they are "virtually" in the same room. Mobility is also a main driver for video conferencing. When we consider that every laptop has a webcam, the potential for mobile video conferencing is immense and not just limited to tools such as the iPhone using the Facetime protocol. Add to this that the workplace is changing with more people working remotely either from home or travelling on business and the potential for video conferencing is growing as we need to connect with colleagues and clients. In essence I think video conferencing is the way of the future, however interoperability with devices has the potential to create issues until a standard or protocol is defined much in the same way TCP/IP was defined as the global standard for web traffic in 1983 (Microsoft, 2005). Presently devices can "talk" to each other if they use the same protocol, however there are many protocols emerging at the moment and no industry set of rules that all protocols must adhere to. Reference TCP/IP background. (2005). Retrieved April 15,2011 from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc775383(WS.10).aspx
  • Jiawen Lin on 17 Apr 11
     
    This article introduces some video conferencing applications, such as Cisco, Skype, Nefsis Basic, BlackBerry Playbook, and Google Voice, and shows how they are used as collaboration tools in enterprises. Burke (2011) summarizes that the use of such tools helps to establish instant communication, save travelling time, and cut business cost. One of my selected articles, iManage Unveils the First Multi-Platform Collaborative Content Management Suite, announces a new Internet content management application suit called iManage WorkSite MP which is an online collaboration tool as well. Both video conferencing tools and Internet content management applications are network-based, so users' contributions will be available instantly, and shared information can be distributed globally. Both of them aim at improving business efficiency, reducing cost and resource, and finally developing organisational service and product quality. While video conferencing tools focus on communication by audio and video, Internet content management applications, such as iManage WorkSite, has more to do with information management, such as text, image, and spreadsheets. It can be said that online collaboration tools can facilitate meetings among team members geographically, provide access to shared knowledge and ideas, and manage organisational information effectively. I argue that the combination of both video conferencing and content management tools can offer a comprehensive service to an organisation to compete in the global economy. As Fedorowicz, Laso-Ballesteros, and Padilla-Melendez (2008) state, the development of online collaboration "will facilitate multidisciplinary innovation and reduce barriers and inefficiencies among people working together" (p.1). Reference: Burke, M (2011) Comment on Four Trends in Enterprise Video Conferencing. Retrieved from http://groups.diigo.com/group/cur
  • Fransisca Mayang Sari on 17 Apr 11
     
    Video conferencing as one of online collaboration tools, able to change the way people communicate as well as their perceptions towards the work day in nowadays. Video conferencing has become a part of communication strategy, this article shows that about 37% of Skype users use the service for business purpose, which is they use Skype to make conference video that is more convenient and less traveling cost, users would be able to meet up without consuming traveling time which normally required in order to meet face to face. I found out this article are useful in terms of explaining the way video conferencing been used in business as well as introducing 4 new trends on how people use it, and as resources itself, it is credible enough, this article took from ReadWrite Enterprises web sites that mainly focusing on business purposes. By relating on my own topic, which is talk about the use and features of social bookmarking site (delicious), video conferencing as well provides specific features in order to facilitate the video conference, hence users would be able to use the features and communicating online, same as the way delicious using it special features, such as tags, where people would be able to collaborate their bookmarks as long as they are sharing and using same tags. As for value, this article shows and recommends how useful video conferencing is and there is multiple ways and benefits we could get by using it online. References: Finley, K. (2010). Four Trends in Enterprise Video Conferencing. Read Write Web. Retrieved on 12 April 2011 from http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2010/10/trends-in-enterprise-video-conferencing.php
FARNAZ SHAMS

Article 4: Sign of the times: manufacturing and e-business blend as a digital enterprise - 13 views

ofcourese the advantages of e-business can overcome to its disadvantages and now most of the educated people prefer to as it as a beneficial thing.

collaboration; globel; network; enterprise; online; Net308_508; Internet; e-business; digital enterprises

started by Jiawen Lin on 10 Apr 11 2 follow-ups, last by FARNAZ SHAMS on 13 Apr 11
Belinda Milne

The Old Spice Social Media Campaign by the Numbers - 2 views

mashable.com/...old-spice-stats

advertising social media Social Media Marketing viral videos Old Spice Guy Old Spice

shared by Belinda Milne on 12 Apr 11 - Cached
  • Belinda Milne on 12 Apr 11
     
    The "Old Spice Guy" Campaign has proven to be a game-changer, not only for Old Spice but for social media marketing. Ehrlich points out (2010), such campaigns seek to involve the audience in an immersive experience, essentially making viewers part of the campaign. Since the original campaign advertisement was launched, the campaign reached 40 million views in a week for a total 1.4 billion campaign impressions across all media, including thousands of parody mashups. The campaign has since gone on to increase sales of Old Spice by 107% and even won the Cannes Film Lions Grand Prix in 2010 (the advertising industry's equivalent of winning an Oscar for best film). Arguably, the most interesting and memorable feature of the campaign has been the interactive "Old Spice Responses". Responses was a series of 186 custom-made videos made for fans and celebrities selected from comments from Social Media Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit (Ehrlich, 2010; see also Grant, 2010). These videos posted on YouTube became the basis for a viral campaign that achieved 6,000,000 responses in 24 hours. The true genius behind Wieden & Kennedy's simple idea, as Ehrlich points out (2010), is that it is viewers themselves who are maintaining the campaign's momentum as "viewers to go viral". This marks an important shift as "brands don't make viral videos, users make videos viral." That's exactly what Old Spice achieved." (Ehrlich, 2010). References: Grant, R. (2010, 10 August). 'Wieden+Kennedy's Old Spice Case Study' in We are Social [video] Retrieve 12 April 2010 via http://wearesocial.net/blog/2010/08/wieden-kennedys-spice-case-study/ Williams, M. (2010, 26 June). "Old Spice scoops Cannes Film Lions Grand Prix" Retrived 12 April, 2010 via http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1012646/Old-Spice-scoops-Cannes-Film-Lions-Grand-Prix/
  • Mandy Burke on 16 Apr 11
     
    My topic is more specifically related to videoconferencing, through the use of software programs such as Skype. But I found this article (and this marketing campaign) interesting as they were combining video technology with a marketing campaign, which was the first marketing campaign of its kind (Taylor, 2010). Video has many advantages including those discussed by Isaacs and Tang (1994), which are connecting people who are geographically dispersed, building motivation, providing visual cues and body language indicators. I think Old Spice incorporated these four benefits of video and utilised them effectively into their campaign. They could have made the responses in text only versions, but this would not have been as impactful or effective. They relied on visual cues and body language indicators to assist in delivering their message. Due this marketing campaign being innovative it helped to motivate consumers who were geographically dispersed into spreading these videos throughout their social networks. However as discussed by Masum, Brooks and Spence (2005), without the use of a high speed Internet connection this campaign would not have been as successful. A high speed Internet connection would need to be in place to upload the video content to its users and also share the content throughout the network. If it was still common for users to have dial up speed Internet connections, they would not have found this campaign as motivating as they would have had to wait for it to download and users may have become uninterested quite quickly. References: Isaacs, E., Tang, J. (1994). What video can and can't do for collaboration: A case study. Multimedia Systems, Vol. 2, Issue 2, pages 63 -73. Masum, H., Brooks, M. and Spence, J. Music Grid: A case study in video collaboration. First Monday. Retrieved on 16 April 2011 from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/rt/printerFriendly/1238/1158
  • Belinda Milne on 17 Apr 11
     
    Thanks Mandy, you make an interesting point about the importance of Broadband Internet in the growth and popularity of video as a means of communication. It is sometimes easy to overlook or even overestimate the role of tools and affordances in analysing collaborative projects and events. Rosanna's article "Egypt did not have an Internet Revolution" suggests the role of social media was greatly exaggerated by the media and, in fact, the most important collaborative tool in the recent Egypt uprising was, in fact, face-to-face communication and word-of-mouth.
JoelMo Joel

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations - 0 views

cyber.law.harvard.edu/...shirky

collaboration online communication Internet organisation FlashMob Mob Social Shirky Web

shared by JoelMo Joel on 17 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • JoelMo Joel on 17 Apr 11
     
    Clay Shirky is a guru of Internet technologies and online collaborative effort studies. This document, which contains two videos from his presentation at Harvard University, provides in-depth explanations on some chapters from his book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations (2008). This material is a very valuable reference on Flash Mob studies and more generally for online collaboration. Indeed, Shirky underlines how online collaborative tools are used by people to gather and coordinate without needing traditional organizational and social structures like institutions in our "real life" (Forte, 2010). The idea conveyed in both videos is that Internet, as a space of multi-level freedom, is an extension of the innate human ability to form groups, whatever the reasons. He adds that the orientation of these groups also depends on the political environment. He contextualizes the Flash Mob phenomenon in the age of digital communications and argues that Internet allows us to see the largest ever increase in our potential ability for expression. This expression turns into social interactions such as Flash Mobs. Furthermore, Shirky investigates new forms of political protest supported by Internet and hence, he uses it as a very efficient example to illustrate the shift from online to offline social coordination. He focuses on the role of emails and Flash Mobs as characteristics of political protests in the age of "easy and rapid group forming", which is a specificity of networks (Forte, 2010). REFERENCES Forte, M. (2010). "Clay Shirky: 15 Points on the Web Revolution in Social Collaboration and Political Communication", Political Activism and the Web. Accessible from http://webography.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/clay-shirky-15-points-on-the-web-revolution-in-social-collaboration-and-political-communication (accessed on 11th April, 2011) Shirky, C. (2008). Talks on "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Orga
  • JoelMo Joel on 17 Apr 11
     
    REFERENCES (continue): Shirky, C. (2008). Talks on "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations". Accessible from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/berkmanat10/2008/02/shirky (accessed on 11th April 2011)
Kelly Kerr

Intranets Nurture Companies from the Inside - 22 views

Hi Kristy, I really enjoyed researching for this subject as I too work on an intranet for a large corporate. It was a bit of an eye opener seeing some of the technology that we are still trying t...

internet collaboration intranet personalisation IBM

started by Kelly Kerr on 09 Apr 11 2 follow-ups, last by Kelly Kerr on 17 Apr 11
Rosanna Candler

Mobs are born as word grows by text message - 12 views

Before encountering this article, I considered flash mobs to be a fun, street-art experience which illustrated the potential of the Internet and text-messaging to accumulate large numbers of strang...

started by Jacqueline Liu on 16 Apr 11 3 follow-ups, last by Rosanna Candler on 24 Apr 11
Mandy Burke

Skype - 0 views

www.skype.com

collaboration communication Business videoconference instantmessaging filesharing

shared by Mandy Burke on 16 Apr 11 - Cached
  • Mandy Burke on 16 Apr 11
     
    Skype is a free download which can be accessed from their website (www.skype.com.au). It is user-friendly, quick and easy to download. Once installed, minimal instruction is required to use Skype. Skype users can be located through searching the email address book, connecting through Facebook or inputting the username into the search box. Once connected with others, Skype has the ability to make audio calls, videoconference, share files and instant message. Video conferencing can be utilised throughout Skype with no charge. Skype allows users to see and hear others, which increases the effectiveness of the communication exchange. In Skype's recent update, screen-sharing functionality was added. This functionality enhances a videoconference by providing users with access to share one another's screens to view presentations or to assist with IT issues. Audio calls can be made between Skype accounts or through VOIP software to landlines or mobiles. The benefit of making calls through Skype is that they can be significantly cheaper than calling through a mobile or landline. Skype call charges start as low as $0.23c per minute. Credit for calls can be loaded onto Skype through the use of a credit card. Instant messaging allows users to talk to one another without the use of audio or video. It can be utilised when working on projects or for an alternative to video/audio in particular when Internet speed may not be high enough for a good connection. Instant messaging can be conducted with just one person or multiple people can use instant messaging simultaneously allowing for people to collaborate on projects. An extra benefit of Skype is file sharing, files can be shared instantaneously with no limit on the file size. This is a great benefit to businesses that may have size restrictions on their work email.
  • Elin Frustol on 17 Apr 11
     
    Skype is an excellent software that both individuals and businesses can make use of. Skype's unified communications capabilities make it a useful strategic tool for businesses. While Skype has been successful in the consumer market, it may have had harder time cracking into business market as there are already several competitors. Skype likes to point out that more than 30 percent of its global user base uses the service for business. However, there have been speculations that a greater proportion of business use is overseas and that a much smaller percentage of "business users" have integrated Skype with their office systems (Blackwell, 2009). Blackwell (2009) suggests that the reason why not more businesses use Skype is that call and connection quality are not always as good as they are on public switched telephone network. As Skype works over the open, Internet and peer-to-peer technology help route calls, thus the service may not provide the quality sufficient for business use. Another concern is the security of the Skype service as it uses the public Internet for voice calls (Reardon, 2009). I think that the different collaborative opportunities Skype offers are valuable for small or medium-sized companies looking to keep costs down. Reardon (2009) believes that businesses in general won't get rid of their existing telephone service to use Skype, but some may use it to communicate with employees internally. References Blackwell, G. (2009). The Pros and Cons of Skype for Businesses. Retrieved from http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/buyersguide/article.php/10729_3816716_2/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Skype-for-Business.htm Reardon, M. (2009). Skype Targets Businesses with New Service. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10201830-92.html
  • Jacqueline Liu on 17 Apr 11
     
    I agreed that skype is an excellent tool, since it is user friendly and widely accessible. Apart from computer usage, it could also be accessed on smart phones, which it is a trend now and still growing on mobile phone usages. I felt that Skype had especially collaborated distant communication; as a student studying away from home country, a budget international communication tool like Skype is demanded. Yet the quality of calls is doubtable as Elin Frustol said, and I found this is a problem with most of online calling tools, such as msn messengers, tango and vibers. I believe that is not only the problem of the tool but also internet accessibility, and computer technology. These issues would need a longer time to fixed, and it may lead to broader usage such as business and government, however the question is would it still be a budget tool by then?
JoelMo Joel

Dissolution and the Industry of Culture: The History of the Flash mob - 0 views

www.eatrva.org/...h%20Mob%20paper%20REVISION.pdf

collaboration online communication Internet organisation FlashMob Mob Culture social

shared by JoelMo Joel on 17 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • JoelMo Joel on 17 Apr 11
     
    This paper does a great job in critically analysing how Flash Mobs, a new socio-cultural phenomenon, are in fact final products born from a complex human collaboration and use of the technological revolution that is the Internet. It clearly explains their specificity as being totally socially mediated on, by and through online digital tools (blogs, social media, forums, instant messaging) that are used as collaborative spaces to virtually organise and create a real-life upcoming interaction between people (Nicholson, 2005). What's more, the paper brings some ideas about how the Internet can also be used to "hijack" and reverse the original essence of Flash Mob philosophy, thereby turning its main assets - instantaneity, virtual proximity, massive audience reach, networks, costless operation - into potential factors for bringing chaos, as when Philadelphia experienced a very violent wave of riots (Wagner & Buzi, 2010), or when a political protest flash mob was organised in Belarus in 2006 (Peterson, 2009). Garland demonstrates the importance of cooperation and participation between network users for Flash Mobs and cites Rheingold's thesis, with which I strongly agree, that states that they are "a type of social engagement that may be created and organised by interacting with the technology of shared networks or the technologies that allow the shared networks to interact [within an event program]" (2002). Yet, this reading highlights the differences between Flash Mobs and Smart Mobs even though both can be considered as the technology itself and the use of that technology (Rheingold, 2002). In the end, The History of Flash Mobs raises larger concepts from which this phenomenon grew out of, such as communication, social or cultural studies, thus emphasising the importance of Internet as a new way for human beings to interact and collaborate in real life. REFERENCES Buzi, J. & Wagner, A. (2010) Flash Mobs: A New Social Phenomenon Philadelphia N
  • JoelMo Joel on 17 Apr 11
     
    REFERENCES (continue): Buzi, J. & Wagner, A. (2010) Flash Mobs: A New Social Phenomenon Philadelphia Neighbors. sct.temple.edu. Accessible from http://sct.temple.edu/blogs/murl/2010/03/30/flash-mobs-a-new-socialphenomenon/ (accessed on 11th April, 2011) Nicholson, J. A. (2005) 'Flash! Mobs in the Age of Mobile Connectivity' The Fibreculture Journal, Iss.6 December. Accessible from http://six.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-030-flash-mobs-in-the-age-of-mobile-connectivity/print/ (accessed on 11th April, 2011) Peterson, N. (2009) Flash Mobs - The New Political Dissent. Accessible from http://www.neilpeterson.com/index.php/2009/11/flash-mobs-the-new-political-dissent (accessed on 12th April, 2011) Rheingold, H. (2002) Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. New-York: Basic Books.
Jiawen Lin

Article 2: iManage Unveils the First Multi-Platform Collaborative Content Management Suite - 7 views

My comment: Fedorowicz, Laso-Ballesteros, and Padilla-Melendez (2008) summarizes that a good collaboration tool is able to produce a faster time to market, increase business model innovation, red...

collaboration; organisation; online; Internet; business; software; Net308_508

started by Jiawen Lin on 10 Apr 11 1 follow-up, last by Jiawen Lin on 12 Apr 11
Jiawen Lin

Article 1: The American Pain Foundation (APF) and The HealthCentral Network Collaborate... - 8 views

This news article announced the establishment of www.ChronicPainConnection.com which provides information on the topic of pain, including blogs written by professionals, feature video of personal e...

collaboration; pain; website; learning; online; Internet; Net308_508

started by Jiawen Lin on 10 Apr 11 1 follow-up, last by Jiawen Lin on 12 Apr 11
1 - 20 of 60 Next › Last »
Showing 20▼ items per page