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Research study by Gloria Mark, Stephen Voida, and Armand Cardeno, 2012 on impact of work with/without email "ABSTRACT We report on an empirical study where we cut off email usage for five workdays for 13 information workers in an organization. We employed both quantitative measures such as computer log data and ethnographic methods to compare a baseline condition (normal email usage) with our experimental manipulation (email cutoff). Our results show that without email, people multitasked less and had a longer task focus, as measured by a lower frequency of shifting between windows and a longer duration of time spent working in each computer window. Further, we directly measured stress using wearable heart rate monitors and found that stress, as measured by heart rate variability, was lower without email. Interview data were consistent with our quantitative measures, as participants reported being able to focus more on their tasks. We discuss the implications for managing email better in organizations" CONCLUSIONS Our study has shown that there are benefits to not being continually connected by email. Without email, our informants focused longer on their tasks, multitasked less, and had lower stress. It is an open question to what extent the effects we found in our study might be sustainable. How the benefits of reduced email usage might outweigh the known benefits of email in reaching larger numbers of people rapidly with information is not clear. What our study suggests is that the tradeoffs among email usage, work pace, stress, and collaboration need to be more closely explored. There will always be new "zombies" lurking with advances in information technology, and we must continue to be vigilant in assessing the human costs that are incurred when these advances are adopted in the workplace.

From the Harvard Business Review November 23, 2015 blog by Steve King and Gene Zaino. This article cites some of the studies we have used to illustrate how the "gig economy" of high level contingent workers is called. They cite the Ardent Partners study, Deloitte 2015 study, the McKinsey study on Connecting Talent with Opportunity in the Digital Age study as well as the HBR research. 6.4 million Americans report they provide professional services to corporations, and is growing at 3x the rate of overall employment.

Article published 10/3/12 in Medical Economics by Brandon Glenn. "Nearly one-fourth of physicians use social media on a daily basis to scan or explore medical information, according to a recently published study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. The researchers behind the study set out to examine physicians' level of social media usage for the purpose of exchanging advice, ideas, reports, and scientific discoveries with other physicians. The study was based on emailed survey responses from 485 primary care physicians (PCPs) and oncologists, and it had a response rate of 28%. They found that, whereas just 24% of physicians use social media to "scan or explore" on a daily basis for those reasons, that number jumps to 61% when measured on a weekly basis. Physicians who use social media to "contribute," rather than merely scan information, stood at 14% daily and 46% weekly. "

"The Varied Functions of Badges" summary from HASTAC discussion, 9/2012 My interest in the functions of badges was spurred along when the MacArthur Foundation asked for help documenting the design principles for using digital badges that emerge across the 30 projects underway by the awardees in their Badges for Lifelong Learning project. We needed to come up with a manageable number of categories. Here is what we came up with: Recognizing Learning. This is the most obvious and arguably the primary function of badges. David Wiley has argued cogently that this should be the primary purpose of badges. If we focus only on purposes, then he may well be right. His point is that badges are credentials and not assessments. This is also consistent with the terrifically concise definition in Seven Things You Should Know About Badgesby Erin Knight and Carla Casilli. Assessing Learning. Nearly every application of digital badges includes some form of assessment. These assessments have either formative or summative functions and likely have both. In some cases, these are simply an assessment of whether somebody clicked on a few things or made a few comments. In other cases, there might be a project or essay that was reviewed and scored, or a test that was graded. In still other cases, peers might assess an individual, group, or project as badgeworthy. Motivating Learning. This is where the controversy comes in. Much of the debate over badges concerns the well-documented negative consequences of extrinsic incentive on intrinsic motivation and free choice engagement. This is why some argue that we should not use badges to motivate learning. However, if we use badges to recognize and assess learning, they are likely to impact motivation. So, we might as well harness this crucial function of badges and study these functions carefully while searching for both their positive and negative consequences for motivation. Evaluating Learning. The final category of

interesting take by edudemic.com on social networks and what they capture/express through your participation or as they put it: "the questions lying behind social media" Facebook: What are you studying right now? Twitter: What would you recommend studying? LinkedIn: This is what I've studied YouTube: Here is a video lesson that i enjoyed Pinterest: Here are things I've learned and where I learned them Spotify: What do you listen to? Scoop It: What do you want to learn most? Learnist: What are the next steps and resources?

Inside Higher Ed article by Scott Jaschik, April 20, 2015, on how students studying online in California's community colleges are not as successful in completing courses or earning As and Bs as their peers do working f2f in classroom formats.

Incisive post by Cory Doctorow citing various studies by computer scientists on how claims to successfully "de-identification" of large sets of data do not hold up on closer examination and actual incidence. Cites Arvind Narayanan and Ed Felten's studies.

new study on impact of millennials in workforce--want to use technology for connecting, communicating, and collaborating in much greater numbers than baby boomers do

Fascinating article on Baylor research on how internal social networking sites supported and managed within the workplace helps newcomers (younger people usually) to connect and learn from each other, interact directly with more senior people, and inadvertently cause problems for middle managers who did not want to mentor new hires and who did not necessarily have the social/technology proficiencies to participate in the SNS, Science Daily, 1/29/2013. Their conclusions showed that a "company can improve morale and reduce turnover." Researchers are Hope Koch, Baylor, Dorothy Leidner, Ph.D., Ferguson Professor of Information Systems at Baylor; and Ester Gonzalez from Washington State University. Excerpt: he study centered on a financial institution's efforts to reduce IT employee turnover by starting a social and work-related online networking site. Under the supervision of executives, the IT new hires developed and managed the site's content. Since most new hires had moved hundreds of miles to start their new jobs with the institution, they initially used the social pages as an introduction to the community. After a year or so with the organization, the more senior new hires began using the system to acclimate and mentor incoming new hires. All study respondents worked in the institution's IT department and included new hires, middle managers and executives. With less than three years of experience, most new hires and interns were men between 21 and 27 years old. The middle managers and executives were baby boomers or members of generation X. The internal social networking site helped the new hires build social capital in several ways, according to Koch. "It gave them access to people who could provide useful information and new perspectives and allowed them to meet more senior new hires and executives. These relationships set the new hires at ease during work meetings, helped them understand where to go for help and increased their commitment to the financial

interesting blog post by Dina Spector, 11/3/2011, on a survey of 8,000 young people on how important internet access is to them. Excerpt: A new study by Cisco Systems reveals that one in three college students and young professionals under 30 believe the Internet is as important as air, water, food, and shelter (via CNNMoney). The study, which polled 8,000 people in 14 countries, found that more than half of the participants said they could not live without the Internet, citing it as "more important than owning a car, dating, and going to parties." Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/internet-cisco-poll-2011-11#ixzz2t86UUkO7

Vision Critical's recently published study, From Social to Sale provides answers to exactly how a company's social media strategy could be tailed to drive sales. The study evaluated social media purchasing against participation in Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Top Findings: About 40% of social media users have purchased an item after sharing or "favoriting" it on these sites. (The company uses "Shared or Favorited" to mean pinned/repinned/liked on Pinterest; shared/liked/commented on Facebook; tweeted/retweeted or favorite on Twitter.) Facebook is the network most likely to drive customers to purchase. Social media drives not just online purchasing, but in-store purchasing as well - and at about equal rates.

Interesting study using Facebook volunteers. The authors analyzed 700 million words, phrases and topic instances from Facebook messages of 75,000 volunteers who took standard personality tests, and found striking variations in language with personality, gender, age. Used an open-vocabulary technique where the data itself drives the exploration of language that found connections not captured with traditional methods. To date, this is the largest study, by order of magnitude, of language and personality.

Some interesting findings based on age and gender

Great slide program posted by Beth Kanter, May 28, 2014, on integrating social media campaigns using different case studies, poetry, and humor to share real-life learning opportunities and engage others around them.

Phyllis Korkki in Applied Science for NYT, September 2015 on when to seek advice from co-workers

Although ten years old, interesting blog post by Dave Kovaleski, July 1, 2004, Meetingsnet, makes some good points about what kinds of learning and when. Excerpt The key to an effective blended learning program lies in the mix of media used to deliver the training. Bersin identifies 16 different media, including classroom instruction, webinars, conference calls, CD-ROM courseware, study manuals, Web pages, online simulations, on-site labs, Web-based discussion groups, mentoring programs, and videos. To create a successful blended program, it's not necessary to incorporate many or all of them; in fact, two or three should suffice. Typically, a blended-learning program has several steps. The first might be a conference call, introducing students to the trainer and subject. Next is the self-directed portion, in which students are asked to study for the live session. The self-directed portion is best delivered through asynchronous means, such as webcasts or some kind of simulated, virtual exercises. Experts suggest follow-up testing on the pre-work to make sure students are prepared to move on to the live, or synchronous, session. "The self-directed portion of the blend is critical," says Jennifer Hofmann, president of InSync Training LLC, Branford, Conn., and author of The Synchronous Trainer's Survival Guide (Jossey-Bass). "It's a huge culture change." ... Post-meetings, or asynchronous evaluations, are frequently the final components of blended-learning programs. Coaching modules, online tutorials, tests, and simulations reinforce the classroom work. They also allow companies to make sure that employees are applying the new information to their jobs. In addition, testing allows employers to identify knowledge gaps so that follow-up training is well-focused.

Article in U.S. News & World Report on physicians using social media, January 1, 2013. About one in four U.S. doctors uses social media daily to scan or explore medical information, according to a new study. The survey of nearly 500 cancer specialists (oncologists) and primary-care doctors also found that 14 percent contribute new information via social media each day, said the researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore. Sixty-one percent of the doctors said they use social media once a week or more to look for information, and 46 percent said they contribute new information once a week or more, according to the study, which appeared recently in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. More than half of the respondents said they use only physician-only communities and only 7 percent said they use Twitter.

summary of main findings from just released CompTIA study on millennials' expectations of technology, telecommuting in the workplace, etc. 

study results presented in ScienceInsider, Aleszu Bajak, May 12, 2014 on traditional stand and deliver lectures 1.5 times more likely to fail with undergraduate students than in classes that use more active engagement methods.

press release on Accenture study looking at how digitally savvy women are helping to close the gender gap in the workplace, March 3, 2016. 

introduction to new Accenture study on importance of digital fluency in education, workplace, and in leadership