This blog is intended for me to share my views, findings, and experiences with issues related to instructional design & performance. It is a forum for other graduate students, professionals and anyone who is interested to share.
Web 2.0, very interesting. Well I just viewed this very interesting blog that pointed me to some very interesting links. Now you can either view that person's blog or read my blog. Who cares as long as the information gets across.
So along with web 2.0 is the concept of informal learning: learning without a curriculum, learning that is achieved by a natural desire to get information to solve a problem, learning that is acquired unintentionally through conversation. In the blog David Delgado makes mention of Jay Cross who presents a very good video on informal learning.
Jay cross states that the most powerful technology or learning tool is human conversation....splendid!! :). So these social networking tools available are allowing humans to have conversation uninhibited by space and time. He further distinguished between training and learning. Training is something some one does for you, while learning is more internal and it's done by the self. So "People can train you, but they can't learn you."
This includes pooling expertise, even from people who are retired....wow retirement does not mean solely sitting at home or having nice vacations but knowledge can still be passed on.
The concept of informal learning is very important, if a business wants to be a learning organization...which is another buzz word these days :). The point is learning is ongoing and in order to be successful organizations have to motivate their staff to collaborate and keep current with what's happening even without formal training structures in place.
It is amazing how technology has evolved. I think the relationship with technology and humans could be referred to as symbiotic, by this I mean they both shape each other. Technology changes the way we do things but also human behaviors/needs dictate the types of technologies that are developed.
To illustrate this point they made mention of RSS (Real Simple Syndication) which is an XML format for syndicating content. Moving away from static HTML. I have personally enjoyed the benefits of RSS feeds. It certainly saves time when one can receive updates when new content is added to a site rather than having to search the site all the time.
2. Providing Web Services: Moving Away from place.
Under this section they discussed that XML makes content sharable and transformable between different systems. Therefore, content is not tied to the place (the website). They also made mention of programmatic interfaces, where anyone can build an interface to content on any domain if the developers provide a web service API (Application Program interface).
3. Remixing Content: About when and what, not who or why Content is no longer contained in one place. They mention that Web 2.0 is about building event-driven experiences rather than sites. "Because content flows across the web in RSS feeds and can be remixed along the way, web designers must now think beyond sites and figure out how to brand content itself."
4. Emergent Navigation and Relevance: Users are in control
Web 2.0 allows content from several places to be aggregated based on the users needs. Therefore, built in navigation schemes on specific websites will soon be used less as users are able to read content without ever visiting a domain. Therefore, navigation paths will be determined by users' behaviors not by inbuilt design.
5. Adding Meta-data Overtime: Communities building social information
Sites are now available that allow the average person who is not competent in building a website to add meta-tags. Search engines search meta-tags so the results will bring up not only designers results but now everybody has a say. Content is more extensive. example del.icio.us allows people to store their bookmarks online and also create meta-tags.
6. Shift to programming: separation or structure and style
Seeing that Web 2.0 is all about networking they argue that words and semantics are more important than presentation and layout. Therefore designers will have to think about branding site content not just the site; think beyond presentation of the site to API's and syndication.
Well it sounds hard, but is either you get with the program or get left behind. So now it's not only about being tech-savvy it's about being text-savvy (I coined this, I mean one has to know how to creatively use words to bring users together.) Good reading visiting the link and take peek.
I am a graduate student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). I am from the beautiful Island of Jamaica.......
Ok enough of the formal verbiage, I am really a very hard to confine to one adjective or dimension person. I am open minded, not willing to be the vacuum of everything that is presented to be. I follow my dreams & see each challenge as an empowerment opportunity.
I have a passion for teaching and learning, anything that involves communicating information, performance, motivation....you get the drift.
The purpose of this blog initially was to achieve a grade for a class with the intent that I will acquire a body of knowledge about Performance Improvement. It did work to an extent, but after awhile I was just doing it because I needed to pass my course. What made it worst was the fact that I had no committed audience. We were instructed to read our peers' blogs but I guess everybody was overwhelmed either they read and did not comment or they just could not be bothered to read (me included). Of course the instructor was a committed viewer, but this was not enough.
This highlights a very important aspect of learning; it is best when self initiated. This explains why organizations that facilitate informal learning excel above the rest. When people are naturally interested in a task or subject matter they are motivated to search for information. Thus, they empower themselves and by extension the company.
Now that my course has finished and I have subscribed to some really good blogs my self, I think I can continue to contribute to the knowledge sharing. I have garnered a lot from reading other blogs and have been motivated by the fact that some creators actually respond to the comments of others.
I decided to wear the shoe of “blog reader” before I wore the shoe of “blog creator”. One of the turn offs for me is when I visit a blog and see that the last post was a very long time ago, it means that the creator is no longer interested, so why should I the reader be bothered to even read the old post, that information can surely be found some where else. However, when the posts are current and engaging I want to visit, not only visit but subscribe.
Being a graduate student, having 2 years full time employment and 2 and 1/2 years internship experience, it is my intention to share my thoughts and knowledge that I have garnered and also to learn from others.
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