Wednesday 30 January 2008

Web 2 - Culture Change - StarTrek......

Thanks to those of you who read and commented on the Ebay idea. As you can see from the poll most people who commented thought it was a little interesting. Sorry about the typo - I definitely know how to spell definitely, but once the first person had voted I couldn't change it. I learned something important from that post - "Check your spelling!" Anyway I had some great emails regarding this post too - with very mixed views. One manager commented that there would need to be a culture change if staff were now expected to communicate online and that they were too busy wading through emails. Fair point, I think we are all suffering from email overload and sometimes it just isn't the best way to communicate, So maybe we need to explore the options. That still doesn't mean the ones we explore now will be the right ones either! Don't get me wrong, I am not expecting everyone now to forget the email and jump into blogging and twittering, email still has a vital role within the business. So along with others I am trying things out but don't think I am always bowled over or impressed by all the technology I see.

I was, after all, the one who many years ago was totally underwhelmed by video conferencing when others around me were so excited - I couldn't get excited, the technology was 40 years old - Captain Kirk had ship to ship live communication in the 60's. While I'm on the subject of Star Trek - Did you realise that Captain Kirk had one of the first tablet pcs too? Looks a lot different to ours BUT they read their books on it, and did their work and wrote on it too. Sound familiar?


I've started now. We have a lot to thank (or curse) Gene Roddenberry for. The mobile phone was the first piece of technology to come from Star Trek. Not far from what we have is it?




What about the hands free device? I hope he was being paid commission for his ingenuity.



Now back to the point I was originally on before I got sidetracked. We have all this web 2 technology which is supposed to be the next generation of the Web (no I'm not on about Star Trek again). But for those of you who have already been using discussion forums, groups or creating your own web pages from templates it seems to me that this supposedly new technology isn't really new, it's just been repackaged, looks fresh and has suddenly taken off big time. So don't be put off by all the new names floating about. Google them, speak to any of us in the college who can tell you a bit more and most importantly put them in context when you use them in your job.

Beam me up Scotty. (I am sick of the driving between here and Croydon let's hope the personal transporter is developed in my lifetime). Note: Before you ask. No I don't dress up in the uniforms at the weekend. Live long and Prosper friends.

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4 comments:

Martin King said...

Wendy,

Lots of "food for though here" and a really nice blog.

The information about there needing to be a culture change is the same as I hear and feel personally - that's why I'm talking about paradigm2.

I get bogged down day after day with email overload - better than attending meetings but I want to explore offloading at least some email to other forms - twitter and blogs for information passing and groups (Google, facebook) etc for discussion and social networks for fun stuff. All these web 2 things like blogs, groups and social nets are all more participative than email.

I want to revert email back to it's original use - personal/private use.

I need to get on with the SOS - Save Our System email to tell staff about this.

Anonymous said...

I think blogging is a very effective tool, as are RSS Feeds (could be very useful for receiving up-to-the-minute news in an education context, e.g. www.teachernet.gov.uk has a "community" section). The DfES site has an RSS feed....

What is an RSS feed?

RSS, or 'really simple syndication', is an easy way for you to keep updated automatically on websites you like. Instead of you having to go to websites to see if there is a new article or feature, you can use RSS to get them to tell you every time they have something new. You can also set a time for the retrieval of those feeds.

wendypeskett said...

Thanks JimmyC - a useful comment on RS feed.

Martin King said...

Wendy,

As Jimmy says - RSS is a vital part of surviving Web2.

I recommend trying out Google Reader - a page where you can add your RSS feeds

http://www.google.com/reader/