Orientation

So, I'm starting this blog. A few days late, yes, but you never reminded to get started. So it is all your fault, slacker. I'm not even sure if I want a slacker reading my blog. You should probably think about your life and your priorities before judging me...

Where was I? Ah, yes... blaming you. But even before that, my Starting School Full Time Blog.

I quit work 3 weeks ago from my decent paying job that had decent perks and benefits. However, it was a dead-end position and I was literally be going nowhere until one of the owners died or they sold the business to a third party. My last official day was this past Friday, August 21^st. Let the poverty and worries begin!

Orientation was the day before, for which I took a day off of work (why not? It’s not like I had anything better to do there…) There were the usual hodge-podge of other programs, instructors, and speakers. A veteran student did a Q&A after the staff left, which was actually pretty good. Onto the small group session, where I was marked as a Veteran Student there to just listen in. Good thing, because it 1) made the ego boost a bit and 2) gave me more standing. The orientation was over after that. A quick 3 hours or so.

One of the big reasons (as I may have mentioned in a previous post) for starting school full-time is to get integrated into the school and courses better. I want to actually get networked and socialized, meeting fellow students and getting to know instructors. This in itself is useful, as it is quite difficult to meet friends (although I do have friends and they are awesome, though I’m sure they owe me money). However, I need to break out of the shell.

An additional reasoning is so that I can become The Guy in the program. You know The Guy: He’s the one the teachers know, the one everyone (except maybe new students) knows and will asks questions to. Not necessarily the Big Man on Campus, but someone that is known for knowing stuff and who can be relied on, etc. This isn’t (completely) for my ego, but mostly so that when it comes time for a job, my name will be on the lips of instructors when good jobs offers come through.

I have never really been “networked,” so it’s a difficult thing. I get along with people well enough, but not so much that I maintain ties with them. Lots of acquaintances that are left by the wayside, so the speak, and I wanted to get networked for both personal and professional reasons. Getting networked will help the career too, of course, and I’m relying on my super awesomeness to have such an effect on the instructors that they can’t wait to find me the Best Job in the World (which includes all-you-can-eat Whoopers and various dancing girls)(edit: I meant Whoppers, but I'd take a bunch of Whoopers, too, probably).

I did pick up more information during Orientation, in conversations there, and the day or so after that. I will summarize those in the next posting. These blog postings, as I have said, will remain informal, so suck it if you have any issue with my syntaxes or sentence structures. Also, if you are reading this than you have a reason to, even if it’s just because you’re bored out of your skull. With that said, if something written here causes you to think or question, feel free to let me know. I do take requests, and pander to them.

A final note: I rarely proofread my postings. This isn't work, after all, and it's often humorous to leave mistakes as-is. Problem with that? I doubt it; if you read this far them you probably don't care. ;) Until next time, my loyal reader(s)

-cpk

Non- Web 2.0 Topic!!! I swear! (starting full-time school)

Well, I have finally come upon the best way to complete the following list:

1) Become more poor
2) Increase my stress level
3) Open myself to increased ridicule in a face-to-face format, instead of bearing it in my standard digital format.

My genius plan to finish my list is to resign from work and being school on campus at FSU in the fall.

Being my extremely loyal readers and fans, I'm sure you are aware that I (along with being very humble) began officially at FSU in the spring, taking courses part time in the Instructional Systems Master's program, and also working towards the Human Performance Technology certification.

It is my intention to blog about my efforts, and the subsequent successes. If you find this completely uninteresting, feel free to stop following this blog's feed or drop me as a friend on your list. I won't be insulted at all.
Don't worry, though, as I'm sure there will be plenty more failures which I'm sure will be more entertaining. Perhaps I will also post pictures of myself, distraught and defeated, head lowered, ashamed at my failure. If you look forward to that, you are a twisted individual, but also have an odd sense of humor that may appreciate my future writing.
If you have any requests or want additional specifics for this little journal, feel free to let me know. That just means less unique thoughts I have to conjure up on my own out of this dark, bubbling cauldron that is my mind.
Enjoy the future! I hope to have a pre-semester blog before orientation on the 20th, but the first may be about orientation.

Finding new Web 2.0

There have been previous discussion about filter of web 2.0 tools and information, and the role of instructor designers in using and planning for web 2.0 in the future. One of the hardest parts of I am anticipating is the task of becoming aware of these new (and potentially very useful) web 2.0 tools.
First off, if you're reading this and still have the desire to continuing typing out characters after such a hectic course: Do you have any strategy, personal rules, or habits for deciding what new programs you bother paying attention to, decide to learn more about, or actually inform yourself enough to begin to make use of a new tool?
Filtering is a big part of it all, considering that I can, off the top of my head, find a half more than a dozen web 2.0 sites resulting from the topic of "step." With starting my own filtering years ago, I feel that I trigger my mental filter too quickly, thereby losing a lot of potentially great tools. Instead of looking into a dozen tools and finding 8 I may actually use, I will only look into 6 and find 5 I may use. Is it better to over-filter than under-filter? I couldn't say without exhaustive research into my own research habits and the end results.
Perhaps if my hundreds of loyal readers (HAHAHAHA!!!) give their own suggestions, I will be able to alter my filtering of new tools to be more effective.

The End?!?

The course (of course) is drawing to a close, as additionally evidenced by my last minute blogging. It simply wouldn't be the end of a class without some last minute work, even if there are no exams to speak of.
Other than the potential lack of communication in the future from my current classmates, one of the items that occupies my mind is the continuing of our produsages, and the effective archival and storing of all the relevant information that was gathered during the class.
Concerning the produsages: As I have mentioned previously, many sites (web 2.0 and otherwise) simply do not last the test of time. That test in this class could be as short as the end of the course, or for the general population that test of time could be defined by the creator's patience. I am curious as to how many of our projects will continue to be used. As long as one person is still produsing and participating, the latent communities we've created can still survive. I do expect some to continue to grow and become more successful, especially as the tools and compilations become more known to interested parties, and more "outsiders" join the mix. By then, the addition of "strangers" will continue to add to the worth of the site, thereby increasing the popularity even more.
There are a number of lists available containing each of our produsages, so am I am also scrambling to visit my old marks and postings to gleam extra links, information, recommendations, etc. that my classmates have noted and suggested, with the intent for future use. This is slightly more difficult in that the discussion boards are linked inside of Blackboard, and will therefore be inaccessible (at least, easily and one's wish). The wiki, luckily, was linked into Blackboard so we can still keep the links to that wikispaces site available for future reference.
Of course, we can always sent a personal message to a classmate or instructor asking for a reference they had once found, but there's the dozens of other items that may be forgotten and only remembered when it is too late. That is the inherent nature of all this digital information: It's all easily stored and accessible, but on the same note information can be cut off with a simple block generated by computer when a date passes, or when an integral person forgets a password. That ideas reminds me of a recent event at work: In the process of backing up someone's work, I had actually deleted his backup file on the server, leaving only his out-dated work on his local station. Luckily he only lost a few hours (well, "luckily" is relative), but the same instant, unforeseen blocking of previous information had occurred.

Week 6- Reflection

Reflect on what you have learned in the class and how you will use it professionally as both a lifelong learner and an instructional systems professional (or whatever field you’re in).

Even though I had being using a few different web 2.0 applications and tools (both differing kinds and on different levels) the idea of what constitutes a web 2.0 item and the potential each can hold is something that that is now part of my conscious list of "What Can I Use to Accomplish This?" Instead of just having a general idea of a wiki and what it can do, the different examples and uses provide a great base for future potential use for the same tool. This idea of now being actively aware of web 2.0 tools (instead of having a general idea) adds to my repertoire of potential tools, both for personal and professional use.

An additional result of this course on my life is in the area of keeping informed about new and upcoming web 2.0 tools, and tools already established but which could be used in differing ways. The great combinations of Twitter, wikis, Diigo, etc. were something that would have taken a while for me to come up with on my own, if ever. Considering that we only covered some of the more popular tools, I am looking forward to finding the less mainstream tools, making use of them, and combining them with other tools, but web 2.0 and otherwise.

It's this awareness of these tools that will have the biggest effect on my actions in the future. Tools such as Second Life and Twitter will earn a second glance. Instead of viewing them as the latest fad, popular with teenie-boppers and online egoists, I'll view them as the latest fad that I have no interest, but should probably be reviewed for true use fullness. Being aware of these new tools (and the even newer tools were haven't even conceived of yet) is probably the greatest thing I have gathered from this course.

Week 5- Contributions and work done

Ufda!! Week 6 is coming up! How ironic that by the time we all get the hang of filtering, relearning, acquiring odd program flavors, etc., is the same time that the course ends! With all the information Dr. Dennen gathers from this class, I am anxious to see how the course fares in the future during a regular fall or spring semester. Those lucky ducks!
With that said, here's what kept me from playing games all week:
-Continuing working with Bryan,d Barbara, and Lea Ann on the Online Seminole Student Association.
-Read DB, and commented on those lucky enough to garner my continued interest.
-Read every blog every (so it seems), and enjoyed reading the many articles and videos shared by my classmates (never watched a hour long+ video on YouTube before).
-Learned how to use a different set of wiki and administrative tools (apparently I've been spoiled by wikispaces)
-Read the text (does this even warrant writing down??)
-Did a lot of thinking on copyrights, what should be paid for, what is okay to download without due cause, and if any of it will eventually be "solved."

There's a whole evening left, so maybe something excellent will occur to justify my adding to this list.

Creating for an audience

We've been continuing our work on Produsage #2 (as I'm sure every read but one is doing, though of course she has to evaluation each one). One of the biggest hurdles is one that I believe almost every website or web tool developer has to faced The predicting and planning for how users will use a site, and what they expect. Of course, the inherent nature of web 2.0 lends it to evolve over time to fit the needs of the users. Like a great analogy written in the text, it is like a garden that is created, with natural paths being created where pedestrians actually work. Only then are sidewalks installed where these natural paths form.
Unfortunately, you cannot just hope that users will show up and make use of a site or tool, thereby resulting in the desired natural paths to form around. Some planning and forethought is required. This (eventually) brings me back to our work on prod. #2. There are discussion boards (DB) as well as a wiki, awaiting population by hoards of visitors. Our soon-to-be hoards, however, do need some direction and some pointers for where to begin if they wish to stay longer than to just get a cursory glance. We have been debating the best way to organize the current DB topics, as well as the terminology to be used for categories, both in the wiki and the DB.
Odds are there are degrees or certifications one can earn for the predicting and planning of how users will use a web site. I'm sure that any large company has consultants for how the psychology of internet users can best be used to keep visitors at a site and make full use of its resources. I wonder about the big differences in how one plans for a static web site (like say, the site for Coca Cola) as opposed to a more dynamic, web 2.0 website (like a most interesting, useful, fun, and overall excellent site such as our project).
In the end (especially for a time-sensitive project such as ours) you do what you can with what you have, and try to at least put down a minimal groundwork for visitors to work with. In our attempts to take a latent community and mature it into a 'real' online community, hopefully we've put together a decent place for students to visit, and that with some work and time it will continue on beyond this course.

Google adds another web 2.0 tool

Good news!! Google has come out with another Web 2.0! Now we can throw away all the old ones! Hail Google!  ;)

About Google Wave:

http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html

An hour+  presentation on Google Wave

http://wave.google.com/

Week 5- Journal Assignment

How do issues such as authorship, copyright and open access impact your desire, ability and willingness to engage in produsage, both personally and professionally?
Currently, my produsage tasks, usage, and creation are a combination of both personal and professional. With that said, I try to conscious be aware of copyright issues to the point of paranoia. With my luck, the one time I publish an image that's not free use is the one time that a litigious lawyer who created that image visits whatever item I created.
The same could be said for authorship. Years of having anti-plagiarism propaganda presented to me, combined with who knows how many papers requiring proper citing, have instilled a sense of making sure that any information, images, sounds, etc. created or presented are either common use, creatively unique, or give due credit to the proper author or artist.
These issues do not affect how I work or whether I would complete a piece of produsage. It is a mentality that has become part of how I create, and only inhibits what I do if I am working with a limited issue. "Limited" in the example of creating a website for FSU students, by FSU students, but avoiding using certain FSU phrases and icons, even if it is known to be the rights of Florida State.

Week 4- Accomplishments

Well! Week 4 just got finished up, and I believe it's time for preemptive panicking! Hooray!
While I properly prepare, here is what I remember doing during the last week...

-Worked with Bryan and Lee An on produsage #2, a website fsuonlinestudents.com, which is the counterpart to GOSA, which Bryan created for the University of Florida. Being a Seminole, we will forgive his for this aggregious act.
-Read every blog in the world (it seems at times)
-Started and participated in BlackBoard discussions.
-Continued to realize that I currently have no use for Twitter and that it still bothers me, much a digital Hannah Montana.
-Looked into the recommended StumbleUpon, Technorati, and citeulike. I find they all tend to match tools found on other Web 2.0 instances, but I do particularly like citeulike and its focus on articles.
-Continued to view and comment on the produsage #1 created by my talented classmates.
-"Communicated" using twiddla.com with Bryan. I add the quotations marks because it is not terribly user friendly and lacks any help format at all (at least, that we could find). I'm sure it has its uses, but these uses must be dark and mysterious things that should never see the light of day.

Week 4- Journal Prompt

How do you judge the value of expertise on the Web? Does it differ from your notion of expertise in face-to-face settings? Why or why not?

I believe I judge expertise on the web based on where the information is found, and how reputable the site is, both in general world terms and in my own experience. Similar to face-to-face settings, if a completely random person not associated with any group presents some information, they have very little creditability if the information is needed to be accurate. That is, if someone claims the stock market in Asia went up or down a certain amount, that information (while important) I don't need to know, so I don't place any value (positive or negative) on the expertise of the speaker.
However, if a police officer in a city I am visiting informs me that a street is closed, he has more value in my mind than another visitor to that city. On the web, if an associate professor of anthropology presents information as part of a museums online presence, that information garners more value than information given from random member of the public.
There is always the situations where the expertise is earned over time. If on a anthropology forums an individuals contributions have been found to be accurate many times over, even if that individual has no "proper" expertise officially given, for me they are source of knowledge that can be valued more than others. Even if someone is an associate professor in a subject, that same person over time can be found to not be reliable.
Both my thinking about this on the web and face-to-face is similar: People earn their value based on either a stated expertise based on the reputation of an established entity, or show their value over time by providing useful and accurate information.

Web 2.0 collaboration gone bad?

An example of a group of strangers coming together to accomplish something: They end up harassing a guy who was flaming on some forums:

http://consumerist.com/5322539/internet-trolls-trash-tardy-chest%20thumping-monitor-shipper

Web sites: Better to burn out or fade away?

While pondering produsage #2, I have also been thinking about the roughly 3 dozen (soon to be 6 dozen) new tools and websites created by the students in the Web 2.0 class. Many of them will not see another visitor after this class is over, some may have visitors that fade away with time, and hopefully others will not only being used, but will flourish and gain popularity with dedicated users.
I think about the thousands (or more) of web sites, blog, wikis, user profiles, etc. that are created every day and are left to languish in the purgatory of the Internet, and what their creators had in mind when they began their creation. Since not everyone's latent community actually evolves into a mature, self-sufficient digital community, at what point does a creator decide that they should essentially give up and delete their creation?
Currently, we've all heard of a few FSU IS websites and tools created that simply aren't being used, or are used so infrequently that not many people even know they exist. There is always the potential that a particular class will resurrect the site, or that an instructor decides to use the long-dormant tool for a class. Other than these examples, the tools created in the past for the FSU IS students and departments may very well suffer the same fate as my Geocities account, eternally existing in a server somewhere, but never seeing the light of a computer monitor.
I would be interested in reading (well, reading more) on different traits, characteristics, and techniques website and tool creators have used, and to see different statistics on how the differences translated into success, failure, or somewhere else in the large range in between. If such a thing is found, it would then make me wonder how the information is being used for corporate and for-profit companies to give their web sites the most use as possible. This alone sounds like an entire college program one could take: "Digital Success and the Theories Comprised of It."

Bookmarking/highlighting fun.

Well, "fun" isn't the work. It's an adjective I chose. Randomly, I might add.
After the initial astonishment passed over the variety and range of web 2.0 tools out there, I am still a little excited over bookmarking tools such as Diigo. Excitement is an odd word choice in itself, but it's close enough to describe the feeling when I see potential in a tool, and want to start working with it.
Many times I would be reading an article or website, and would think that I would like to read the information again. I could have printed the article, or bookmarked the web address in the usual fashion, but the compilation of so many (often random) hard copies or "Favorites" bookmarks does no bode well for the organized part of my mind. I like the idea of having a simple list of links that I can refer to, at which point I can find the particular section of interest by the notes or highlighting.
With that said, I sort of want to revisit as many past sites as possible, building up my website bookmarking database so that I can make use of it in the future!

Week 3- Contribution List

Week 3 is done! A fun week, where I simultaneously managed to fall behind in reading and complete a decent wiki for produsage #1:
This week I completed:
- Few random DB postings.
-Couple of random blog comments for classmates
-Did a lot of discussion with Eirin, and compilation of information for produsage #1.
-Introduced go2web20.net and RSS readers to coworkers Sure, it's not a class thing, but still relevant. :)
-Dipped my toe a bit more into Second Life, and realizing 1) I could really get into it and 2) I don't have time to really get into it :)
-Looked into the more obscure web 2.0 tools and sites. Unfortunately, there's a lot of overlap in the uses for sites. One of the most useful ones (for me, at least) that I recall is FatBurgr, a website which compiled nutrition information for a large variety of restaurants and fast food joints.

Creation of a Web 2.0 Masterpiece

"Masterpiece" is probably a misnomer. More like a web 2.0 "thing." In either case, the creation process for my produsage assignment #1 did a lot to realize how web 2.0 is supposed to be created as well as how it is can be used. Eirin and I created a wiki that gives information on IS courses, as well as providing an area for contributions for course reviews from students, which was noted in my last blog as I'm sure my faithful reader(s) is/are aware of. We debated whether to create a wiki or a ning network, and I pushed for the wiki with the idea that the majority of the ning tools wouldn't be necessary or used, and that a wiki would work fine.
While this can be true, the more we linked pages, changed layouts to make them more intuitive, and added different sections and contributor areas, the more I realized having integrated discussion boards (more than on a per-page basis), pictures, chat rooms, blogs, etc. could enhance the experience of visitors and the kinds of information they are looking for. In addition to the course reviews and information, it could also include areas to share and discuss other aspects of life as an IS graduate student, such as study methods, recommendations for projects, or sharing and assisting with projects and surveys. If the information in our course review warehouse proves to not only be useful, but also used, then I intend to import the information into a Ning network, and work on these extra ideas.
So, support your local Course Review Warehouse!! I'm sure you don't have 3-dozen other classmates with web 2.0 projects to help contribute to. ;)

Week 3- Produsage #1 update

Does calling something an update require that a previous mention of it? Perhaps. Either way, Eirin and I have been working diligently on what is perhaps the best wiki project ever (note that the definition of "best" is subjective to the viewer). After viewing her magic ball, she had the idea to create a place where information for the different IS programs could be found, in addition to the courses involved in each. It will contain the course requirements, and also have different pages for each course, where a description is given. In addition to the usual required courses, we would also list the different recommended elective courses, both inside the IS program and in other schools.
A big component is, of course, the ability of a user to edit these pages to add extra courses or to alter the contents. This is particularly useful in that the page for each course will also a course rating widget, and contain areas for students to input a Course Review. That is, their experience with the course, how it fits into their course of study, prerequisites recommended before the course in question, and any other useful information that future students may find useful in researching the classes they will take.
In addition to the previously mentioned items, there is also a separate area for students to input their course of study, the classes they took and when they took them. This can be handy for anyone else who trying to get an idea of how others have signed up for classes and how their course load was.
If you feel like contributing (because I'm sure you have completed your own produsage already and are looking for something to do), the wiki can be found at http://fsuiscourses.wikispaces.com/. As usual, the course is under construction. Let us know if you have any questions or ideas!

Week 3- Journal Assignment

What uses might a collaborative wiki or blog have in your chosen (current or desired) work environment? How would they support learning and/or performance? What would be the design and implementation challenges if management tried to do this? What would be the design and implementation challenges of a user-initiated effort?

A wiki has the strong potential to become a great knowledge base for any industry. While not only providing a place for information to be compiled by veteran members for access by junior members, a wiki knowledge base can also act as a tool for promoting informal learning within a company. Additionally, participation in a wiki is a good way for members to have incentive to participate as their information is used and recognized.

Blogging also could have a similar effect. The tricks, techniques, and ideas of members can be shared with others within individual member blogs. Particularly good blogs can be highlighted so that users can find some of the most useful blogs quickly, which would also give the same mentioned recognition to contributors.

Difficulties with implementation of both can range from simple to complex. At the simple end, a basic wiki structure can be provided, and a blogging site made with information on how to sign up for either provided. At the more complex, and most likely more effective, range of difficulty would involve the wiki or blog creation, steps to access and how to use both, incentives created for participation, and easy and useful tools available for users to create, search, and edit items. Additionally, technical support, either in the form of electronic text, peer support, or an IT department branch for users to gain more knowledge and to ask questions or have problems addressed.

Week 2- Big Brother, Disney World, and RFID

I returned from a 5-day "vacation" to Disney World yesterday. I add the quotation marks to "vacation" because if you go to a park a day, you realize 1) You don't walk enough on a regular basis for that many hours at a time and 2) Your shoes are not comfortable enough. Disney really has embraced more technology since the last time I was there. You can call the hotel front desk at 10:30 at night and the cast member (not employee, but cast member) can find the current wait time for major rides and attractions at any of the parks.
The Disney buses are also rigged with GPS, and the recorded voices in the bus, along with the electronic signs announcing the destination on the outside, both change automatically when the buses pass certain key points along the routes. Additionally, so many of the vendors are now using wireless point-of-sale stations (cash registers) so that they are not inhibited by wires. Kinda scary, potentially, for would-be hackers. I'm sure Disney has an insane amount of security for such things, but they don't exactly advertise that in the open.
This reminds me of an article in Sunday's Tallahassee Democrat newspaper (I couldn't find it on their website, so linked the same article through Yahoo). It tells of privacy fears in using RFID chips. For those too lazy to check the Wikipedia article linked, RFID is radio frequency identification. The idea is these ID chips send out a weak signal with the chip's information, so that devices nearby can read the information. Some buildings have security doors that sense the cards information and open automatically when the person with the proper security clearance card walks in, but the doors won't open if you don't have the right card. The article focuses on using the RFID cards for Homeland Security and passport information. The problem, says the article, is that other people using relatively simple technology can actually read the weak signals the RFID cards transmit.
Both the Disney and RFID cards are further examples of how small the world is getting. Twitter and Facebook statuses are voluntary ways people inform everyone of what their doing and when they're doing it, while some of the Disney technology and the RFID chips are ways you can be monitored unknowingly. You also may have heard how some GPS-like devices can be installed in cars, so that not only is your location known (not a big deal, really), but the devices can also track your speed, and how fast and hard you accelerate and brake. Interesting information if you're the parent of a teenage driver, but many drivers wouldn't like it if this information was easily available to their insurance companies.
Granted, all these technology is certainly created to help you in some way. I am by no means an opponent for these technologies, but merely pointing out a few things that have come across my plate in the recent past.

Week 2- KoolAid Man says, "Oh Yeah!"

Well, I finally drank the kool-aid and signed up for twitter and diigo. While I knew the definition and capabilities of diigo, I suppose I never really thought about what I meant for web users and collaboration amongst users on websites. Neat stuff!
Twitter has still yet to wow me, though. Compared to so many other Web 2.0 collaboration, communication, and social-networking sites out there, I view Twitter as just one of many, but one that happened to gain popularity. While I will probably be eating my own words in a couple of years, Twitter feels like an intense fad, one that will pass eventually. However, I can see Twitter evolving into a more refined product, a product that would stand the test of time better.
Next up is to peruse go2web20.net or the class Web 2.0 wiki and just pick out Web 2.0 tools to sign up, learn to use, etc. If I cram enough in, I'm sure that some of it will eventually stick, even if I don't use it on a regular enough basis to guarantee information sustainability in my mind.

week 2- contribution list

Nothing quite like being at Disney World and paying $10 a day for internet access so I can do work!! ;)

Nevertheless, I did manage to get some work completed:

-Couple of postings on the discussion boards.

-Continuing the viewing of my classmates journals, and trying to view at least 3/4 of the links they recommend.

-Commenting briefly on a half-dozen or so blogs.

-Continuing exploration into the standard and/or new web 2.0 tools.
-Signed up for diigo, flickr, and even twitter, although it goes against my personal philosophies in life. ;)

Week 2- Journal assignment

How might the concept of produsage be applied in your life (personal and/or professional) as it stands today? Are you already a produser? If yes, what do you do? If no, why not?

The concept of produsage and its results play a very minor role in my life currently. The role it does play is in that I am a user of produsage (or psuedo-produsages) already created. Some examples include Wikipiedia, which is one of my first resources when investigating new terms and ideas. I also us FireFox and Open Office some, but not very much. Even labeling these as produsage would be arguable to some, I suppose.

I believe that my lack of produsage use is often due to a combination of lack of time for exploration into produsages, and an unsupportive environment at work in researching and using new technologies. I come across many different types of software and programs in my daily work, but only a few of them are deemed useful enough to learn more about and to implement into any use at all.

Granted, most produsages out there I most likely am unaware of. Even when these items are brought to my attention, unless they are clear enough to be singled out, I filter it out like so many new technological and web 2.0 tools out there. Similar to how I view Twitter, if it does increase my productivity easily or provide me with a tool that can make tasks easier, it does not make the list of items to learn and utilize. Ironically, it is taking a college course for me to make the time to look into various produsages, web 2.0 tools, and pro-am contribution results.

Weekly Contributions List

Dr. Dennen:

- Dozen (or so?) average to long Blackboard postings or replies to other postings

- Three class blog postings

- Investigation into various Web 2.0 tools found on go2web20.net website.

- Reply to a blog posting of yours

- Alteration and amending of Web 2.0 wiki

- Lots and lots of happy thoughts.

Filtering 2.0

In continuing the reading of my classmates' blogs, the Blackboard discussion postings, and looking into the various Web 2.0 tools and links others have provided, I am running into my own version of information overload. Usually, I only post or respond to items that I think others haven't mentioned at all, or post items in response to a mistake. The idea is that if I find myself responding whenever I have a thought, I would be posting dozens of times a day.

The same problem involves other aspects of life. It happens to many people during Christmas: You wonder if you should get a gift for a particular acquaintance, but if you do you realize that there are a dozen other friends in the same friend-category. Right now I am looking for a house to buy, and if I expand my search fields in certain areas, I go from looking at a few houses a week to dozens.

With this class, and web 2.0 in particular, I am trying to find the right balance of technologies to explore. At work, I may have to knuckle down and just plain learn some computer software. I right about it, use it, find its useful tricks, and think of ways to teach others and how to best use the program for work. With the web 2.0 tools, if I try to pick up a certain tool, like Neatly Said, a program for predicting stock market results, then I mentally agree to learn just as much about everything else in the same category.

While this unrealistic and unexpected, it is how my mind works: When you start something, you must finish it all the way. I believe others can relate, when compared to Blackboard. If there is an unread post, I must read it, even if it's a cursory glance. The glaring, bolded, and unlined number that shows me what is unread mocks me.

Most likely (even as soon as tonight) I will just bite the bullet and picks some programs to learn. Maybe others will find them useful and maybe not. Maybe I will or will not. Either way, I must learn to come to terms that just because I didn't pick something up, I am not missing out on something amazing that will change my life. Like Facebook. :)

Week 1 Assignment

What have been your prior experiences with Web 2.0 technologies? Do you consider yourself a leader or follower in this realm, or something else altogether? Why? Also, discuss what you hope to get out of this class.

Well, I apparently have had some contact with Web 2.0, but wasn't aware of it. I have an account with Facebook and MySpace, and have blogs on Xanga and Blogger (...obviously). Use of various wikis and online worlds is also part of my experience. My use of these Web 2.0 applications (and those I cannot recall) are usually in a shallow fashion, and I could easily be called a lurker or a follower in the overall realm. While I have the skill set to make use of Web 2.0, I rarely feel interested in inclined to do so. The inherent result of Web 2.0 tools such as expansive publishing by anyone, about everything, for whoever has created a nice wall in my mind where I choose not to partake in many Web 2.0 tools, solely due to the annoyance of the preponderance of information, with twitter being a prime example. I have no need to share, no do I know of tweets by others that I wish to keep apprised of.
My use is similar to many others, wherein I enjoy observing, reading, and seeing a few varied tidbits that are associated with my friends and family. My actual participation is very limited, so much that I am guilty of not posting a "happy birthday!" on a friend's Facebook wall. Such a crime!
I hope this Web 2.0 class provides a good outline and direction for the acquiring and use of Web 2.0. In just the first couple of days I feel my hopes will be realized. My goal is to stuff as much Web 2.0 knowledge into my skull as possible, and combine it with my other educational and technological skills so that I will no longer be a stranger to this brave new world that is Web 2.0

My first blog!

Okay. I lied, or misled. This is actually my first blog since my last one, which was blank, so it could be my first blog I actually wrote in since two blogs ago, which was literally my first blog. Perhaps someone should have checked the content of this blog before trusting in it's information ;)

I have decided to wrote this blog in my usual literally manner, which is to say that I write like I speak: Lots of words and attempts at humor. Excessive verbiage and word play shall be left to the annals of the Blackboard system.

Like many of you (or just "you," if you're the only reader) I am enrolled in an online course focused around Web 2.0. I never paid much heed to Web 2.0 in the past as there are dozens of various acronyms, version names, and titles given to new technology and its use. However, since Web 2.0 has been delineated into an official term with a (generally) solid definition, I am finding it both more useful and more interesting.

I am what people call a "computer guy," so I had high hopes that I wouldn't have to be challenged or anything silly like that with this course. Of course, this plan was derailed at step 2 (step 1 being, "Write your name"). I signed up for an active blog and attempted to "burn" a "feed." It was then that I realized I had never had a use for such a thing before, and therefore had never done it. Apparently I will have to actually learn and try in school... again!! The horrors, I know!

My current research into Web 2.0 outside of class is yielding both interesting and useful results. I am finding that Web 2.0 tools, utilities and resources are 1) much more expansive than I had previously known and 2) Web 2.0 web sites have a certain art style that I particularly like. It is a sort of minimalist, almost cartoonish creation. This can been seen at the website Go2Web20, which lists hundreds of Web 2.0 tools which can be grouped by subject. I never would have guess there were so many Web 2.0 web sites focused on, say, bills. There is quite a lot of information provided, and I'm sure a lot of it is trash. However, it is a great starting point both for Web 2.0 beginners and those looking for a specific utility. If, dear reader(s), you do not see a link for Go2Web20 on the Blackboard forum, remind to link it for everyone else. Thanks ahead of time!