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.