Week 5 Prompt

Week 5 Prompt – How to judge the value of expertise on the Web? This has always been on of my big questions anytime I go and look up things on the web. I use to question everything because it seemed like no matter what my question was, if I searched long enough I could find a conflicting answer. Before I understood what wiki’s were like Wikipedia I didn’t trust much of what it said. There is so much information on the Web. You can find information about aliens, or difference conspiracy theories right next to good solid information about science and politics. I guess I believe it is wise to ask questions, try and understand where the information is coming from and have a kind of use with caution mind set.

For me one of the things I look for is affiliations and references. When I was choosing my communities this is something I looked for. As I started lurking in a community about health eating, it was important to me that there was some science behind it, and that was reference for me to read on my own. The author of the blog that went along with the discussion forum frequently used references from peer reviewed journals. This gives me some confidence in the information.

Is it the same for face-to-face? I believe the way I judge expertise in face-to-face settings is about the same. The person needs some sort of background and should be able to direct me to references to read more on the topic. The big difference I see is that in a face-to-face situation it is easier or at least more natural for me to ask question to the person and have a conversation. 

Week 4 thoughts.

This week I explored many of the Web 2.0 tools that have been shared by you my classmates. I have learned that there are many great tools and pretty much one that fits most any need. Some many ways for us to collaborate and share thoughts, articles, videos and even voice notes. I think that early education must be so much more exciting now than when I was in school. Things have changes a lot since the rickety film and slide projectors.

I think my favorite thing I found during the week, besides my Shark Bite clock is the information about QR. If you haven’t checked out Alyn’s QR comments, you really should. When I saw his comments and his sample audio version it made me think of how great it would have been, or would be to use in Parks and Rec. If the park is somewhere with cell phone reception. How cool would it be to be at a historical monument or nature center and be able to scan the square and hear or see more information? Maybe parks are already using these, I don’t know. Has anyone seen them in this use?

"its a small world"

Today while I was exploring one of my communities, (the one about healthy eating) I found a thread about unofficial meetups. This made me think about how many different ways communities interact and take the initiative to reach beyond the web and develop more personal relationships when they are able. Or also just how the communities can bring people together from around the world.
Thinking about the saying "it's a small world". Is it a small world?  There are people who live just a few miles or maybe a little more that if the web based community did not exist they wouldn't know each other.  So my thought is that it is a really big world, but the web communities make it smaller by enabling people to gather around common interest.

Fun Widgets

Today I explored different widgets or gadgets, I am not sure if they are the same. I looked into gadgets in topics that I am interested in. I found many neat gadgets to add to a blog that can educate people on different topics. Some just provide help in increasing awareness such as the Carbon Footprint Calculator, or helpful tips from the “Its easy to be Green” widget and just some to be fun such as the interactive aquarium. I found all of these widgets at http://www.widgetbox.com/widgets/  What I likes the most was that I was able to search by my topic and then select gadgets that would help people learn about the topic, (environment) or just add a little attraction to my blog.  Hope you enjoy them.  

Week 4 Prompt

How do issues such as authorship, copyright and open access impact your desire, ability and willingness to engage in produsage, both personally and professionally?

The issue of authorship, copyright and open access probably have a positive impact on my desire to engage in produsage. Though I don’t see myself as ever having a significant role, these things make it easier.  

Though when able I will contribute to sites. It won’t be about getting credit, but more for the simple ability to help. I think this is true even in my work environment. I think I have always worked with others who openly share knowledge. I think this mentality is what has contributed to the few examples of online communities that exist in the CG.

As far as use, I think copyright and the lack of open access can affect my use of a sites information, or at least question  the authors purpose. When looking for a community to follow I actually checked out quite a few. One of the blogs and forums that I looked at I was really disappointed while reading some of the responses from the author.  Now I realize that everyone has to make a living, but for many of the questions posted by individuals the authors response was “see chapter # in my book”, I guess I saw this as way for her to promote her book. I realize that if she post it all on line there would be no need to buy the book, but I believe there should be some balance. There were multiple responses like this.  Maybe she shouldn’t have a discussion forum if she isn’t going to answer questions. I did not use this community but I believe it speaks to open access and copyright.

I believe that open access and copyright options such as creative commons really opens up the world to an individual. It is up to each individual but for me I would be very open to sharing and there are many benefits and things that make life simpler. You no longer have to recreate the wheel, but instead make it better.

Week 3 Final Thoughts – I have to say that everyone else in the class makes the use of all of these Web 2.0 tools so easy. Many of your blogs are very visually pleasing and easy to navigate. Some are even more on the creative side. I spent some time this week working in another blog I set up to explore some of the different gadgets. A few worked pretty simple but then there were a few that were not as simple. As far as other tools I explored this week including Google Sites, it looks easy and wasn’t too bad until I tried to put a timeline from another site on it. Just as with my blog quite a few times I just ended up with a box that said “gadget”.  I hope to continue to work on using these tools and incorporating them. I must admit, that I don’t think I could do this if I had to actually mess with the code.

So even though I had a few difficulties in getting things to work, overall I have to say that all of the tools are very easy. For those that were not, on a few of them I was able to search for “how to” videos on the web. There are a lot of tutorials. I think this really shows how easy it is to create and produce on the web. However, for me this week, yet again this I was more of a user. But I learned a few new tricks. Cant wait to use them.

Wikis and Blogs would be great

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?

For this weeks question I think I already shared a great example of a use of a collaborative wiki within the Coast Guard, specifically for Marine Inspectors. A CWO took it upon himself to create a Wiki in order to help centralize some of the information related to getting qualified as a vessel inspector in the Coast Guard. I believe it has been going for just a little over a year now, this centralized source of information seems like it would be very helpful for a new inspector to get a grasp on all of the regulations, guidance and policy that needs to be known in order to complete inspections. The wiki created is a start at a knowledge management system for marine inspectors. A wiki and/or a blog for marine inspectors connects inspectors of varying levels of experience. There is already a pretty good network and most folks call out to others they know or the marine inspector school for assistance when needed. A blog would enable a marine inspector to reach out to everyone so enabling them to reach a wider knowledge pool.

As I stated in my blog in week one, the biggest challenge with Wikis and Blogs is getting them to function in side the CG computer network, and getting support or some part of the program to take ownership of them. The wiki is the simplest, because just like other wikis if someone puts misinformation on it, it is quickly changed to correct information. The wiki tends to take care of its self. Though for either a blog or a wiki I feel it would be wise to have someone to over see them to ensure they contain good information. For this wiki and any other tool that would be used by a user-initiated effort the challenge is time. I say this because the initiator would most likely be creating these tools in their off time.

I believe that the adoption of these tools would be very beneficial to the CG we are losing many great inspectors to retirement, and there are fewer US Flagged vessels for newbie inspectors to gain experience and I think there is a gap that a wiki and a blog could really help minimize by better connecting the CG Marine Inspector community.