It’s been almost two months now that I’ve been working for BCD Travel and I’m loving every minute of it. I have the opportunity to participate in a lot of activities, etc that I never got to in my previous adventure. One of the things I’ve had the opportunity to implement is the use of a wiki for several “manuals” that we have. It’s a great starting point for the use of wikis in an environment that’s pretty new to the concepts and ideas. Right now it’s just a few of us in teh group that have author privs and can change content. What’s neat too is that I also have it set up that when they’re changes we all get notified. Pretty cool stuff. OK I’m digressing on the purpose of this post. SO I’m sitting here today thinking about wikis and the issue of what’s the next step and how to you set up the most successful environment for wikis to be utilized and successful? THAT is where I started today.
I’ve been reading several articles today on wikis and what makes them successful and found some interesting articles.
In Chris Taylor’s article Why commercial Wikis don’t work he shared some really good reasons why some wikis don’t work or are not successful. What I liked more than the examples of those wikis that don’t work was his explanation of what makes successful wikis and the idea of the concept of “walled gardens”.
When you think in the sense of Web 2.0’s success being “walled gardens” it’s sort of an ah ha moment, at least for me. I like the term garden because in a lot of respects what we do with collaboration tools and shared learning is a garden, We’re cultivating an environment where we share learning, help each other out and provide insight.
I think about some of the tools I use, like Flickr, and how I really do only look at specific sections, topics, etc in that “environment”. When I go to locations that seem to have no walls it’s very overwhelming and I’m not sure what I’m doing, how I can contribute or what the goal is. According to Chris,
The future of Web 2.0 belongs to sites that give its users directions and goals as well as total control. People need a common focus, a shared obsession, to be productive as a crowd.
I really think this statement has a lot of validity to it. Without an understanding of the purpose of a wiki, some direction and goals, a wiki has the high potential to become a “dumping ground” for content. I mean isn’t one of the many benefits of wikis that it enables immediate information sharing and collaboration? With this in mind it is vital that there be direction. Look at some of the examples out there of unsuccessful wikis and consider if they met the three criteria.
After reading this article and thinking about our team wiki, I really think we got it right, perhaps without even realizing it. I’ve created a wiki for us where we have a select group of us that are authors, our purpose and pages. I think because we do have a small group of users and pages are specific and the goals clear we’re set up pretty well. Now I think the fun part is to see what happens of the next few months.
Tonight I went out with an old Intel friend. She’s one of those people you’re really sorry you don’t work with. She’s an amazing person and works hard. Anyway, she was telling me about this book. Apparently it’s about how Intel has fallen since Craig Barrett was the CEO. i think that’s interesting. What I also think is interesting is the fact that supposedly the “high ups” at Intel have tried to find the Bob Coleman and Logan Shrine w/in the company and they’re not there and there are no records of them. The story goes that those are pen names to protect the true authors of this book as it’s highly likely that those authors still work for the company. Is it urban legend or true. Humm.. I’m not sure but I’m thinking I might have to get the book and check it out.
Ok, tell me this isn’t TOTALLY cool. I love wiki’s and blogs and things but think of the ability to put comments in the margin, etc. What a great collaboration tool. This I HAVE got to check out!!!
You know I’ve been a blogger for several years and really like the idea of the whole thing. I love that I can share with my family what I’m up to and how things are going. It’s a little passive, I know, but it’s great because I stink at making the monthly or weekly phone calls to family to tell them what I’m up to. So… blogging.
When I moved to a new group in the company I once worked for I was challenged by a colleague, who was an early adopter of technology and rich media, to put my professional thoughts down on topics. She felt I had something to share with others and really encouraged me to share in this webisphere. So I did, and here it is.. of course this is the second version of it all.
So where does this lead? Ok, my point is this. I love the web and social networking. Because of this medium I’ve had the opportunity to hook up with some great people. I’ve been working on a project for the company I now work for that entails determining authoring tools for us as a group. Because of this medium (the web etc) I’ve been able to hook up with some great people like Steve Case and talk with him about different authoring tools and LMSs and LCMSs. He in turn has led me to other people that use LMS’s etc that I can talk to and get a real commentary on the tool(s) they’re using. It’s so much more valuable than just talking to vendors because they’re always going to tell you their tool is the best. I’m just so excited about this all. It’s great to be making connections with people around the globe and networking with others with common interests. It’s great too because I have to wonder, if not for the web and blogging, would this have been possible? Would our spheres of contacts really reach as far as they do? It’s an exciting time for sure.
Isn’t it funny how you can go a week or more and not blog but have a ton to say? I mean, I enjoy blogging and posting here and getting comments and everything but I’ve not been blogging for over a week. Hummm…. I guess it could be because I’ve been busy with things. I know that’s an excuse for everyone. I have been working, which I’m loving. I love my job and the people I work with. it’s so nice to work with people that have a common goal and interest. It’s great too that I’m working on the projects I’m working on. I mean I’m helping make some decisions for the future of the training organization. How cool is that! I’m doing the typical, create training courses for online delivery but I’m also in charge of determining and giving recommendations for authoring tools we’ll use for now and in the future. I’m working on moving some of our content, like manuals to wiki’s, which is super cool. I could give you the link and password but then I’d have to kill ya… HAHA… I’m working on developing some Instructional Design Standards and templates for us to use which is cool too. It’ s just so nice to have such growth opportunities. it’s the stuff I’ve always wanted to be doing but haven’t had the opportunity in my last job for a variety of reasons.
I LOVE MY JOB!!! and I’m so GLAD to be GONE from my previous job!!!
I don’t normally do this but I’ve found a bunch of cool links to share and remember so here goes. Keep in mind I haven’t had the opportunity to check all of these out yet. If you’ve got thoughts or a review, feel free to share. What I love about all these places it the social bookmarking, tagging and sharing.
I’ve been reading a lot of blog posts lately and it seems like one of the “big deals” right now in training is the use of Second Life to host training seminars, forums and the like. A lot businesses have established a presence there, such as IBM, Adidas, Reuters, and Toyota. I honestly don’t know what to think about that.
I do see some value in Second Life such as:
Immersion- Imagine not just talking about a place in the world but “placing” yourself in that location as environments can be built and changed at will. It’s like being there with out BEING THERE.
Simulations – Several groups have created simulations where people can practice a skill before performing it in real life. HeartMurmur Sim is such an example.
Prototyping – Having the place to prototype and idea without spending the actual cash to build your prototype is a great way to avoid some costs.
Visualization – NOAA weathermaps is a great example of visualization and transferring information in a visual format.
I for one am not sure about Second Life. I once downloaded the program to try and find out what Second Life was all about. I found it difficult to know what to do, where to go or how to find things. I wasn’t very impressed with the usability of it all. I can’t help thinking about what the costs and benefits would/could be by using Second Life.
I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m novice when it comes to Second Life but I do wonder what’s the benefit of “meeting” in Second Life? Is there something you as either a presenter/instructor or student get that you can’t get from a net session using something like Webcast? I wonder if the costs out weigh the benefits.
Another concern I have about SecondLife is the immersion factor. WHile I think it’s great to have the ability to immerse ones self into an environment, make connections, etc, I do see a caution there. I can’t help thinking about the people I know that are OBSESSED with SecondLife and live in that environment so much that when talking to them it’s hard to know if they’re talking about the real world or SecondLife. This leads me to this thought; “What’s the consequences of SecondLife?” With every technological improvement comes a cost, what’s the cost here with SecondLife besides money and is it worth it? Does SecondLife give the training arena something they can’t get somewhere else?
For those of you that don’t know, I was laid off from my previous employer (Intel) back in October. I sort of thought it was going to be coming because my old group was very political and because I was one of “those people” that bucked the system and dared to ask upper management questions, I wasn’t really liked. That in addition to some other political things lead to my lay off. At first being laid off was really hard because I knew it was good for me but at the same time freaked me out too. I didn’t understand why, from a performance perspective, why I was laid off when I’d had over 3 divisional recognition awards and my customers felt i delivered results. I think at first I was just numb and wasn’t sure what to do with myself since I had gone from working a 40 hour week to nothing. Let me tell you though, it was nice. It was great to have both Thanksgiving and Christmas off to really enjoy the holidays, my friends and family. That was a real treat.
I kept looking at my RSS feeds and hoping that some day I’d feel the desire and need to read and immerse myself back into the blogisphere and be a “contributing member of society”. Just about every day I’d open my computer and look at the long list of posts to read and just felt overwhelmed and I think a part of me just wanted to curl up and hide from everyone and lick my wounds. It was a feeling I’ve not had before, I mean, I’ve NEVER been let go from a job and that was a hard pill to swallow.
Well, things have changed. I have a full time job now that I’m really excited about. I’ll be using my wonderful ISD skills in the travel industry developing online courses for the company that has hired me. I’m pretty excited and it’s with that excitement that i write this post. I’m back.. i mean…
I’M BACK!!!!
I’m so excited to read up on the posts that I’ve read, well I may not read all the ones I’ve missed but I hope to catch up and start posting to others blogs. I’m interested to see what I’ve missed and jump back into sharing my thoughts, learning from others and bring that knowledge to my new job and company.
This was a long and hard process but I’m really glad I went through it. Getting laid off was the best thing I ever needed. It was a great kick in the you know what to get me out there and realize that I bring value. May you all feel the same.
It’s been forever and a day since I’ve written in my blog, I even deleted the last one. I suppose part of the reason was my want to disassociate from the blogging/teaching/learning community because of my lay off. After the lay off I honestly wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I just knew I wanted to hide out, regroup and determine my path. Well, I’m back! I’m still looking for full time employment but I’ve got lots of things going on and I’m honestly glad I have these options open to me. So look forward to hearing from me more. I’ve got a ton and a half of post to get through, comment, etc.
