The latest figures for Facebook are interesting. Facebook appears to have had fewer monthly active users at the start of June than at the start of May in the US, UK and Canada — at least according to one data source — even as it has grown bigger than ever worldwide. this could suggest that the market is by now saturated or even that people are moving on.

My own take is that whilst Facebook has alienated significant numbers of people with rampant commercialism and a cavalier attitude to privacy this is probably only amongst early adopters and the tech community. More important is the growth of more niche social networking applications.

Although Linkedin can hardly be described as niche, it is interesting to see the growth of Linkedin Groups and the high level of activity – at least in the groups of which I am a member.

I suspect people are increasingly separating out their presence (and digital identities) in different social networking applications and communities. And whilst size may be good, in terms of income the ‘professional’ social networks may turn out to be more sustainable and profitable tin the long term.

Interesting then to see the launch of a professional networking application for Facebook. In the last few weeks i have had some tens of messages saying:

“I’d like you to join my professional network on Facebook.

Graham – it’s professional networking with friends and friends of friends on Facebook. Feels like it can be very valuable to us.”

The messages come from a Facebook app called BranchOut. Given they all had the same wording I ignored them, but thinking about this blog post I did have a look. But once more I was put off by the privacy or lack of it. Although the video from BranchOut makes a big point that they will not access your photos, it asks for permissions to your wall, to all of your friends and demands an email address to send mail.

I guess once they have your friends list, they are auto spamming with messages such as above. Although once more this may result in rapid growth, I doubt it will do much for their reputation.

Linkedin may be a little staid and boring. But at least it seems to have evolved sensible privacy rules.

I think this will be critical for anyone trying to break into the social networking market.

This toolkit from Jisc has been released for measuring the impact of resources. However it could also be very useful for those seeking to measure project impact, an increasing demand from funding bodies.

The Jisc press release says “Measuring the impact of a resource you’ve put online can be difficult – but a newly updated JISC toolkit will help content creators, publishers and other information professionals understand the reach of their digital assets.

They can use the kit to help guide them through different aspects of measuring impact, both qualitative, such as focus groups, and quantitative, such as web metrics.”

The toolkit can be accessed here.

Last week I took part in a JISC event where participants were asked to have an active role and share their thoughts about “how institutions can and should respond to the opportunities and challenges presented by the fast-changing pace of … Continue reading →

I have been meaning to blog. I actually feel the need, but in the end it’s a bit like sport. The more you do it, the more energy you find to keep doing it. Once you start ‘tricking’ the routine, … Continue reading →

I love this video by Howard Rheingold. Not only for the content which is fascinating. But also becuase of the use of video. I am very disappointed in the big push for recording lectures. Lectures have their place in teaching and learning, but the format does not lend itself well to video. This is a ‘made for video’ project by Howard – more work but much more effective. And it doesn’t need a high-tech studio set up.

Howard says: “I’ve become convinced that understanding how networks work is an essential 21st century literacy. This is the first in a series of short videos about how the structure and dynamics of networks influences political freedom, economic wealth creation, and participation in the creation of culture. The first video introduces the importance of understanding networks and explains how the underlying technical architecture of the Internet specifically supports the freedom of network users to innovate.”

I am looking forward to the next videos in the series.

As the UK Government attempts to pay for ever more diverse campaigns emerge against attempts to cutback public services.

One of the most interesting has been against cuts in libraries. The campaign has gone viral through Facebook and Twitter and gained the support of prominent artists and public figures. Of course part of the reason for the strength of the campaign may be nostalgia, another may be that the move to close libraries has upset many of the middle classes who voted for the ConDem coalition government in England.

The Government’s arguments seem to be threefold. One we cannot afford libraries. Two, why should they be a public service and why can’t they be run by the private sector or by volunteers. And three that they are out of date in the internet age.

The first two are predictable responses from aright wing government committed to reducing public services. But the latter is interesting as is the response. To some extent I guess this is based on nostalgia or on a feeling that a paper based book represents something different and more than a digital artefact. Partly it is based on a social inclusion agenda. But partly it is focused on the idea of libraries as a physical and social space, analogous to the role of pub. Even when information can be found through a simple Google search, even when we can chat directly with our friends over VOIP connections, even when our friends are measured in terms of connections om Facebook, we still value public spaces. And the library is a public pace lined to knowledge. Of course it is not the only one – we have schools and universities. But these have various restrictions and exclusivity based on age, income or qualification. In the UK libraries have represented one of the few public and social spaces linked to knowledge which have been open to all.

And as such people are instinctively opposed to their closure or privatisation.

… is about understanding people! This blog post has been written in the back of my mind for a couple of days now, but I still hadn’t managed to put it into words. Last week we had the a Technology … Continue reading →

I am very happy to see the launch today of the Purpose of Education web site, initiated by Doug Belshaw and Alec Stewart.

The recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have shown the power of social media for not just discussing politics but for mobilising. And the student protests in the UK against increases in university fees and the abolition of the Educational Maintenance Allowance have shown a willingness by young people in the UK to act around education. However, it is clear we need a wider debate about the whole purpose of education, especially as technology is opening up new possibilities for learning.

The new website aims to kickstart that debate. “We’re going to initiate the debate, grow the community and inform key decision makers about the outcome of this movement to improve education for all. Our 3-year plan provides more information and will be updated as the movement gains momentum.”

And the site is inviting 500 word blogposts, suggesting a focus on the questions posed by Keri Facer in a keynote to the JISC Innovating e-Learning conference 2010

What is your vision for the good society?

What is the part that education can play in achieving that and what is the part that others need to play? Who are these others? What is/what should be their relationship to education?

What are the building blocks we have in our schools and universities already that could move them towards that role?

What are the building blocks outside formal education?

What are the impediments to change and what causes them? And are there good reasons for these?

What can I see of merit in the ideas of those who disagree with me?

Do the ideas I suggest draw on the expertise and insight of others?

Do the ideas I suggest offer enough benefit to outweigh the disruption that they would cause in their realisation? how would we get there?

Ostanio dużo uwagi z perspektywy pedagogiczno-technologicznej poświęcałam tak zwanym grom poważnym (ang. Serious Games). Szczególnie zainteresowały mnie nowsze formy gier poważnych, tzw. gry społecznościowym (ang. Social Games), takie jak CityVille, FarmVille czy FrontierVille firmy Zynga.

W związku z tym, że to mój pierwszy wpis na Paradygmacie 2.0 w nowym roku, pokuszę się o małą prognozę na rok 2011. Zacznę od gier społecznościowych produkowanych przez Zynga, jako dobry przykład na to, jak można wciągnąć  do zabawy miliony ludzi.  Zynga to firma, która stała się popularna przede wszystkim przez gry na Facebooka. Hitem stały się jej gry FarmVille, potem CityVille i FrontierVille. Gra FarmVille Druga polega na prowadzeniu gospodarstwa rolnego wraz z innymi graczami. Aby uzyskać dochody gracze wspólnie uprawiają pola, hodują zwierząta i zbierają plony. CityVille polega na planistycznym i biznesowym budowaniu miasta. Najważniejszym “surowcem” jakiego potrzebują gracze są znajomi – im więcej współgraczy, tym szybciej można rozwinąć miasto. W styczniu 2011 w grze CityVille bierze udział ponad 100 milionów graczy z całgo Świata! Czym tłumaczy się tak wielki sukces tych gier? Chociaż gry takie jak CityVille czy FarmVille przypominają m.in. Sim City, są one o wiele łatwiejsze i nastawione przede wszystkim na społeczność. Gry te nie polegają na interakcji człowiek-komputer, ale na interakcji człowiek-grupa przy pomocy techniki. To znacząca zmiana w dziedzinie gier poważnych.

Innym typem gier społecznościowych to gry z celem edukacyjnym, Gry te nie są ukierunkowane na rozrywkę, co nie oznacza, że nauka nie może być przyjemnością. Wręcz przeciwnie, gry społecznościowe z celem edukacyjnym wykorzystują aspekt rozrywki to przekazywania specyficznych treści, stymulowania podejmowania wyborów i decyzji, rozwiązywanie problemów, zmiany perspektyw lub nastawień.  Do takich gier należą gry ukierunkowane na ważne problemy społeczne takie jak m.in. prawa człowieka, zmiany środowiska, polityka, globalne konflikty czy zdrowie publiczne. Dobrym przykładem producentów takich gier jest organizacja non-profit “Games for Change” . Fundacja ta zaprojektowała nie tylko serię gier (np. 3rd World Farmer, At-Risk czy The Cost of Life, ale też i publiczny zestaw narzędzi (toolkit) do wspierania tworzenia własnych gier.  Również te gry grane są w grupie. O „Games for Change“ pisano ostatnio w Mashable.

Innym ciekawym przykładem jest gra EVOKE, wystartowana przez organizację World Bank, której celem jest walka z biedą, szczególnie w krajach rozwijających się. Gra EVOKE została zaprojektowana z myślą o tym, aby zachęcić młodych ludzi, szczególnie w Afryce, do wspólnego rozwiązywania kluczowych problemów, takich jak głód, bieda, choroby, konflikty, opieka medyczna, szkolnictwo i prawa człowieka. W grze wzięło udział około 20 tysięcy osób z około 150 krajów. Gracze stworzyli  ponad 23 tysiące wpisów na blogi, około 5 tys. zdjęć i ponad 1,500 filmów video.

Te fenomenalne wyniki skłaniają mnie do prognozy na 2011: W grach społecznościowych tkwi potencjał edukacyjny. Gry społecznościowe mogą stać się jednym z najciekawszych trendów w tym roku.

Co o tym sądzicie?

A couple of months ago I mentioned this event organised by RIN that I went to. The event sought to answer the following question The future of scholarly publishing – where we go from here? The debate shifted in many … Continue reading →