Week 3: Introduction to Social Computing -- Assigned Reading Questions.....

1. In Chap 1 of the Watts article, the author questions which parts of behavior we need to pay attention to because we know little about how individual behavior aggregates. Further, O’Reilly in Web 2.0 discusses how internet/technology is changing at a rapid rate. So keeping this in mind, would technology use be used different (more on-topic discussion) if the lecturer came from a web 2.0 mindset and took on a persona of facilitator (where collaboration is an integral part of internet use), or would the teaching style be irrelevant to students’ style of internet use?

2. In Web 2.0, the author states:

“The successful companies all give up something expensive but considered critical to get something valuable for free that was once expensive. For example, Wikipedia gives up central editorial control in return for speed and breadth. Napster gave up on the idea of "the catalog" (all the songs the vendor
was selling) and got breadth. Amazon gave up on the idea of having a physical storefront but got to serve the entire world. Google gave up on the big customers (initially) and got the 80% whose needs weren't being met.” ?

Keeping this in mind, if products like Blackboard were universally available without cost to the end-users, would the teaching community be more inclined to adopt its use by collaborating with developers in making the product more user-friendly (e.g. developing add-ins and enhancements like integrated ID capability, seemless integration of third-party products, etc.)?

And if the product was better, would teachers be more inclined to incorporate additional technological tools into their day-to-day operations (i.e. if this is a teacher’s only exposure to technology, does frustration with existing software cause unnecessary barriers to adopting tech in the classroom?)

Making a short question long...... how much do inferior tools stymie the adoption of technology in schools?

Class Learning Contract Assignment

WOW -- I thought this assignment would be easy, but similar to when I first started grad school, the more I reflect, the less I know, and the more I must reflect and study!

Johannes' questions were wonderfully thought provoking, and I'm realizing that, for me, these assignments will be like "eating the elephant one bite at a time" -- impossible to finish in one sitting.

Welcome!

This is my first real attempt at starting a blog. I've dabbled a little, but there's no time like the present to stretch my learning and really figure out these things.

I'm a 3rd year PhD student in Educational Technology at Purdue, and as I mentioned in my header, this blog is a requirement for my involvement in Prof. Johannes Strobel's Social Computing Class.

I will expand features to the blog, as I learn how to use them.