There are so many Web 2.0 tools available for Social Networking and Knowledge Management...where do you begin?
Before you start, you must do your research. Over the past few weeks I have been recording all the possible tools and developments methods. I have started evaluating how they will impact the learner in both education and management of their new found knowledge. I can document and draft all I want, but HOW is it going to happen? It is not as easy as Features telling, as it is proving the value of the tool and just how it will impact the business. You must have a clear plan that includes stakeholders, business ops impact, resources (people and dollars) and then how will this increase what "I am doing today."
THEN, you talk about implementation. A plan only gets you so far. You need cler buy-in, resource support, task forces, and technology driving it all. This is not the job of one person only, but clear planning can help with the implementation and integration of all these tools and technologies.
So, my lesson is...it's not easy, but it has to be done. If we want to get involved and impact the community of our profession, we need to take the proper steps...and just maybe we will can do it!
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I couldn't agree more about the importance of buy in. We (as a school) hve been trying to use both moodle and wikis in our faculty culture survey and the hardest part is getting the teachers to buy into the idea of using technology. Buy-in will be the single most imporant issues to the success of the program.
ReplyDeleteA person's motivation is an interesting concept to look at when thinking about the "why" of social networking. Maslow's Heirarchy (the sociology 101 theorist) is applicable in this case. His heirarchy stated we all behave for basically the same motivations; safety, belonging, status and self actualization and in that order. So are people driven by safety needs in the use of web 2.0 tools, well that does not really apply as that level of motivation has to do more with food and shelter and being safe from harm. But the next levels of motivation could be readily applied. Are people driven to social networking tools by the common desire to belong to a group, what ever group that might be, virtual or real? Some may be motivated by recognition or status, social networking has that with comments that are directed to you and you could be seen as more knowlegable because of what you publish (or is it just that you publish). Within the social networking realm there are little indicators of group status, how many followers on Twitter; how many comments on my blog; how many RSS feeds do you subscribe to etc. This does not garner accolades in all social groups but in the social networking group it can be viewewd as a sort of reconition or group status. Maslow's last level of motivation is self actualization and in a nutshell speaks to becoming more than you had thought you might have imagined and responding to a higher level of social interaction, doing what is right for no other reason than doing what is right, not for recognition or status. Social networking can provide a vehicle to venture into this realm and Shannon touched upon it, "how many people you can touch". When we look to use the tools as a means to help others and not our own gain, we then may have reached a different level in social networking. According to Maslow, that is only possible after the other stages have been adequately satisfied, after we are secure in our group, have received recognition and status can we then move beyond that and reach a different level of motivation and that can be to help others.
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