Forgive the random links. I'm about to explore these further, and wanted to post them on the blog early.

I have found out that Blogger does not support podcasting, but it is relatively easy to link your podcast that is hosted on another server to your blog on Blogger. Check out this video to find out a little more about it. Somebody made a relatively easy tutorial about this topic.

Youtube Tutorial

feedburner
libsyn $5

As far as podcasting goes in the professional world, this is something we can use. The idea of linking audio to portable devices is a great idea. Even here at the lab, where portable devices are frowned upon at best, audio could take the place of much of the reading we have to do. There is a crazy idea that I had, that probably would flop, but I thought of having audio procedures here. As with any large installation, procedures are key. If we could have audio procedures, much of the required reading could be taken care of while you go about your other work, particularly for non-critical procedures. Also, if you're having trouble sleeping at night...

Drop.io--photo, media, and everything sharing...

Here's one for ya. This site I came across is called drop.io. It is designed to keep media sharing private and limit access levels to those whom the client deems necessary. It even has a feature to charge visitors to see the content. I ran across their sample sites and it seems to be pretty friendly. After poking around for a while, this is more of what I think would be useful for a company to share media, etc. It is not limited to pictures/photos, has many ways to transmit data, and provides a cost-recovery option.

Now really, this isn't a photo/media sharing site, but it can be utilized in that fashion. I'm very impressed by flexible applications. I'm a one-stop shopper, and this one fills the bill for quite a bit of stuff.

Here's the demo, which is what this short "eval" is based on. drop.io demo

This application has many uses in project management, information distribution, etc. The interesting this is that these "drops" cannot be searched. Therefore, it is difficult for Joe Sixpack to access your information. Really, only those who have email invitations can find you.

Proposal-ish

Here is an email between me and Dr. Brady. My original is at the bottom. What I'd like is a little feedback from the rest of the class, if you all have time. Also, I plan on putting a link to my rough sketch up here (or somewhere) pretty soon.

Hi Ben --
I think this is a good start to your proposal. You've got a problem, a model, and a basic approach. So, you will have to make design choices and justify them. Since this is the Web 2.0 course, what I'd be most interested in is your choice of Web 2.0 applications, why you chose them, and how you see them being used. What advantage would they give you over what you have now.
I specify that the project is a "design" and if any of it is implemented, that's a bonus. So, if you came up with that number of slides that spelled out the basics of your design, I would think that would be fine. Think of it this way -- what would you have to do to sell the idea to your boss or bosses?
I'm going to have more about this on the course blog by tomorrow evening. Good start.
Kevin


| From: Ben
| Subject: Proposal-ish
Date Sent: March 10, 2009 8:10 AM
To: Dr. Brady

Hey Dr. Brady,

So here's what I was thinking. It sounds strange, but I was looking at the bodybuilding.com website, and really liked the layout of the site. I think that it could be applied to instructional design for a course. You ought to check it out, even though it is a bit commercialized. There is some good stuff in there.

Since this can be a 10-15 slide presentation (or more like 20) with support documentation, I was looking at seeing how a commercial social networking site, combined with a KMS, etc. could be applied to the world of ID. I'd like to explore how I could link sites together in a similar fashion to support training development at a large organization like the lab.

There would be a peer edited/company controlled KMS, much like the workout database and exercise database, links to recent articles about training, and online modules for ID instruction.

The reason I came up with this idea is because, at LANL, trainers often do not communicate with the larger body much. We are isolated teams of training specialists (and students) who try to do everything the same way after taking a few classes together and getting released to do the work.

I like this idea, but I don't know if I'm biting off more than I can chew. Actual execution of a program like this would take months or a few years in a place like this, but I may come up with the ADDIE design for the Training Specialist Qualification Program online for an organization much faster. TSQP is just what we call it here at LANL.

What do you think? Also, if this email seems disjointed or incoherent, there may be 2 reasons. The time change is kicking my butt, and I'm still not concrete on this idea, though I'm close.

Photo and Media Sharing

We're entering a realm that I'm not entirely familiar with, here. I haven't really done a lot of photo sharing, other than on Facebook. I see limitations on the applications for training, especially where I work. However, there are some opportunities in high school and mid school education.

I played around with Flickr for a minute and it seems to be another social networking site with more emphasis on photos.

I checked out photobucket as well. Honestly, I wasn't too impressed with the photo sharing sites. The usability is decent, but I'm struggling with what they can be used for. I understand the social aspects of it, but it seems to be another way to simply connect peer-to-peer. However, many social networking sites have many of the same features, but more opportunities for communication. Correct me if I'm wrong. I just think that these are great for private use or educational use (i.e. sharing photos for research or sharing artwork.)

In the world of training, I think these sites may fall short. Often, business materials are too sensitive to share with a site that is prone to copyright infringement.

Wrap-Up Week 7/8, Begin Week 9

Upon exploring Social Networking, I feel that there is a place for developing in-house, private social networks, particularly where there are security or privacy issues, such as in government and private industry. It is difficult to guarantee privacy on the web anywhere, and certain information would not be shared even on an in-house social network, but I think Facebook, Myspace, and others are a little too public for my applications. However, I believe that in-house social networks could come into use in coming years. They would help organize a company virtually.

I don't personally know if they have a great deal of use in honest-to-goodness training applications, but they can help in the post-training arena. As a tool to connect specialists to one another across a big complex, social networks could be used to great effect.

I'll be exploring some of these ideas in my end of the semester project.

Of All Things...

I was looking around today, and as a semi-avid weightlifter, I look around for workout and exercise ideas. I found a social network for bodybuilders/weightlifters/fitness models and every average joe out there trying to change their body. It's called Bodyspace, it's on bodybuilding.com, and it's free. I think this is an example of people incorporating the social networking idea into existing sites, as I don't remember this aspect 3 years ago.

It seems that if social networking can be used for bodybuilding, it could be used for training. It would especially help with building peer relationships if the social network is left small enough.

In fact, this social network is literally connected to "training," albeit not the kind we're talking about in OLIT. It does provide structure and support to achieve a goal.

Social Networking Part Deux

Well, after my last post, I ran across an interesting article on zdnet. It is located here . I recall being in elementary school when video games really started to get popular. The Nintendo came out and we all had to play. Those were the good old days. Of course, I remember my parents complaining that those video games would rot my brain. According to some, I turned out ok in spite of, or perhaps regardless of video games.

Are social networks the bane of the English language? Probably not. Will they rot all our minds? Probably not. I think I'll blame txting insted. Wut do u thinkg?

Social Networking and Education

I'm looking at my social networking accounts and I see mild potential for academic application. I believe it would be easier to apply the social networking concept to adult training than high school or even college education. The younger people, around 13-18 years old, tend to get a little...off track. Using social networking for these applications would be complicated. Again, I would advocate internal social networking sites that limit access to irrelevant information.

Just a thought.