TechIntersect

If you are reading this, you are most likely already familiar with the term “Web 2.0″ aka the “read/write web”. But I wanted to take some time to document my own growth in understanding the concept.

The Machine is Us/ing Us is a video that was first released on YouTube in January of 2007 by Dr. Mike Wesch, a K-State professor of Anthropology. The video simply describes what this new web is all about and what it means to us. It quickly went viral, meaning it experienced explosive, exponetial growth in popularity as people shared with others through the internet. (It currently has over 7 million views!)

My wife and I were fortunate enough to meet Mike for lunch in Aggieville just a few weeks after people began to take notice of his video. It’s a good thing we met with him when we did because since that time Wesch has been racking up the awards– most recently the Carnegie/CASE national professor of the year– and his time is in very high demand.

Of course I had heard of web 2.0 technologies such as blogging, YouTube, and so forth, but until we met Dr. Wesch, I had never really considered the full extent of its power. In talking with him, the lights began to flicker on in my mind about the possibilities. But I am often slow to comprehend, and a year later (last spring) I was still slogging on in my old ways.

Then came SXSW. I had heard about it mentioned the Boagworld web development podcast, so I signed up to attend last March and it rocked my world! I can remember one session I attended a young lady was describing the importance of blogging. Blogging? I thought to myself. Isn’t that just vanity publishing for narcissists? She mentioned that companies were paying people to blog about their products. What?!? You have to be kidding me. She even said that you should do multiple blog posts each day, because your followers are eager to learn what you have to say next! You have to be kidding me, more than one post a day? (I’m still lucky if I fire one of these off a week.)

Slowly, the veil that was limiting my vision about how this all works was being lifted away, and I could start to see how all of this could apply in my life. I’ll have to admit that I’m still learning, but I’ve come a long way in just a short time, I think.

Applying what I’ve learned

As a computer systems technology professor, I have always felt that it’s important to stay engaged with the subjects I teach. I don’t think there is a better way to do this than helping with the technology side of a business. The latest evidence that we are learning are these recent web statistics for my wife’s business http://www.wendyspartytreats.com.

Take a look at this traffic graph I just downloaded.

I developed her site a year ago over Christmas break, and launched it in January to see what would happen. There is a jump in unique visitors in April, which coincides with one of her busy times of year, school graduations in May. People were looking at her graduation cakes and other party treats. But that was also about the time I returned from SXSW, and started this on this blogging journey.

Throughout the year, I continued adding technologies to my repertoire including Facebook and Twitter. This is in no small part to what I learned at SXSW, and later with the book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Li & Bernoff.

You can see a dip in traffic over the summer, which is a typical pattern for businesses such as hers, but there was not a return to the pre-SXSW traffic levels. And look at what has been happening this fall… wow! November was the busiest traffic month of the year!

I realize that this traffic means nothing without corresponding sales, but trust me, Wendy is BUSY this season! She has spent lots and lots of hours lovingly preparing her treats to help people celebrate the holiday season.

Much of this growth has simply been word of mouth, but the internet side of things is starting to catch on as well as she begins shipping her goodies to the far reaches of the USA. Someday, I imagine, she may even begin to have clients around the world.

Advertising is shouting. The groundswell is a conversation.

One thing I have learned from the Groundswell book is that advertising is akin to companies shouting at people about how great their stuff is. But the groundswell which comes from using web 2.0 technologies isn’t about shouting, it is about conversations.

I have always been turned off by high-pressure sales and the last thing we want to do is be seen as in league with these types. Instead, we want people to be surprised by the excellence of our quality for the price, and hope that surprised customers and friends tell their friends, and so far it seems to be working.

When Wendy left the corporate world to be a stay at home mom, she began putting her creativity to work in the kitchen. When I saw how talented she was, I just knew that her friends would enjoy her skills too. I encouraged her to start sharing with people she knows and we seemed to stumble right into the Seth Godin Holiday Shopping Guide’s #1 recommendation: Buy handmade items from people you like.

We are still learning about how best to participate in the groundswell, but I think the little traffic graph I’ve shared and the booming little home-based business gives us a hint that we may be on the right track.

Over the Christmas break, you can be sure I will be busily trying to incorporate some of these things I have been learning into the second semester web development course I will be teaching. My question to you is, what are some of the most valuable lessons you have learned about the new read/write web? What would you share with students just beginning to learn about web development and how it fits into the world of web 2.0?

Tags: blogging, e-commerce, groundswell, web2.0

After observing what is happening around the world with educators utilizing blogs and other digital media, I am eager to get started. I recently mentioned this to a colleague I work with who teaches writing. My friend is using “blogging” in a writing course with our Axio Learning course management software in a password protected environment. When discussing the possibilities of having student write in blogs that are publicly accessible, this teacher whose opinion I greatly value, was adamant that students be offered a choice to go live to the Internet or to remain in a protected environment. Her position is that students should not be required to put their thoughts into the public domain, which is in essence what happens when you post to the web.

I countered that students knowing that a global audience can access their work, might actually put in a greater effort than they do currently in a private setting. She agreed, but is concerned that once you put something out there, it is out there forever. In her opinion, requiring students to give away their intellectual property without their consent is not the thing to do.

So I put the question to my visitors from hither and yon– By requiring our students to blog in the publicly accessible web, are we violating their rights to their own intellectual property? Are we setting up a learning environment that to some might be intimidating and even down right scary, thereby inhibiting the very learning we are hoping to instill? Or are we simply creating a unique learning experience that documents progress in thinking and learning that can always be referred back to at a later time?

One unique perspective comes from my colleague at Kansas State University, Dr. Michael Wesch. You may know Dr. Wesch from his YouTube video The Machine is Us/ing Us.  He recently published an article entitled Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance. (Links to PDF).

I realize that the Edublogging community is very pro-technology biased. But I am very eager to explore this issue from every angle, because my friend’s concerns are valid. What are your thoughts? How are you creating a safe learning environment, but at the same time using the power of Web 2.0 in your classes? Have you thought about the concerns raised in this post? (Thanks to Sue Waters for encouraging me to start this discussion.)

Tags: art, blogging, critiques, education, technology, web 2.0