Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Bringing Social Media into Online Education

When you think about it, most traditional online education is modeled after the old classroom lecture style of learning, a style that has been largely abandoned inmost progressive educational institutions for some time. They do employ discussion boards, but again, that is modeled after the old classroom style.

We also know that most learning takes place outside of the classroom, usually when the students collaborate with friends, classmates and others. People learn best by studying on their own, clearing up their weak points  and pursuing the areas of particular interest through collaboration.

It's a prime situation for the use of social media, so educators have been experimenting with this type of tool. Strangely, the online courses that are offered most often tend to stress the old classroom style of learning, which is something of an irony.

Not all, however. Telus is a case in point where social media, including blogs, social networking tools and YouTube videos are used in its training programs. They have constructed an approach that should be looked at by everyone interested in online learning. Check out this article.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Big Data Analytics

Many businesses have twigged to the fact that a vast amount of data about their markets and potential markets is available on the internet (in the cloud) and have started to incorporate it into their business systems. The problem is they have been having trouble analyzing it so as to be able to make best use of it. The vast quantities of sometimes disparate data just makes analysis difficult.

It's true there are tools out there, but they haven't always been what was needed.

Google has announced its entry into big data analytics - called Big Query. It has the advantage that it is a Google product, which should mean it can take advantage of Google's impressive data analytics capability. Also, Google is one of the largest providers of big cloud data, and therefore close to the source.

Big Query should be a big success. but we shall see. Check out this summary of the tool.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Cloud Computing is Bigger Than IT

Going into a cloud environment, which is happening very quickly, involves a lot more than It issues. IT is often a very large outsourcing exercise, one that requires a lot of thought about compatibility, scalability, privacy, data protection, legal responsibilities, management responsibilities, and so on. For a larger company, moving to the cloud can be a major initiative.For that reason, the federal CIO Council and the federal Chief Acquisitions Officers Council (CAO) recently released a guide to cloud contracting dealing basically with the kinds of issues that should be included in a Cloud outsourcing agreement.. It's worth a look.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Encyclopaedia Britannica vs Wikipedia

EB has finally decided to discontinue its expensive print version of the Encyclopaedia. It's a decision that has been a long time in coming, despite the obvious signs for the past ten years or so that expensive print books are no longer a viable way to disseminate information. EB has been grappling with this reality for many years, while continuing to lose money on its print version and experimenting with its website. The website version has been charging fees for several years, but has run directly up against Wikipedia, which offers its contents for free.

The Britannica dilemma typifies the difficulty that information providers have been running into since the advent of the Web. There is so much information available on the web for free that people are not willing to pay for information at all. Users have in fact come to expect information to be free.

This expectation appears to ignore two basic facts of life. One is that if information is only provided for free, professionals who are best able to provide that information will not do so. They will not be willing to work for nothing. That puts information provision into the hands of the amateurs, who for the most part produce an inferior product. We see this on the web regularly. There is a lot of information there - you can Google anything - but a lot of that information is misinformation or otherwise wrong or incomplete. To some extent, users can distinguish the good from the bad, but often they can't. Or don't.

A major difference between EB and Wikipedia is that EB has traditionally been written by acknowledged global experts on a particular subject while Wikipedia can be written by anyone, with some cursory editorial oversight. However the fact that EB is likely to be the most knowledgable source, it is not enough of a difference to convince people to pay for it. EB's challenge is to come up with a competitive advantage that will actually be convincing to people. It simply hasn't been able to do that yet.

On the other hand, the Wikipedia model is not a viable business model either. Even though the content is written by anyone - some professionals and some amateurs -  for free, there are still costs to maintaining the site. Since there have been no revenues to cover these costs, the site has been relying on donations to keep going. Which means someone is out there who is willing to pay for information. But reliance on donations is almost by definition not a viable business model and it stands to reason that sooner or later, Wikipedia will need to come up with a viable model. They are in the same boat as Encyclopaedia Britannica, just at the other end of the spectrum.

The bottom line is that there needs to be a system to compensate information providers for their efforts. Otherwise, while information will continue to proliferate, quality information will become harder and harder to find. And probably more expensive. Here's an article on the announcement by EB.
 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

E-Discovery in the Cloud

The cloud is a pretty broad concept and to talk about anything in the cloud means a lot of different things. This applies to e-discovery as with other areas. In e-discovery, the question is gaining access to key data in the event of a legal action.

A host of issues arises, however. Storage in the cloud can mean storage with a number of different hosts. You may not know where the data is stored by those hosts and need to go through them to find it. Also, the agreement with the host may or may not contain procedures in the event of discovery hearings. Can you retain control over the data if it is subpoenaed? Also, does the data remain in your possession and control under the terms of the agreement?

These may not be crucial issues in the normal conduct of business, but they may become very important quickly in the event of a legal action. Check for more here.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Groupon - Doin' Good

Groupon, the consumer deal maker, is doing well. Its IPO was a big hit. But the business in which it is engaged still raises concerns among investors. It isn't so much the business model of Groupon itself, but rather the state of the industry and the consolidation it is going through. Also, a natural for Groupon is to venture into the mobile market, which it is trying to do. However, mobile payment systems using mobile units are needed for this and they are just not here yet. So Groupon has some issues, but it looks like a viable business both for consumers and for investors. Check out this article for more.