Througout the INF506 subject, there were various opportunities to explore the capabilities of Second Life (SL). Personally, I have been aware of SL’s existence for many years but never engaged in it because a) I wasn’t sure what benefits it had to offer, and b) I didn’t have the time to commit to a second life when there didn’t seem to be enough time in my first life. My first was an orientation to SL with xxx, where I was shown how to manage the basics. My second was as a presenter for sharing my work from INF506’s first assignment.

I believe Second Life is about communities. It is a useful tool for bringing people together, much like Facebook or Myspace. The difference, however, is that rather than interacting through text, SL users interact virtually through avatar behavior, chat and voice conversation. It is a significantly more engaging experience. Using SL made it fun to participate in a group event because I could see what other people were doing. Giving a presentation was a familiar experience compared to something like Blackboard Collaborate, because in SL you can see your audience. I could see libraries using SL as a forum for meetings, such as for planning or professional development. It is particularly conducive to hosting a large audience, as other programs like Google Talk and Skype are limited in audience size. Further, SL is conducive to projects involving floorplans, layouts, and simulations because of the virtual experiences possible.

I have found SL to be a fun, but challenging learning tool. Today, I am aware of the benefits SL has to offer, and am eager to explore the different islands and groups. However, I believe that my participation will have to wait until I have available time to commit to it. SL is not a tool that fits into your existing life. The learning curve is high, where users must commit time to manipulating settings, troubleshooting, and getting oriented. While it is accomplishable, there is far too much technical detail to attend to in order to have a meaningful SL experience. I believe this will prevent many users from participating in SL, and will therefore make it a difficult tool to use for library services because there are easier (though less interesting) tools available.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/careyque/6759649601

_I know I haven't written in a while, as things have been ridiculously busy! Not only did I have project 1 to work on (which was turned in yesterday, thank you very much), but it was also the Christmas holidays, recruiting season for international teaching, and I am a mother of two children under 3. 'Nuff said...

In any event, the last several weeks have been dedicated to the creation and documentation of Kidsonthego. Kidsonthego (kidsonthego.wikispaces.com) is my social networking project. It has actually been an idea of mine for quite some time, but I've never had any time to act on it. INF506 gave me that push to indulge in my personal interests, and I'm so glad I did. Doing this pilot project, as small as it is, has allowed me to explore topics that I would never have done otherwise. Most of my studies are related to education, and in this case, I was able to create something that supported personal, non-work-related needs. Hey, we all need this sometimes.

Kidsonthego is a wiki. It's a place where people who travel with their children can seek out information to plan their trip. People can also visit it mid-trip, or after their journeys to record all the great places they have been. It's not about sharing a traveler's story. It's more about sharing the great places out there to support parents with young children, and encourage their travels.

In any event, I put so much time into this site (and continue to do so) because I genuinely feel it serves a purpose to a group of people. I wanted to do a good job, but also had to meet certain academic requirements, so good things all around.

Some of the things I really took away from this project, in terms of learning about social networking theory, have to do with the use of technology to support communities, as well as the sociology and psychology behind online communities.

I have used many blogs, discussion forums, wikis, platforms like Google docs, and other similar tools for some time. However, I never put formal thought into the way it brings people together, and serve different purposes. It was always somewhat intuitive. My first wiki use was in 2004 (or thereabouts) when a teacher librarian created one so that we could share what resources we were using for certain instructional topics (brilliant and yet so simple). However, it wasn't until I created this project and I investigated the different social media options out there, that I began to understand the capability of the different social media environments. Selfishly, I wanted to search by country, or city, or whatever the destination was, and be able to look at different hotel, restaurant, and activity listings. I've been such a fan (and sometimes contributor) of sites like Tripadvisor, or  Cityweekend, that I really just wanted my own version of one of these, but one that was geared toward travel with small children in Asia. While user profiles are a part of these communities, these site are centered more around the information, rather than the users. I discovered that creating something as elaborate as the sites mentioned above would probably take some professional skill and a bit of cash (I was hoping for something free). Wikis were a simple way to do the same--create a community around the content.

I never thought about studying this social direction of technology, but there's a lot out there! I did a lot of reading on wiki technology.  and the factors that influence user participation. Not surprisingly, much of the literature mentioned users tendencies to free ride on informational social media sites. Wikis are at the heart of this. Users often browse and explore the information, but contributing is a different story. A great example of this is how whenever I have a technical need (software not working, or maybe I don't know how to do something), I troll the web for websites, blogs, discussion forums, etc. I am usually able to find the answer because someone, somewhere has posted the question, and some else had answered it. Participation in social media. Thank you social media users for helping me get my data connected on my Android phone in China, or teaching me all about locked and unlocked phones and SIM cards in the US and China, or for (and this is a big one) enabling me how to use taobao.com (an online shopping site entirely in Chinese)! I also rely heavily on participants with social media to help me plan my travels (thank you Tripadvisor.com users!).

I am guilty of taking this free ride, quite often. However, I have come to realize that I take so much from online communities, so I should try and give back when I can. Experts in the field refer to this "interest" as reciprocity, and apparently I am not alone. Who knew that this has been studied?! People participate in social media for many reasons. Some studies report that users participate for the social good, and the knowledge that it brings to many. However, some studies do show that personal or individual motivations (e.g. contributing to Wikipedia to practice and improve English) are also a very strong factor.

So my travel wiki, Kidsonthego, is sitting there, being viewed and updated by some. It needs more information and definitely more users. I want to jump in (because I love to share this information, for the greater good of course... and it's just fun to create), but I also have two more papers due in two weeks! I can only hope that Kidsonthego can find some dedicated users (and fewer digital loafers) to create that critical mass needed to keep the wiki alive. I plan to work on that when this term ends in two weeks!

Bibliography:
Gao, Q., Dai, Y., Fan, Z., & Kang, R. (2010). Understanding factors affecting perceived sociability of social software. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1846-1861. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.022

Parra-López, E., Bulchand-Gidumal, J., Gutiérrez-Taño, D., & Díaz-Armas, R. (2011). Intentions to use social media in organizing and taking vacation trips. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 640-654. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.05.022

Prasarnphanich, P. & Wagner, C. (2011). Explaining the sustainability of digital ecosystems based on the wiki model through critical-mass theory. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 58(6), 2065-2072. doi:10.1109/TIE.2009.2027248

Shu, W., & Chuang, Y. (2011). The behavior of wiki users. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 39(6), 851-864. doi:10.2224/sbp.2011.39.6.851

Utecht, J. (2010). Reach: Building communities and networks for professional development. Retrieved from http://jeffutecht.com.

Wagner, C. & Prasarnphanich, P. (2007). Innovating collaborative content creation: The role of altruism and wiki technology., 2007. 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. doi:10.1109/HICSS.2007.277

Yu, T., Lu, L., & Liu, T. (2009) Exploring factors that influence knowledge sharing behavior via weblogs. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(1), 32-41. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2009.08.002

So today was meant to be spent working on my paper for my professional placement. I have done so much professional reading recently and have learned so much--the challenge is remembering where the heck I got my information. So, as I write, I'm jumping back into the university library's website searching databases for articles that support the point I want to make. I know, it's a bit backwards, and is not meant to be done that way. Ssshhhh, don't tell anyone. I need the reference for my paper.

Anyway, as I'm searching, I encounter an article by Michael Stephens, called the Transparent Library School. He was a keynote speaker at the Learning 2.011 Worldwide Virtual Conference I participated in a month ago, so I read it (one of the many ways I get sidetracked when studying!). In it, he mentions a blog by an MLIS student named Ben Lainhart, who is frustrated about the instructional pedagogy used for his MLIS program. The quote made me laugh. "I do not want to take any more online classes that are exactly the same: sign into BB (BlackBoard), read the 'lecture,' read the articles, make my obligatory posts on the discussion board and occasionally write a paper. How uninspiring!" I could not agree more.

Sorry CSU, but many of the courses I've taken so far have been delivered this way. This element of my studies has been disappointing. However, this is not to say that I haven't learned anything. I do the necessary assignments and follow instructions carefully (and frankly, I think I've doing a pretty good job so far too). However, I learn most when I'm off track. The learning that sticks with me most, the stuff that gets me excited about jumping into this job as teacher-librarian has more to do with the professionals in the industry that I have encountered along the way. I enjoy learning from those in the job now, who are doing things that guide rest of us. When I see that, I want to learn too. No, I don't get particularly jazzed about reading about philosophies and practices from a text and making those posts to the discussion forums because I have to.

That being said, what is the answer? I am with Ben Lainhart who said: "... I don’t have too many answers yet. All I have is a feeling that things can and should be done differently. The problem is: differently may be something so open-source that it really begins to mean the end of “institutional” education. And I do not think that I have a problem with that."

Just to add to that further, I encountered a youtube video of a presentation by Jeff Utecht, who I remember used to be an IT teacher here in China. In this speech, "Community Trumps Content" he talked about the power of communities. "The Revolution will be here when the students figure out they can learn more in their own communities than they can sitting in a seat in the school." I can relate. He then mentions a university called The University of the People which offers degrees for $25 around the world. Maybe this University of the People is what Ben Lainhart is talking about.

But then again, I suppose these resources not necessarily academic. I need to get back to that paper, and find that reference. Ugh.

Lainhart, B. (2011). Is Online Education Still Stuck in 2001: Some still unformed thoughts. Available from http://benjaminlainhart.com/2011/02/17/is-online-education-still-stuck-in-2001-some-still-unformed-thoughts/
Stephens, M. (2011). The Transparent Library School. Library Journal, 136(9), 46
Utecht, J. (2010). Community Trumps Content. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8djV8slDN0