Title: IT Applications Theory Slideshows
1IT Applications Theory Slideshows
Online community their tools
- By Mark Kelly
- mark_at_vceit.com
- Vceit.com
2What is an Online community?
- People who work together or socialise because
they share an interest. - They use ICT tools to assist with
- collaboration
- knowledge sharing
- collective identity
Information and Communication Technologies
3Community Types
- Social
- Work-based
- Project/interest-based
- Open anyone can access material on the site
- Closed registration or membership is required
to enter the site - (Most sites have some open content and some
closed content)
4Online Community Characteristics
- Shared interest
- Desire to share information, ideas on that
interest - Cooperative
- Members may be widely-separated geographically
- Can be broad cultural differences between members
5Characteristics
- Members often speak different languages, and come
from different cultures - May lead to misunderstandings or difficulties
with understanding accents or local slang
Translation is not always easy or accurate
6Needs of online communities
- Security to keep out vandals, enemies
- Public access to spread their interests
- Privacy - e.g. using avatars, nicknames
- Sharing information resources
- Ego a way to earn recognition for skill
- Socialising
- A way to be heard
- Making community decisions
- Participating in projects
7These needs affect their sites
- Some sites are heavily secured, closed sites
- Some are open to all visitors
- More or fewer info sharing tools (e.g. Wikis,
forums) depending on what their aims are.
8Common online tools
- Tool categories
- Synchronous (in real time, e.g. live chat, phone
call, videoconference) - Asynchronous (not in real time, e.g. email, web
forum)
9Synchronous good!
- Immediate, good for emergencies
- Issues sorted quickly
10Synchronous bad!
- Has to be attended to immediately. Disrupts other
tasks. - Hard to coordinate a good time for both parties
to talk (especially if in different time zones) - Instant responses or decisions may be required
it can result in poorly-thought out or
badly-worded or impulsive and regrettable
comments.
11Asynchronous good!
- Can spend time contemplating a response and
carefully crafting a reply. - Can collect and deal with a message when it's
convenient for you.
12Asynchronous bad
- May be a considerable time lag between sending a
message and getting a reply. - Unable to do quick follow-up questions as you can
with real-time communications. - Discussions may take a lot of slow back-and-forth
correspondence - Lacks a human touch not good for team
solidarity or seeing colleagues as real people.
13Common Tools
email mailing lists
web forums Social networking
Live chat instant messaging
web sites blogs
networked databases shared calendars
project management tools Wikis
Content-management systems What do these do?
14The right tool
- No one tool is perfect for everything- need a
selection. - Synchronous tools need people to be available at
the same time, regardless of time zone - Visual tools allow extra non-verbal information
e.g. facial expressions, body language - Email allows attachments and time to reflect and
compose a thoughtful reply, but lacks subtle
non-verbal cues
15Security
- Encrypted documents
- SSL (secure websites)
- Virtual Private Networks (VPN - secure internet
channels) - Virus / malware / trojan / spam filters
16Online communities may need
- 1. Shared Access to Data / Files
- A secure place for storing data, documents,
discussion threads etc so members can access the
shared data, and add to it or edit it. - Different privileges for different members,
depending on their status or data needs.
17- Building Social Engagement
- Blogs and Instant Messaging Systems display the
real-time presence of others - Enable real time discussions
- Help build community solidarity via spontaneous
face-to-face teamwork.
18IT APPLICATIONS SLIDESHOWS
- By Mark Kelly
- mark_at_vceit.com
- vceit.com
These slideshows may be freely used, modified or
distributed by teachers and students anywhere on
the planet (but not elsewhere). They may NOT be
sold. They must NOT be redistributed if you
modify them.