Steven H. Stumpf, EdD

Students entering college today and tomorrow expect a seamless transition to college life. Students expect to conduct their campus lives with the same communication forms to which they are accustomed – blogging, wikis, myspace, youtube. Campuses not on board with Web 2.0 will be regarded by students as less interesting choices. Take a look at Mimi Ito's website to learn how tweeners are growing up without giving these modes of communication and productivity a second thought.

Web 2.0 applications bring the opportunity to reduce costs while meeting obligations. The challenge is assessing the cost/value relationship. In some cases this is easy, e.g., striking a deal with Google to take over institutional email - including service - is a no-brainer. Not as simple with other appealing opportunities.

What about online surveys? Collecting data to meet requirements, e.g., quality improvement, graduate placements, poses significant challenges for organizations typically under-funded and over-obligated. No-cost online survey sites can put stars in administrators' eyes. However, as with blog-hosting sites, the no-cost choice offers a smidgen of control compared to the low-cost choice which can offer complete control. The difference in capital outlay can be a few hundred dollars.

For responders the presence of commercial ads on your survey site can be confusing. The option to export a data matrix (instead of accepting percentage outcomes) is a significant advantage for data crunching. And how about linking respondents to an ID code? This feature can be crucial for some reporting. The ability to manipulate graphics and scoring templates to reflect the organizational look is a bonus you will learn to appreciate.

As competition increases among Web 2.0 providers the opportunities for organizations on a tight budget improve. Value can be gained investing with a consultant who has invested in survey tool software just beyond Web 2.0 free-ware. Expect more service, added value and funder-pleasing reports.

The (slowly) burning question is how exactly wikis, blogs, handheld devices, YouTube, MUVEs, and social networking sites fit into a new pedagogy for learning. For people working in this space FUD (F = Fear, U = Uncertainty, D = Doubt) faded in their rear view mirrors long ago.

Employing the "new" methods and applications is inevitable and unavoidable. Those who are already in the "new" mainstream (some may not know it) post digital images (Mongolian street children here, Dede powerpoint screenshot below) online so our friends and family can see them (flickr), post or access videos online (YouTube, see below), and keep up to date on topics of interest where thoughts can be shared (blogs).

How are these platforms, applications, devices and networks actually shaping a new pedagogy? You might download and review Chris Dede's powerpoint from 2005-2006 from the AACU site for big picture concepts, such as "distributed learning across time, space and media".

A streaming video ("The Machine is US/ing us") created by Kansas State professor Mike Wesch entertains while it teaches. He plays with what Web 2.0 means in the most concrete and abstract senses. The subtext is that anyone with well-developed basic skills can entertain and educate using the new methods for communicating...on no-cost platforms featuring tools formerly reserved for DOD contractors and media giants. By contrast, a more traditional lecture describing Web 2.0 is linked from the Wesch video. Production values are less impressive but the content does provide relevant overview information.

Wesch and Dede grapple with large scale ideas about where and how Web 2.0 fits in the educational landscape. Both teachers are moving quickly to keep up with a reality being shaped faster than it is being understood.

How can we be sure Web 2.0 has legs? The world's largest survey vendor/opinion researcher announced their new opinion gathering tool, Hey! Nielsen? It's a survey! It's an exit poll! It's a social networking community created for the express purpose of extracting tons of data! Here is a recent news article weighing the strategic risks.

I have a ground-level story about how reality has changed my brother-in-law's business. For the first time he is using a blog to help manage a large scale project. The participants/partners learn (at their convenience) what other important players in the project (around the state) are thinking about topics that must be digested in order to move the project forward. What are the participants posting to the blog? Opinions, articles, images, videos. How does this move things forward? "We reserve face-to-face meetings for the most consequential decisions. Everyone arrives informed on the basic choices and the relevant issues".

Professional schools that ensure students have every opportunity to master these emerging technologies will become more competitive as their graduates (and faculty) become leaders in shaping the new pedagogy.

The new communication methods are not replacements for face-to-face learning. They enhance, enrich, deepen and broaden learning in new and individualized ways. This entry is an example of how I like to mix media using these new platforms. Be sure you look at the Chris Dede presentation. He describes four levels of learning technologies: device, application, medium, infrastructure (are they hierarchical?). Exciting isn't it? Let us know your thoughts.

I received an email request last week from my health insurer to complete an online survey. Providers and insurers are required to collect and report "quality" information. The process can be costly (in person hours and/or $$) if sound survey principles are employed. Insurers have deeper pockets than provider groups so outcomes for insurers often have more defensible arguments where reliability and validity are concerned. I wrote an article for a professional magazine in 2000 describing cost effective and reasonable shortcuts for providers.

The best choice today for insurers and providers is to conduct the survey online. If information is required the applications are almost without limit.

The practice of surveying healthcare organizations to determine what everyone is paying for a certain medical service (e.g., hospitalist, interventional cardiologist) is a very good idea whose value and utility is often overlooked. This is a Fair Market Value survey. Organizational diligence in surveying the market, in many cases, supports compliance with regulations governing the purchase of services from third-parties, many of whom are also potential referral sources for patients. In order to encourage survey participation certain tactics can be employed. Respondent identity is confidential or even anonymous, known only to the survey consultant. Quid pro quo works, i.e., complete the survey and I will share the blinded report with you. Challenges remain including (1) finding the person with the information; (2) persuading that individual to respond to the questions; and (3) deciphering unanticipated information. I am distributing my current Fair Market Value survey online.

It is not unusual to learn that a hospital employs questionable policies and practices in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. This is why confidentiality is so important. When I conduct the survey over the phone I have all the identifying information of the respondent. When I do it online the respondent's ID is anonymous. The online approach protects the respondent and the surveyor.

A Fair Market Value survey can help the individual hospital determine if they are paying what is fair. It also can provide important unanticipated information that could help the hospital take corrective action before its next audit either internal or by external government agency.

Teachers at all levels are considering how to enhance learning with the aggregation of Web 2.0 (W2) applications and services available online. Collaboration has grown beyond static listservers and blast emails. A March 26 2008 article in the Wall Street Journal (not your common source for news on education) makes clear how teaching is changing for educators who have embraced W2.

Educators are knocking off YouTube with their own sites like TeacherTube (free for schools and created by a Texas school superintendent) and SchoolTube. Teachers post their own video products on TT for others to examine and use. Students post the videos they create on ST.

Naysayers caution about "time-consuming" vetting in order to eliminate inappropriate, inaccurate or sub-standard efforts.

SchoolTube, also no cost, was created as a venue for high school journalism students to post their own video reports. Submissions now include videos on a range of historical topics. WSJ reports 2,500 schools have registered at ST.

Naysayers express concerns about accuracy. A similar critique has been directed at Wikipedia which resulted in the hugely popular site being generally accepted as an insufficient academic reference. While this policy certainly makes sense it does miss the point about collaboration being at the heart of W2 applications and platforms. The response from the collaborative sites is to have site users self-regulate content. Like Wikipedia. This is not a simple matter.

OK, enough big picture. What can these sites do for me?

Getting on TeacherTube is easy enough. Go to the link and start searching. While you don't have to sign up I did anyway. With the login you can elect to receive the newsletter.

I need to learn more about Photoshop, in particular how to blend two images. I searched the TT videos database, screened a couple that had "problems" (fuzzy images, poor sound recording), then found exactly what I wanted with excellent production values and 3.5 minutes run time.

The SchoolTube site requires a login to search their database. Identifying myself as an educator routes me to the moderator login path. This is a higher level of user ID than I actually want. As a moderator I can upload my own videos and monitor others' videos (i.e., students). I am not and left those requests for info blank. I am advised it could be 2 days before I am screened and receive my login.

I recently finished the Bergreen book Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu. If I were a high school teacher I would love to create a W2 module based on the book. I searched TeacherTube and found this 5 minute slide show.

I am a health professions educator with a special interest in integrative medicine. A controversial topic concerns the origins of Chinese Medicine. Are they wholly Chinese? Or is Five Element Theory derived from medieval astrological beliefs? The answer relies in part on the history of the Silk Road. The above video provides the most rudimentary introduction to the long history of economic and cultural exchange that trafficked along the Silk Road. In 5 minutes a lot of basic information my acupuncture students could be attained.

Or I can create my own product. What an idea!