Web 2.0: Chronicle of a death foretold | Media Money October 12, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentCrunch time is coming for Web2.0 companies, says Peter Kirwan:
"The business models underpinning social media and user-generated content are in big, big trouble.
Funding is drying up. The space available for experimentation in media planning is closing down rapidly. The cult of free looks decidedly vulnerable. […]
Suddenly, and rather miraculously, ad-funded web sites are becoming unfashionable. Paid content? It’s the new black. As one VC puts it: “Free is over; I am only interested in investing in services that customers pay for.”[…]
Welcome to the future. The breaking of web 2.0 will look a bit like the dot com crash of 2000 — only this time, everyone will be scared."
Twitter for reporting – Living in a Media World October 11, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentRalph Hanson offers some examples of reporters using Twitter (for their work, that is):
"twittering is also being used by reporters and news bloggers to post news links. There are political debates taking place by Twitter. Barack Obama's campaign has an official Twitter feed. St. Paul Pioneer Press technology reporter Julio Ojeda Zapata uses Twitter as a reporting tool. And bloggers covering live events (such as the Republican National Convention) use Twitter to make blog posts from their smartphones. In fact, the busiest outside link to my blog in August came from a Tweet posted to Fishbowl DC during the RNC."
Liverpool Daily Post liveblogs Rhys Jones trial and banking crisis October 10, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : Journalism, News, Newspapers, Online, blogging, convergence, reporting , add a commentIt’s nearly a live broadcast of the trial — an impressive exercise in liveblogging by the Post (below), particularly given the legal restrictions on court reporting with which the paper’s reporters and editors have to comply. Reporter Ben Rossington seems to be including lots of details and quotes.
As the page notes at the top of the liveblog section,
Submitted comments cannot be published for legal reasons throughout the trial
(Are comments being submitted anyhow — to be published after the case, perhaps?)
I imagine there’s also a risk of having to edit material already published if, for example, the judge decides during the proceedings that a particular defendant must not be named.
Then there are the logistics, which must be easier where it’s a high-profile case (such as this) and proceedings are video-linked to a separate press area. Otherwise — assuming laptops are not permitted in the court itself — it would probably need a reporter to duck out of the gallery every so often and post from his shorthand notes.
Post editor Mark Thomas hasn’t had any responses so far to his blog request for feedback on the paper’s liveblogging. Deputy editor Alison Gow posted some interesting reflections on her experience of liveblogging at the Post last month, with some dos and don’ts. (If either of you would like to say more here about the Rhys Jones trial or bank crisis liveblog, please add comments.) The paper has used the technique to cover different events this year, including football matches and the giant spider robot La Machine.
The liveblog on the banking crisis (below) seems to be a joint effort with the Birmingham Post and The Journal (Newcastle), among others. Looking at the liveblog on the Post’s dedicated business site, I can see it’s been attracting a few comments — it would be fascinating to know the impact of either liveblog on the sites’ hits/pageviews. Both use the Cover It Live software.
The liveblog of the Rhys Jones trial isn’t the first time a UK paper has covered a case live (or as live as possible) — the Evening Star in Ipswich and the East Anglian Daily Times used similar methods earlier this year to report the trial of Steve Wright, with brief live updates.
Why Journos Should Learn Yahoo Pipes – Poynter Online October 10, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentAmy Gahran offers a quick intro to Yahoo Pipes, having just created her first one:
"For any topic or event you might cover, all kinds of people will be posting all kinds of content about it in many places. Exploring such related content is useful not only to journalists who follow beats or stories, but also to their audiences and communities. The trick is to gather it all together into one place, and to filter it so that you only see what's truly relevant."
Virtual Learning: Reinventing the wheel? October 9, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentThe Open University’s head of learning innovation responded to a question I keep encountering. In his answers, institutional (corporate) priorities loom large, of course — but integration and one-step authentication are also about making it work well for student and staff users.
One of the questions which crops up regularly at the OU is why we’re enhancing tools such as blogs and wikis within Moodle when there are better ones out there on the Internet which we could give access to instead. Why don’t we just provide WordPress and MediaWiki which have a lot more features than their Moodle equivalents?
Students assessed on Web2.0 shocker: Times Higher Education October 5, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , 1 comment so farWeb2.0 starts to penetrate more of HE? — but that this makes news might be something to do with the core readership of the Times Higher and their (lack of) familiarity with such newfangled gadgetry:
Some students are now formally assessed on "wikis" – websites that can be edited by others – or websites they create on their own or with fellow students. Students are also submitting internet podcasts, video diaries and blogs.
Reading Blogs at Work: Why You Should Do It & How You Can Make it Worthwhile – ReadWriteWeb October 4, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentNeed to convince anyone that blogs could inform their work? A round-up from ReadWriteWeb, with some interesting links (inc research): “If you’re not reading blogs at work, you may not be doing your job as well as you could be. Below we discuss three advantages to reading blogs on the job and offer examples of the kinds of blogs that people could benefit from reading in three different non-tech professions. 1) Staying Up to the Moment on News 2) Knowing What People are Talking About 3) Reference Resources”
Are College Students Techno Idiots? :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Source for News, Views and Jobs September 30, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentLarge-scale study suggests poor information literacy skills, including evaluating websites and searching online effectively: "For the study, information was gathered from over 6,300 students found at 63 universities, colleges, community colleges, and high schools (seniors). Each institution selected participants to take an information and communication technology literacy assessment. Because the institutions did not make random selections , caution should be taken when evaluating the results. The challenge was to see if students could identify trustworthy information, manage that information, and communicate it effectively. The results do not inspire confidence. […]Results also show that students might even lack the basics on a search engine like Google. When asked to narrow a search that was too broad, only 35 percent of students selected the correct revision. Further, 80 percent of students put irrelevant points into a slide program designed to persuade an audience."
Web 2.0 in Secondary Education September 30, 2008
Posted by Jonathan Hewett in : delicious links , add a commentFrom a Becta study — not that different in HE?
"Barriers to the more widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies included:
• Tension between the collaborative learning of Web 2.0 and the nature of the assessment system
• Concerns about e-safety and strict filtering in schools
• Lack of adequate bandwidth
• Teachers need the support, time and space to develop skills and practices
• Learning platforms and ‘walled garden’ approach of VLEs
• Reluctance about Web 2.0 activities being visible on the open internet
• However these issues are not confined to technology and teachers:
Many learners lack technical skills, and lack an awareness of the range of technologies and of when and how they could be used, as well as the digital literacy and critical skills to navigate this space. Teachers should be careful not to overestimate learners’ familiarity and skills in this area.
So it appears that there is a long way to go before Web 2.0 is fully welcomed into the classroom."