UNHCE Information Technology & Distance Education Blog: Network Literacy Archives

http://blogs.hbr.org/schrage/2012/01/tip-for-getting-more-organized.html

How much time do you spend each day getting better organized? Cut it in half.

When it comes to investing time, thought and effort into productively organizing oneself, less is more. In fact, not only is less more, research suggests it may be faster, better and cheaper.

IBM researchers observed that email users who "searched" rather than set up files and folders for their correspondence typically found what they were looking for faster and with fewer errors. Time and overhead associated with creating and managing email folders were, effectively, a waste.

I swear I didn't see this before my earlier blog post.

Jim Langcuster, Extension Communications Specialist at Alabama Cooperative Extension makes a persuasive case for adoption of social media and online networks by Extension professionals.

Gateway to Health Communication & Social Marketing Practice is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website with some great information:

Whether you are looking for tips for analyzing and segmenting an audience, choosing appropriate channels and tools, or evaluating the success of your messages or campaigns, it's all here in one place!

I found it because Andrea Talbot and Gail Kennedy recommended a PDF they have available there - Social Media Toolkit.

Thanks Andrea and Gail for the pointer!

Join a webinar on Friday 10/7/2011 at 1PM EDT about Twitter #Hashtags for conferences, causes, chats, and connecting with people of similar interests.

More information:

http://www.extension.org/learn/event/306

via @ndbob on Scoop.it : Available now: a guide to using Twitter in university research, teaching and impact activities (The London School of Economics and Political Science)

Google+ is the new kid on the block in the social networking space, but is already extremely popular and usable. You can use Google+ to share information, links, and photos, as well as, having a cool video conferencing feature built in. If you'd like to learn more and get started using it, I'd recommend you read this guide: Google+: The Survival Guide for a Photographer's Paradise v2.0 It has specific information for how a photographer can use the network, but does a great job of detailing all of the Google+ features.

If you do decide to join Google+, let me know by adding me to one of your circles (+Stephen Judd).

Are you new to Twitter or interested in learning what it's all about? North Dakota State University Extension is running a "5-week course will immerse participants in using Twitter for building learning networks." The course, which includes a series of webinars and is free, will have you learn by doing.

For more information, and to register, see: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/agcomm/training/twitter-cohort/twitter-cohort

I am the chair of the eXtension Network Literacy Community of Practice (CoP). Over the coming months, we will be rolling out a number of resources aimed at helping professionals get more involved in online networks to enhance their professional development and engage their colleagues and clints in collaborative learning networks.

Please take a few minutes to read our first blog post, which includes this explanation:

This is why a big part of the Network Literacy effort will involve helping professionals become comfortable with online social networking  tools and then to begin building and sustaining collaborative relationships within emerging networks.

A critical first step will be learning how to help professionals gain sufficient levels of what networking visionary Thomas Vander Wal describes as social comfort, namely learning how to build networks in which participants not only feel comfortable among each other but also with the technological tools and subject matter.

This is the charge of the Network Literacy effort: to build a new-model worker adequately equipped and inspired to use emerging networks to forge close, highly collaborative relationships with their clients.

On Monday October 3rd at 2PM EDT, the CoP will be hosting a webinar to discuss Netwrok Literacy, what it means, and how we will be engaging Extension professionals. Please see http://www.extension.org/learn/event/303 for more information.

If you have any questions about Network Literacy, or would like to share how you are using online networks in your work, please leave a comment below.