Category: Social Networking

Categories
Community Content Design Information Social Networking

Pull up the rocking chair and let us set and talk a while

As Extension professionals, we know that conversation and relationship building within our communities of practice and our communities of interest is the key to all that we do. Sharing, storytelling, asking questions, and providing answers is our core mission.

But what are the best solutions for doing that?

That is a key question that Sue Hawkins, Project Coordinator for the Sustainable Ag Energy Community of Practice is asking of her colleagues on the Content Management Board and of the eXtension Staff. Where does she go to do that? Where’s the best place to share information and build community among the coordinators and leaders of our Communities of Practice. And it’s a question, that John McQueen, of the eOrganic Community of Practice and Karen Jeannette, of the Consumer Horticulture Community of Practice, have been asking too.

Help us crowd-source that answer. What do you think? What are the best tools, the best solutions, and the best strategies for sharing? What can the eXtension Initiative staff do to facilitate that sharing? What do our Communities of Practice need to do? What can we all do in Extension to make this better?

Would Get Satisfaction work as a forum? Is the CoP Network at Wet Paint the best place? What about Facebook? or Twitter? Would creating a community and a mailing list at people.extension.org work best?

Are there others? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments. Or head over to Get Satisfaction or Wet Paint – or start a new discussion in another tool (and let everyone know in the comments where that is).

Categories
Information Information Technology Social Networking Standards

A funny thing happened on the way to the (web) forum…

Noticed anything new today about signing into some of your favorite extension.org sites? Actually – we are hoping you didn’t.

Last November, we transitioned our internal sites to using a new protocol for signing in to sites on the web, called “OpenID”. Every person that has an eXtensionID also has an OpenID (you can find information about your OpenID in your people.extension.org Profile. Don’t have an eXtensionID? If you’re eligible for one – please signup!)

An OpenID lets you use the same “ID” at sites across the web, without having to signup for yet another account for each website. It’s a great way for Extension personnel to establish identity at various sites, without having to use the same username (and potentially the same password) at different sites.

OpenID is an important emerging standard that Extension will be hearing more and more about (every Google account, every Yahoo! account, every AOL account and more have an OpenID) – and it’s important to have that educational opportunity to know that Extension staff with eXtensionID’s have an OpenID, and can use it across the web.

But you know, sometimes in the moment – you just need to get work done. I mean – I now have to remember a crazy string like ‘https://people.extension.org/[extensionid]’ when logging in? I just want to author some articles! Answer questions! Create events!

I hear you. It’s at worst confusing, maybe at best bemusing.

But now, for many of our sites, you don’t even have to know you’re using – your OpenID.

Our November transition gave us a stepping stone to make our login process even easier. For our About Wiki, our Collaborate Wiki, and our Ask Extension Widget site – which have “open read” access, but are limited to eXtensionID’s for editing and commenting – choosing “Log in” or “Sign in” will no longer prompt you for your OpenID – you’ll only be presented with a eXtensionID (or email) and password login at people.extension.org

If you have already logged into People previously – you’ll just automatically sign in!

For our content tools that are closed for both “read” and “write” to those with an eXtensionID – just accessing Events, Faq / Ask an Expert or the Community of Practice Wiki will prompt you to log in with your eXtensionID (or email address) and password (or automatically log you in if you have already signed into People recently).

The best part about this? We don’t think you’ll notice. Hopefully this continued transition – made possible by our use of OpenID – will help a portion of the technology “get out of the way” to let you focus on collaboration with your Extension colleagues!

Categories
Social Networking Web

Do you Twitter?

Is Twitter TOO Good? Kathy Sierra has a very interesting post about Twitter.

“Twitter scares me. For all its popularity, I see at least three issues: 1) it’s a near-perfect example of the psychological principle of intermittent variable reward, the key addictive element of slot machines. 2) The strong “feeling of connectedness” Twitterers get can trick the brain into thinking its having a meaningful social interaction, while another (ancient) part of the brain “knows” something crucial to human survival is missing. 3) Twitter is yet another–potentially more dramatic–contribution to the problems of always-on multi-tasking… you can’t be Twittering (or emailing or chatting, of course) and simultaneously be in deep thought and/or a flow state.”

Categories
Community Content Social Networking

Successful Online Chat for HorseQuest

This week the Equine CoP conducted an online chat about Condition Your Horse in the Summer. They found that their clientele are very eager to learn and discuss topics of their interest using online chat methods.

During the chat participants said they found out about the chat by email promotion through the Cooperative Extension System and from just browsing the Internet. The majority of those surveyed indicated a desire to have a chat either monthly or weekly and found the chat system to be easy or extremely easy to use.

These respondents also found the chat to be useful or extremely useful and provided feedback on future topics the Horse Team should cover. Online chats will be a great way a Community of Practice can directly interact with their Community of Interest.