What’s Web 2.0?

The term "Web 2.0" is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the internet. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with each other as contributors to the website's content, in contrast to websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them.

Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, and blogs among many other forms.

Are you really taking full advantage of the Web 2.0? We all know that no matter what image a a company, you or your splendid profiles tries to project, it's made up of ordinary people with personalities, insecurities and lives. But because the marketing and public relations, teams work so hard to polish, control and package a company's image, the public ordinarily sees none of that human side.

On the flipside when a firm or your impressive profiles embraces the possibilities of Web 2.0, it makes contact with its public in a more casual, less sanitized way that, as a result, is accepted with much less cynicism. Web 2.0 offers a direct, more trusted line of communications than anything that came before it. 

Today Web 2.0 companies make the user enjoy blogging, download, email the RSS feeds, and so on. Such benefits give an excitement quotient to the online experience. Many companies claim to provide web 2.0 applications that have better interactivity, easy usability, and adjust better to changing trends. You can also get many 2.0 websites links to your website. It has been seen that web 2.0 sites get higher rankings in search engines, especially in Google. Web 2.0 gives long term business advantages to its user, whether it's a traditional business or a new business process.

The success of web 2.0 is highly dependent on how efficient the site is in picking the newer forms of business models, new online communities, and joint processes.

The Web 2.0 benefits according to http://ezinearticles.com/ Web 2.0 provides a web platform that is highly functional in obtaining and implementing sales strategies. Web 2.0 development also enables better use of the core enterprise application.

You can make use of semantic tagging technology that can raise the navigation of internal and external web pages, thereby leading to increased sales of products/services. For greater employee satisfaction and collaboration within the organization web 2.0 can be utilized to its best, creating waves of networking achievement stories.

EzineArticles emphasize that it effectively targets the marketing resources, hastens the product development life cycle, and gives apt feedback of the new products.

Web 2.0 uses its users and bloggers for establishing a positive image and creating positive publicity among the masses. It makes the Internet marketing a compulsory process so that your marketing budget is used to its best.  

Web 2.0 tremendously improves the quality of social interaction for anyone across the globe. Here, views, experiences, recipes, thoughts, comments, etc are easily exchanged. Another cool advantage is you can post photos, guest books, albums, how-to guides, maps for planning traveling that are interactive in nature, etcetera!

Mastering New Media

Jason Van Orden says mastering new media is the GetPAID Business Model for making money through the internet. He also emphasis that the best business plans can be written on a napkin.

 

He uses a very simple plan and model but it pays a great deal:  (P) – Pinpoint your market (A) – Attract a loyal community (I) – Identify what they want most (D) – Deliver the solution as premium content.
 

Lets explore what new media.
 

New media is a term meant to encompass the emergence of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century. Most technologies described as "new media" are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible, interactive and impartial and all us today are in one way or the other very much involved. Its what I prefer to call online content.


What you need today is New Media for that success you have been longing for.
 

New Media provides many benefits to end-users. It has a High impact with a potentially sensual and compelling interactive experience through the use of spoken word, animation, graphics and video.
 

There is Freedom of choice through interactivity. Users like to feel in control and not be forced down a particular route. We like to browse. Usefulness because users value quality information delivered in a properly organised and easily understood fashion.
 

New Media provides Instant availability from the desktop PC, or increasingly, the laptop, or even WAP phone or Pocket PC. It also provides many benefits for those who commission them.

 
There is provisions for Effectiveness, which is doubled by using sight and sound, compared to sight or sound alone, as in old media. Appropriateness through the ability to deliver as much or as little information as the user requires in order to be convinced. The capability to sustain long term relationships with customers, without the need to visit them.

 
Expandability as needs develop or change. New parts can be added, or old areas amended with reasonable ease.


What do you think? Indulge now by mastering the New Media and GetPAID. I am!

Instructional Design and E-learning

Simply stated, Instructional System Design process provides a means for sound decision making to determine the who, what, when, where, why, and how of a learning program.

The concept of a system approach is based on obtaining an overall view of the learning process. It is characterized by an orderly process for gathering and analyzing collective and individual performance requirements, and by the ability to respond to identified training needs.

The application of a system's approach insures that learning programs and the required support materials are continually developed in an effective and efficient manner to match the variety of needs in a rapidly changing environment.

E-learning is learning which is supported or facilitated by the use of technology. It can include putting teaching materials and activities online, online assessment, communication tools, audio and video recordings, and classroom technologies such as personal response systems and interactive whiteboards. Its where as a professional you can learn web design, graphic design, or all other softwares and technologies that are necessary for branching out into other fields.

On the same page, e-learning is naturally suited for distance learning and flexible learning, but can also be used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, in that case the term Blended learning is commonly used. E-Learning pioneer Bernard Luskin argues that the "E" must be understood to have broad meaning if e-Learning is to be effective. Luskin says that the "e" should be interpreted to mean exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional, extended, excellent, and educational in addition to "electronic" that is a traditional national interpretation. This broader interpretation allows for 21st century applications and brings learning and media psychology into the equation.

Note that ISD is sometimes referred to as SAT (System Approach to Training) or ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implement, Evaluate). Although there are minor differences among the various ISD models, most learning design models follow an approaches similar to the ADDIE model:
Analyze the performance environment in order to understand it and then describe the goals needed in order to correct any performance deficiencies (identify training requirements).
Design a process to achieve your goals, that is, correct the performance deficiencies.
Develop your initial discoveries and process into a product that will assist the learners into becoming performers (in training, this product is often called courseware).
Implement by delivering the courseware to the learners.
Evaluate the performers, courseware, and audit-trail throughout the four phases and in the working environment to ensure it is achieving the desired results. In the Media Technology for Education and Communication (MTEC) Experts, ISD is mainly for learning material development.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEM PROCESS
According to Training Complex Cognitive Skills: A Four-Component Instructional Design Model for Technical Training, a book by Jeroen J. G. Van Merrienboer, there are keys processes that can lead achieving effetive instructional process based on the ADDIE model.

1. Analyze
- Determine business outcome or linkage for example.
- Analyze system (department, job, etc.) to gain an understanding of it.
- Compile a task inventory of all tasks associated with each job (if needed).
- Select tasks that people need to learn to become performers (needs analysis).
- Build performance measures for the tasks to be learned.

- Choose instructional setting for the tasks to be learned, e.g. classroom, elearning, on-the-job, self study, blended, etc.
- Estimate cost and compare to benefits gained.

2.Design
- Develop the learning objectives, to include both terminal and enabling objectives.
- Identify and list the learning steps required to perform the task.
- Develop performance tests to show mastery of the tasks.
- List the entry behaviors that the learner must demonstrate prior to entering the learning program.
- Sequence and structure the learning objectives.

3. Develop
- List activities that will help the students learn the task.
- Select the delivery methods (media).
- Review existing material so that you do not reinvent the wheel.
- Develop the instructional courseware.
- Synthesize the courseware into a viable learning program.
- Validate the instruction to ensure it accomplishes all goals and objectives.

4. Implement
- Create a plan for conducting the training.
- Conduct the training.

5. Evaluate
- Review and evaluate each phase (analyze, design, develop, implement) to ensure it is accomplishing what it is supposed to.
- Perform external evaluations, e.g. observe that the tasks that were trained can actually be performed by the learners in their working environment.
- Revise training system to make it better and to meet future challenges.

For more information on how effective ISD and Addie model can be on e-learning, read more on this article Introduction to Instructional Design and the ADDIE Model by Kevin Kruse.

With these kind of serene opportunities we have golden chances to develop other skills that would not only make us valuable employees and students, but also ensure a better rate of getting hired. With e-learning, we can learn at our own pace anywhere provided there is a good internet connection.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS- Transactional Analysis

The transactional analysis is on the extension wire of the communications skill. In other words, the transactional analysis is one of the flows of communication such as negotiation, assertiveness and self-disclosure etc, and also it is a theory of a systematic psychotherapy in growth and changing both the character and the individual. Transactional Analysis in COMMUNICATION SKILLS has support in improving your relationships and personal effectiveness (behaviour) as well as in creating a happier working environment in home and office.

You can apply the transactional analysis technique for the field of communication, counseling, consulting, management and education. Additionally, it is being used by various groups.

Analyzing Your Communication
Each human being has three ego stages; as a parent, an adult, or/and as a child. In any given day you will probably spend some time in each ego stage, and each will affect how we behave.

Our communication styles will vary markedly depending on whether we are functioning from the parent, adult, or child position (PAC).

P (Parent)
People imitate parents'(or, one that becomes parents' taking the place) behavior patterns of unconsciousness, it acts, it feels, and it thinks about this. For instance, it is enumerated that the person might also shout at the person from frustration if it learns when it is young when the powerful person is seen to be shouting, and it is effective.

The skills of transactional analysis are learning to identify whether you are talking from your parents, adult, or child. If you are talking from a hurt, angry place while your son is having a tantrum, it probably means that your child is involved too.

A (Adult)
"Now. This. Here" People act what has occurred, it feels, and it thinks calmly. Under such a condition, the human experience and knowledge as the adult who has lived for years help, and the person is made to act. In the state of the ego, of this A(Adult), oneself is seen as a target of the objective evaluation that can be actually put.

C (Child)
This acts, feels, and thinks how the person behaved in childhood. For instance, the person to whom it is angry will be likely to look down on the superior like having gone in childhood, and to remember disgrace and anger from the superior.

I strongly recommend that we keep our communication clean by applying Transactional Analysis rules for effective communication. We must know the ego state from which we are communicating. We must know the ego state to which you are sending your message. We ought to be sensitive to the child in others, protect that child, and recognize the “non-okey” burden that it must carry. We should protect the child in us.

What am i Saying
We should keep it safely tucked away when others are angry and attacking. Do not use your punitive parent to communicate. No one wants to hear it, and people are likely to react by trying to hook your child with not-okay attacks. When appropriate, use your supportive parent, or rely on your adult style of communicating.

DIGITAL STREAMING: Why Stream?

The goal is to provide industry professionals and corporations utilizing digital media technology with global real-time news, resources and information to help foster the adoption of streaming media technology and applications.


Streaming media technology enables the real time or on demand distribution of audio, video and multimedia on the Internet. Streaming media is the simultaneous transfer of digital media so that it is received as a continuous real-time stream; i.e. video, voice and data. Streamed data is transmitted by a server application and received and displayed in real-time by client applications. These applications can start displaying video or playing back audio as soon as enough data has been received and stored in the receiving station’s buffer.

All stream recorders (streaming video recorders, stream rippers) (freeware, shareware,...) [windows, linux, mac os] Recommended software is shown in bold. Protocols (separately for Windows Media, Real Video/Audio, QuickTime and Flash video streams). There are easy yet powerful softwares to use for recording and streaming audio and video. For best freeware or shareware stream recorder click here.

Here are major streaming media FORMATs:

1. Flash video streams (Adobe Flash Player): .FLV, .MP4, .F4V
2. Windows Media streams (Windows Media Player): .WMA, .WMV, .ASF, .ASX, .WAX, .WMX, .WVX, .SMIL
3. Real Media, Real Video and Real Audio streams (RealPlayer, RealOne Player, Real Player Alternative): .RM, .RMJ, .RAM, .RA, .RMVB, .SMI, .SMIL, and .RPM
4. QuickTime video streams (QuickTime Player, QuickTime Alternative): .MOV, .MP4, .SDP, .SMIL
5. IceCast audio streams (SHOUTcast compatible): .MP3, .OGG, .AAC, .PLS
6. Nullsoft audio and Nullsoft video (Winamp): .NSA, .NSV
7. MoveNetworks MoveMedia video
   
8. Silverlight
   

And these are popular streaming media PROTOCOLS:

1. Flash audio and video: HTTP, RTMP,RTMPE
2. Windows Media audio and video: HTTP, RTSP, MMS
3. RealMedia audio and video: HTTP, RTSP, PNM
4. QuickTime Video streams: HTTP, RTSP
5. IceCast/ShoutCast audio streams: HTTP (ICY)
6. Nullsoft audio and video: HTTP (UNSV)