Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Planning--created or self-organizing systems.

Planning for CNL—created or self-organizing systems.

In the "walled garden" of structured learning and working, one may be assigned to a pre-existing or pre-determine group. However, in the new social operating system (S.0.S.) we can use our resources to decide who we want to work together and either invite or allow for self-organizing systems to emerge.
One of the most important aspects of planning is the issue of trust and credibility in the S.O.S.

Trust and credibility—in the social operating system
One important aspect of the planning process is who to include in the collaboration. If the collaboration is planned with invited participants, then the organizer can invite the participants based on there interest , knowledge or wiliness. If an existing group, takes on a new goal, then the members would be in place and the focus shifts to planning the process of collaboration. If the group is open to others who might want to participate, then an open public announcement might solicit members.

Trust and credibility—in the newly formed group.
One of the most challenging issues for groups, who are newly formed, is to tackle how the members view one another. Can I trust the other individual? Is what they have to say credible? How do we form these judgments if we do not have previous knowledge or association with the members. In the past, we might have asked friends if they knew anything about the person(s) and what they thought of them. We mind also have consulted co-workers, or co-learners who see if they had collaborated with a person before the current grouping. We might also search for background information such as blog posts, co-published project reports or profiles in a social network.
Trust and credibility--among our connections. When using our social operating system we move one step beyond our own simple search of our social network, we might begin to take advantage of “social operating systems” which will show us the connections and linkages operating among any given group of co-learners, with an active past of learning and working.

4 comments:

Charles said...

Social operation systems (S.O.S.) and collaboration



Perhaps we can look at least three stages in the growth of S.O.S. as it relations to the planning and self-organizing of CNL.

First, as a planner or co-participant, I can mine existing digital “holding” places for liked minded digital identities. I can search through my contact list or address book, I can search through my “friends” list or my friends’ “friends” lists, photo or video display sites for liked minded digital identities, who might be interested in collaboration. I might even search for blog entries or co-authored reports to locate persons of interest.

Second, semi-intelligent agents will conduct searches and matches to reveal who you know, who might know someone who knows you, or shares an interest in constructing and “answer.

Third, new 3rd spaces can self-organize based on the spontaneous creation of communities of interest, created by the Social-operating-system matching and mining of digital beings

Finally, I think it is possible for develop guidelines for authentication within the S.O.S. in order to maximize the trust and credibility factor for the participants.

Charles said...

I wanted to call attention to using and creating electronic profiles and networks. One interesting service, site for professionals of all types is LinkedIn.com. LinkedIn is an online network of more than 20 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.
When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.
Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of other professionals. You can start building credibility and trust instantly by being “introduced” by someone in your contact network, who also happens to be in the contact network of someone whom you might want to set up a learning-working collaboration.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Social Networks, Social Capitol and Social Graphs

Social networking sites(SNS) such as Friendster, MySpace, Facebook allow individuals to present themselves by creating a profile, and to establish and maintain connections to others. One has the possibility to collaborative work and learning with others who share their interest and motivations. In my mind the participation in SNS creates social capital which allows persons to draw upon the resources of other members in their network. The social graph of connections between and among different networked participants provides useful information for the formation of groups for collaboration. One can use the graphs to formulate individuals with like interests or to include those outside the immediate circle to gain access to non-redundant information, new insight or expertise critical to the learning tasks at hand.