Tapped In Newsletter: February 2010
...On the Tapis
Feburary 2010
Issue 147
In This Issue
[1] "Knowledge Sharing Behavior in Online Communities"
[2] Natural Disaster Help Center
[3] Tapped In Technology Tip
[4] Tips and Comments from the Experts
[5] About ...On the Tapis
Quote of the Month: "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Sir Winston Churchill
[1] Invitation to participate in a survey on "Knowledge Sharing Behavior in Online Communities"
Although the explosive diffusion of information technology has caused the proliferation of online communities, the continuity of these online communities was neither guaranteed nor predicted. Since the 1990s, the rise of some online communities as well as the decline of others has caught the attention of academic researchers to this new context as a promising research enterprise worthy of continuous investigation and theorizing.
You are invited to participate in a study conducted by Bibi Alajmi, a Ph.D. candidate in the Rutgers University, School of Communication, Information (SC&I). The study aims to determine the intention of individuals to share knowledge and expertise in online communities. The significance of this proposed research emerges from the fact that knowledge sharing is the main composite of any online communities, and that without the rich content (i.e. shared knowledge) online communities are of limited value.
The research project is seeking approximately 200-250 subjects between the ages of 20 and 80 to participate in the study. Five After School Online sessions will be scheduled to introduce TI members to the research topic. If you choose to attend, you will be asked to fill out a short online survey about your intentions to share your knowledge with other members of TI, and you will be requested to be observed through your online contributions during a specific period. Please be advised that participating in this research is completely voluntary and confidential. No proprietary information will be collected during this study, and no apparent risks involved in the research process. [Your name will NEVER be revealed in any summaries of the research. And as an appreciation, participants will be entered into a raffle drawing in which 20 participants will get $20 gift certificates.]
For more inquiries, please contact Bibi Alajmi bmalajmi@eden.rutgers.edu
[2] Natural Disaster Help Center
The Natural Disaster Help Center was created after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to provide resources for schools and communities that wanted to help victims overcome their economic, social and emotional losses and issues. Since 2005, there have been folders added to the group room for 9/11, cyclone relief for Bangladesh, Midwest and Mexican hurricanes and flooding, and the tsunami in Myanmar. The most recent addition to the group room is links and discussion folders for Haiti.
Unfortunately, natural disasters will continue to happen around the world. This group offers opportunities for schools and teachers to help their communities and reach out with support for affected communities. Please join this group and add your resources. This help center can only be effective and offer meaningful resources and discussions through TI community support.
[3] Tapped In Technology Tip
SAC Open Resource Rooms
The Student Activity Center (SAC) is where K-12 student classrooms are located. However, if you take some time to explore the SAC, you will see that there are also some real gems for teachers to use with their TI classrooms. There are 5 "studios" (Funky Chicken, Hip Hop, Jitterbug, Moonwalk, and Time Warp) that provide spaces for small group breakout discussions for students. There are also some very special resource rooms that have been created by Tapped In members. One example of a resource room is NASA Resources created by Sharon Bowers. Sharon has placed K-12 lesson ideas for teachers, topics for students to explore, and links to lots of interesting NASA resources that can be used in a science classroom or as fun writing prompts for a language arts class.
I've done some searches for student classrooms and noticed that there are several classrooms that were created, have a start on resource gathering, and are not currently being used by students. These classrooms would make wonderful resource rooms for both teachers and students. If you would like to turn your K-12 Student Classroom into a resource room from which all TI members and their students could benefit, why don't you think about opening your classroom to all users? Each TI member is valued for what they have to contribute to the community! If you're a reading teacher, you know best what resources classroom teachers would need. If you teach writing, you would know some of the best ways to encourage writing, provide writing prompts, and engage your students in the writing process. A new TI member is thinking about creating a career resource room for nursing. What career resource could you provide?
If you already have a classroom that you would like to turn into a resource room, go to that room and select Settings at the bottom of the blue Welcome menu. Then select Member Management and scroll down to Visitors. Change this setting to All Users. Allowing all users to enter your K-12 Classroom will actually only allow regular Tapped In members to enter. Students will not be able to enter unless their teacher collaborates with you and your resource room. And, by default, no guests are able to enter the Student Campus. If you would like to learn more about creating a K-12 Student Classroom or Resource Room, please participate in one of Jeff Cooper's Saturday tours.
[4] Tips and Comments from the Experts
TI member Michael Barbour's blog, Virtual High School Meanderings http://virtualschooling.wordpress.com/ posts the weekly Tapped In reminder of upcoming events [This Week at Tapped In]. This blog focuses upon issues pertaining to distance education within the K-12 system, specifically the use of virtual high schools. Michael posts items about K-12 distance education (mostly online learning). Some of these entries are thoughts and opinions on various subjects, but it seems that most of what is posted tends to be things that show up in Michael's inbox or on some blog that he monitors (including regular features like Friday Funnies, Virtual Schooling in the News, and Blogging About...).
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The George Mason University Teacher Research Web Site has a new look and was updated by TI members Diane Painter and Betsy DeMulder. There is a book that is referenced throughout the site called Teacher Researchers at Work. Diane has a chapter in it. Diane put out a call last year for papers to post in this site. While there is some posting of docs, she would like to get more papers!
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TI in Twitter!
RT @sroseman: like the way Mr. Stiffler uses Tapped In http://mrstifflerslab.pbworks.com/
RT @kjarrett: ZOMG! Great articles on social media + communities! RT @tappedinorg: and 140 char. is not enough to tell this story! http://bit.ly/6w5bXq
RT Jacquelyn Holliday: Tapped In rocked my world
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If you have a comment or experience to share with the Tapped In community, please submit the information to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org orpost your comment here.
[5] About ...On the Tapis
Past issues of ...On the Tapis newsletters are available online.
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