Earthquake & Social Media Reports

August 24, 2011 Leave a comment

Yesterday’s 5.8 earthquake in Central Virginia was only about 40 miles from where I was at in the basement of the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University or VCU. I was participating in a new PhD student Q&A as we are welcoming 10 new students this semester. I have to admit it was pretty unnerving thinking about the building, which is almost as old as Richmond itself, and the fact that I was sitting in the basement while it rattle. At about 1:51pm, a student next to me said “Is that an earthquake?” But we all thought it was just some heavy machinery as they are doing lots of construction in the area. I walked over to the window to see if I could see a truck or something, but as I leaned against the wall I felt the building shaking even more. We decided to exit out the emergency door and head outside.

Once we walked up the steps to the front of the building, many other colleagues and faculty members were outside wondering if indeed it was an earthquake. I immediately pulled out my phone to tweet about the experience and as fast as my phone could refresh, I saw people tweeting in from up and down the eastern seaboard about the rumblings. I started to tell everyone where people were as they felt the quake. This is probably one of the more interesting things for me as I am really interested in social media but I have never experienced an opportunity to use it in this kind of situation.

The fact was that I couldn’t get a call out and I know many emergency professionals and the news media say to at least text, but my text messages were not going through either. Which is probably why I never received a text from the VCU emergency alert system. Thank goodness for social media as I was able to get real-time updates via twitter as to what was happening. Once we were allowed back in the building, I still couldn’t get a call out to my wife and texts were not going anywhere. I logged onto Facebook to post an update saying I was okay and my wife instant messaged me making sure I was fine. Thankfully, she was home and there was no damage or injuries.

I have seen media reports about the benefits of using twitter and other social media during natural disasters, but I never imagined I would be using social media for such an instance. It amazes me that as the night wore on and I watched the news reports from the events of the day, how emergency officials talked about their communications going down and the inability to get calls through or having the radio jam up from to much call volume. I’m not saying we need to replace those channels with social media, but I am saying I think that social media deserves more respect than it often gets. I do see it getting more respect as new individuals see its many benefits, especially in instances such as the earthquake yesterday.

The news did report on some damage that happened out in Louisa county, like the photo shown. There were also reports about the high school having some major damage, but only minor injuries, and school is going to be closed for the rest of the week.

Other photos began circling on twitter about the massive destruction in DC.

Thankfully, no significant damage was reported and people took the days events in stride. I did hear some reports of aftershocks and saw friends posting on Facebook at 8pm about the aftershocks, but that was about it. I don’t know if we dodged a bullet or whether something bigger will come. Well we do still need to prepare for Hurricane Irene this weekend, although indications having heading more out to sea. At any rate, the past year has been an interesting one.

Oh, one more interesting thing. I didn’t get to see the news as the earthquake was unfolding or immediately after, but my wife told me it was funny to watch the news media scramble to find stuff to report on. The took most of their initial information from Twitter and Facebook as they couldn’t get a call out to any authorities for an official word. They would show images of their computers shaking and then go back to their twitter stream to see what people were saying. Incredible, this day we live in, how we can access information and communicate in so many ways.

 

 

 

Filed under Technology

Time For a DAD post

August 22, 2011 Leave a comment

I’ve been meaning to come back and post here about being a dad since I have a section for it on my blog, but time always seems to escape me. The summer is nearly over and as kids, and myself, head back to school I can’t help but reflect on this summer. Traveling all day to go to two different family reunions which were on opposite sides of the country didn’t leave me with the time to blog like I thought it would. Now, taking just a moment, I realize that I am glad I didn’t take the time to blog because I was having so much fun with my family. Time on the beach or at the swimming pool and even just the boring times was all totally worth it. This summer was also the real first taste as to many of the reasons why I want to be a professor. Summers off….well sort of.

 

Actually, I think I worked more this summer than I did last, but it sure didn’t feel like. Being able to have the flexibility to travel and see family is one of the most important things in my career. Of course I am interested in creating positive social change and helping to educate a brilliant and capable social work force to be employed by an amazing nonprofit sector. But, I have to admit that the other perks are nice as well. This summer I got to see my daughter interact with her many cousins and eat a whole piece of pizza by herself. She had her first ice cream cone, which she again ate by herself, and I just can’t imagine not being there. So even though I may grumble about work or completing this PhD, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that it brings.

Thanks for letting me ramble a bit 😀

Filed under Research & Signals

Why isn’t email considered in the Social Media landscape?

August 21, 2011 1 Comment

I just finished reading a post by Aaron Biebert @Biebert on his Blog about Web 3.0 and as I have been engaged in my research on social media, I wondered why I don’t consider or think of social media when I discuss it with individuals and organizations? Aaron explained the brief history of the Internet as follows:

Brief History of the Internet:

Web 1.0 was based on one-way communication (static websites with read only content)

Web 2.0 introduced two way communication (wikis, social media, blogs, etc.)

Web 3.0 is driven by technology that reads and understands activity on the internet and uses that data to make recommendations and perform tasks using artificial intelligence.

 

So if Web 2.0 introduced two way communication, then isn’t that essentially what email is? I know email isn’t as sexy as many of the social media sites, but do we still need to consider it as a powerful tool?  Let me know what you think via my survey below.

 

Thanks for your participation, and hopefully this starts a conversation around how we categorize social media.

Filed under Technology

Dissertation Update…Degree of Persistance (PhD)

August 19, 2011 1 Comment

I can’t believe how fast time flies. So fast that this post is going to be pretty short. A colleague of mine said the other day that the Phd degree is not a measure of how smart you are but rather a measure or degree of your persistance.

I think it is so true because I’m really not that smart 😀 Well….actually there is some smarts in there, but persistance is such a great word because there is so much one needs to do to complete this degree. I have been working all summer on this dissertation proposal and I will continue to work on these chapters even after it is accepted. The fact is that getting PhD often means going through various hoops. I don’t mean that in an unintelligent, non academic way. But rather there are many hurdles one has to overcome to get the PhD, and there are probably tons of PhD’s out there that really are not that smart!

At any rate, I continue to persist in reaching this goal of mine and I will finish. In the mean time I hope to come back here to offer some more insights on the use of social media in the nonprofit sector. Which reminds me, I have a potential title for my dissertation so please let me know what you think.

A descriptive analysis of the current status of social media utilization among nonprofit Human service organizations.

Also, if you know of any funding sources to defray the cost of data collection, please email me or @reply on twitter @JimmySW. It would sure help out a log 😀

Filed under Dissertation

I’m Back…

August 9, 2011 Leave a comment

It has been a long time but I have finally returned from vacation. Soon I will get into a regular routine of blogging again about education, online learning, social work, nonprofit stuff, and social media. I’m sorry if you have missed me and hopefully you will continue to read my blog and find it useful. I’m excited to get back into the swing of things now that I have had a chance for some good R&R.

Filed under Research & Signals

Quick Update

July 13, 2011 Leave a comment

I know it has been a while since I have blogged and sorry that this post has to be so short, but things are just busy right now. Finishing up with summer school has been hectic and I’m also trying to work on a house project. Yeah, I actually do some minor construction. Jack of all trades, master of none 😀

 

Anyways, this post is about my dissertation. I am currently writing my first three chapters and my focus is still on how Human Service Nonprofits are using social media. I’m planning on conducting a survey among local organizations to explore the use and participation of these organizations on social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. If you know of any good resources about participation or participatory culture, feel free to share. I am spending a lot of time with Henry Jenkins stuff right now, so I’m hoping to lay a good theoretical foundation for my project. Okay, well I said this would be short so there it is.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Filed under Dissertation

Initial Impressions on Google+

July 1, 2011 1 Comment

   I spent the better part of my evening and much into the late hours of      the night last night playing around with Google+ and my initial impressions of the social networking site are really favorable. I love the circles idea, for posting content to specific groups so you don’t have to share everything with everyone. I think this has some specific utility for Nonprofit organizations and maintaining their organizational identity in the midst of a diverse constituency. Many years ago organizations would send out letters or emails with tailored messages to engage their stakeholders and donors in a way that cultivated relationships. Facebook and Twitter help with this, but it can become somewhat cumbersome trying to decide what an organization wants to say to everyone at once.

I also really like the Hangout feature. Although I don’t have many friends or family on the site yet, I like the idea of engaging in video chats and being able to integrate things like YouTube so I can share funny or interesting videos in real-time. Perhaps one of the best features is the ease with which to share videos and photos. I found the drag and drop feature to work flawlessly when uploading a profile pic and I can’t wait to use this feature some more. Maybe that’s just the Mac person within me. At any rate, the more I play with the site, the more interesting thoughts I will have about how we can use this site in the nonprofit sector and in education. Be sure to check back for more information.

Filed under Nonprofit, Technology

The Most Expensive Helmet I Ever Bought

June 22, 2011 1 Comment

Article first published as The Most Expensive Bike Helmet I Ever Bought on Technorati.

A month ago I finally decided to take the plunge and try www.quibids.com. This is an auction style website where you purchase auction Bids for a host of different products. Once you have your bids, you select your product, bid on it, and hope you win. I thought it would be great if I could win an iPad or HDTV for $30, since that is what the website often advertises.

I spent $60 for around 100 bids and I started bidding on an iPad. While I was waiting, and often being outbid, I stated reading through the website to become more familiar with how the system worked. To be fair, they provide enough information for one to be successful if they have the time and patience. Clearly I do not as I was not that happy with my experience.

I quickly learned how easy it was to spend bids like water and realized how low I was on bids before figuring out I wasn’t going to get my iPad. I decided to bid on something smaller, like a gift card. I spent maybe three or four bids and won a $25 dollar gift card to www.sportsauthority.com and another 30 bids. I was really only interested in the extra bids as I had no need for the gift card. This is where my experience continues to sour, but first my bidding. I continued to bid on items and wait until I thought the bidding would be done, only to be outbid or to see someone else win the auction. Frustrated, I gave up with my lone gift card and have decided not to go back.

The bike helmet is what I decided to purchase from Sports Authority.com since I feel a need to exercise more and safety is always important. The only thing at this website that actually interested me and so I went ahead and purchased this helmet with my gift card and paid for the shipping. The helmet arrived today for me to find out that it doesn’t fit. One size fits most should really read one size fits those with a narrow head. Thankfully, they provided a return shipping label. However, they are going to deduct $6.50 for my use of the label. At this point I am feeling like this whole thing is a bit of a scam. Adding up all the money I have spent on this helmet/experience of Quibids, I have spent over $80, and I don’t really have anything to show for it. If you want my advice, only use Quibids if you plan on purchasing something, as you are given the option to buy the product if you don’t win the auction, which means your bids are not wasted because they count towards the purchase price. Check it out if you want, but beware if you have an itch for the quick buy because you will be sorry when you run out of bids and are left with only an empty feeling inside.

Filed under Futures & Foresight

What’s possible in teaching Social Work education online

June 22, 2011 5 Comments

Many weeks ago I participated in an online learning institute, and I left there with several new ideas about teaching online. I also thought more about what is actually possible in teaching Social Work education online and this post is meant to pull together some resources in hopes of starting a conversation with many of you. The fact is, I believe that we can teach many aspects of social work online using an array of technologies. Whether it’s from Second Life to Blackboard, or Twitter to Skype. I am going to start by highlighting several social work courses and what tools could be used to teach those courses online. In fact, there are a number of Schools of Social Work around the United States that use many of these tools. The number one thing to remember, however, is that you should always think about your course, the content, and what you want your students to get out of it before you decide on which technologies to use.

The courses below are just some that are taught in BSW programs around the country. Each one will likely be taught a bit differently based upon the respective school. The list, therefore, is not meant to be representative. Rather it’s just to get you thinking about some of the possibilities that are out there.

Introduction to Social Work: Provides an overview of the social work profession including knowledge of the nature of social work, the fields of social work practice, target populations, and an overview of social work methods. Being that this is more of a general course, I thought I would provide some of the more general technologies that can be used here and in many other courses, often in concert with the technologies listed below. Learning management systems such as Blackboard are often the staple of online courses. Others may use Wikis or GoogleSites to be the central learning point or portal for the online course. The point is, it is important to have a central hub for your course, much like you would have a classroom as your central hub on the ground face-to-face. Additional tools that can be used here include Skype or some other form of video conferencing software to bring in outside presenters or meet with students for office hours. I should also note, that having videos, and not just lectures, but videos that demonstrate your uniqueness as a teacher to help engage the students in the course will also produce successful outcomes. This speaks somewhat to social presence online, but I will save that for another post.

Social Work Practice: Introduces students to the nature and work of the social work profession. There are many variations of this course which is also split into different courses based upon content ranging from micro to macro practice. The micro content of this course makes it somewhat controversial when moving into a digital environment because some would argue that it can be hard to assess students learning during role plays online. I’m not trying to argue one way or the other, rather just trying to highlight was possible. Several online schools use video conferencing technology to perform the traditional role play scenario. Technology such as Elluminate or AdobeConnect Pro are just some of the tools schools are using. A relatively new variation on this is using Second Life or Avatars. The USC school of social work has developed an impressive program to help students learn to work with clients who suffer from PTSD.

Nancy J. Smyth also wrote about using virtual worlds to help with PTSD on her blog, which you can read here.

For those who may not have the capabilities to develop such a program, the use of technologies like Second Life and some creative thinking can also help. Second Life is a virtual community where users can develop their own Avatars and identities in an online digital environment. Individuals have used second life in counseling practice and some schools hold online courses in Second Life as well. To be honest, I don’t know a lot about Second Life, but it sounds kind of intriguing. If you want to know more about using Games in therapy, a good resource is Mike Langlois and his blog Gamer Therapist.

Okay, I digress a bit so back to social work practice. Moving along to the macro part of social work practice and one area that seems fairly easy to use technology is advocacy. Implementing the use of Blogs and other social media like Twitter or YouTube can help students to understand how organizations and activists are using social media to advance their cause. Utilizing case examples or posting stories about how Twitter was used in Egypt and other places can really help students learn the power of advocacy. This also reaches into the realm of Policy as many in Congress actively use and monitor social media channels. Access to top ranking officials and the impacting Policy on varying levels has never been so easy.

Social Work Research: Provides an overview of the research process, including problem formulation, sampling, design, measurement, data collection, data analysis and dissemination of findings. The use of a learning management system like Blackboard, as mentioned above, or others will also aid in an online social work research course. However, I understand that not many social work students are interested in research. I know, shocking right, but it’s somewhat true. To make this course more exciting, try using some online tools to help demonstrate how to collect and analyze data. Google Forms or Poll Everywhere provide ways to create and share surveys. Once data has been collected, a Google spreadsheet can even perform some very basic statistical analysis. Using Poll Everywhere, survey respondents can either submit their responses via Twitter, text message, or on the web. If you use this in class, face-to-face, it is actually pretty exciting to see the poll update in real time. My students got pretty excited when I did this in class.

Field Instruction: I generally do not believe that a student can engage in their field practicum online. However, there are several technological tools that can help facilitate or supplement the student’s learning. Skype, Blackboard for ePortfolios and Seminar, and from an administrative perspective, I have seen several technological tools that help to manage field. One of the tools was develop at the VCU School of Social Work, and contains a matching component within the system to help make the work of placing students much easier. More information on the SInC: Student Intern Connect can be found here.

Okay, so there is just a smattering of the technologies that are out there and how they can be used. I will continue to post new ideas on technology in social work education, both online and face-to-face, as they come to me. Yet, I am really interested in hearing what you have to say. What tools have you used? What success stories or challenges do you have to share? Comments and questions are always welcome.

Filed under Education, Futures & Foresight, Technology

My First Post on Technorati

June 18, 2011 3 Comments

I recently starting writing some articles for Technorati and my first one was just published. You can check it out here: Great Ideas for Father’s Day. It was a late night post, as evidenced by some minor spelling mistakes, but the nature of the article was timely enough to get it published I guess. Anyways, have a go at reading it if you like. Thanks.

Filed under Research & Signals

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