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Seven Actionable Marketing Trends

Expanded Version - Seven Actionable Marketing Trends

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A Behavior Model for Persuasive Design

A Behavior Model for Persuasive Design | Dr. BJ Fogg | Persuasive Technology Lab | Stanford University

How People Use Twitter at Conferences

A group of scholars, Wolfgang Reinhardt, Martin Ebner, Guner Beham & Cristina Costa, have written a very interesting case study titled How People are using Twitter During Conferences.

Overall, the paper is deeply rooted in social psychology and learning theory. I'm sure that many of the findings could be transferred into an educational, corporate, or any other type of community of practice.

The paper contains an overview of web 2.0, micro-blogging and focuses on "how Twitter can enhance the knowledge of a given group or community by micro-connecting a diverse online audience."

Here are some of the key points and survey results:

• At Conferences Twitter Serves Three Primary Functions: Organizational Enhancement, Effective Sharing of Information, and Easier to build a conference community.

• Microblogging tools like Twitter provide a flexible, inclusive platform for knowledge sharing & discourse

• Twitter should be seen as a new form of communication where "ideas, simple notifications, news, pictures (via TwitPic), links and other information are shared in real time."

• Information Seeker: Observes the Twitter stream but doesn't contribute to the conversation, no active participation. (Note: In educational psychology this concept of "lurking" is widely referred to as Legitimate Peripheral Participation.)

• Information Source: Comprised of those people who contribute knowledge to the Twitter stream.

• Primary goal of micro-blogging is "enhance one's cyberspace presence."

• Twitter as "Mobile 2.0." The mobile nature of Twitter and third party apps are a key factor in why Twitter is a valuable tool for knowledge exchange.

• Hashtags allow users to create a "theme" thereby making it easier to follow the conference and "generate a resource based on that theme."

• Survey Results: 67% reported to have tweeted during the conference, 52% had conversations based on presentations via DM (direct messages).

• Survey Participant Feedback: "In the Twitter back channel we discussed things more deeply than the guy on the stage", "You get to know unexpected things and people", "Twitter gives people a greater sense of community" and "encourages participation."

Related Links

• 2009 YPulse Live Blog & Tweets
• Twitter 101 for Business
• Twitter Handbook for Teachers
• UK Students May Be Required to Master Twitter
• Directory of Learning Professionals on Twitter

Digital Storytelling: Sharing the "We Story"

Somewhere between the turkey, decking the halls, lighting the menorah, and the ushering in of a new year, countless family stories will be told and retold.

Some of the stories you've heard a thousand times. And perhaps this year, some of the stories will be shared for the first time.

Telling the "WE story"

Storytelling is a collaborative, social learning practice that strengthens family and cultural ties while also providing a context for information to be carried forward to future generations. These family stories (folklore, food traditions, and oral histories) are a mirror of where we have been and shape where we are going as families, society, and individuals.

Even things you wouldn't suspect, like cherished family recipes, may exist only in a verbal format. If you don't ask grandma how she makes that incredible pumpkin pie, chances are it could be lost forever.

In his book, The Art of Possibility, Benjamin Zander calls the invisible threads that hold us together "the WE story."

As Zander explains:

"The WE story defines a human being in a specific way: It says we are central selves seeking to contribute, naturally engaged, forever in a dance with each other. It points to relationship rather than to individuals, to communication patterns, gestures, and movement...Like the particle-and-wave nature of light, the WE is both a living entity and a long line of development unfolding.

By telling the WE story, an individual becomes a conduit for this new inclusive entity, wearing its eyes and ears, feeling its heart, thinking its thoughts..."

An Orange for Christmas

A few years ago I asked my grandma why she always put oranges in our Christmas stockings. I mean, we lived in Southern California, so we always had oranges. We had an orange tree in our yard and even if they were out of season, we could always just go to the store and get one.

So it always seemed strange to have that orange stuffed in the top of the stocking. Even stranger, nobody in the family--including her own children--had ever asked her why we always had oranges in our stockings.

My grandma explained to me that as a child growing up in Nebraska, during the Great Depression no less, an orange was an exotic, welcome, and indulgent treat. In the depths of a Great Plains winter, an orange from California or Florida was a reminder that the snow and frigid winds would soon give way to days filled with playing in the sun, tall prairie grass, and climbing her favorite tree.

At that moment, the family ritual was set in stone and the orange in the stocking became a necessary part of our shared Christmas experience. And this year, our first without her, we will put an orange in the Christmas stockings and share the story with my niece and nephew.

Families, History, & Digital Storytelling

GreatSchools.net, in conjunction with Yahoo! Education, have put together an oral history resource guide to help you collect, record, and preserve your family stories. GreatSchools has even compiled a list of interviewing tips and questions to help you get the memories flowing.

There are lots of digital technologies out there to help you save these stories--iPod, YackPack, wiki, or even the good old tape recorder.

So this holiday, take some time to sit down and preserve some of your family stories. Engage in the dance of the "WE story." It doesn't matter how you preserve these stories, it just matters that you do!

Links

• GreatSchools.net
• Center for Digital Storytelling
• Technology Kills Storytelling (...but wait!)
• Yahoo! Education
• Wes Fryer > Digital Storytelling

Penguin Books: We Tell Stories 6

Penguin Books UK recently launched, We Tell Stories, an ambitious digital reading project aimed squarely at the reading styles of Gen Y students. This is a pretty innovative project and one that I'm sure will engage more than just Gen Y students. Here's the scoop:

"In collaboration with fêted alternate reality game designers Six to Start, Penguin has challenged some of its top authors to create new forms of story - designed specially for the internet.

Over six weeks writers including Booker-shortlisted Mohsin Hamid, popular teen fiction author Kevin Brooks, prize-winning Naomi Alderman and bestselling thriller authors Nicci French will be pushing the envelope and creating tales that take full advantage of the immediacy, connectivity and interactivity that is now possible. These stories could not have been written 200, 20 or even 2 years ago."

There is a lot of talk in education circles about the lack of reading among Gen Y and the population at large. I would argue that the practice of reading is still alive and well, but the way we do it has changed. Reading isn't just confined to a printed book. It can be done via iPhone, iPod or book readers like the Kindle.

However you choose to read, the important thing is to, well, just do it! And if it has been awhile since you cracked open a book, the We Tell Stories program is a great way to rediscover the joy of reading.

Related Resources

• Readius: Pocket eBook
• Barnes & Noble Studio
• Professor Garfield > Reading Ring

The Office: Generational Warfare

“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” - Jean-Paul Sartre

It's June. A time for graduation and big dreams. But generational conflicts, stemming from the spread of social media into the workplace, have made navigating the office politics just a little more difficult.

And the conflict isn't just between Boomers and Gen Y.

Gen X are still here (do you hear us now?) and they have a message for the newbie Gen Y's ready to climb that career ladder: not so fast. And X'rs are also wondering when the heck are the Boomers going to retire?

Here's the latest round up of articles on the 21st Century workplace:

• Young Employees Quit Jobs due to Blocking Facebook: "What would make you quit your job? Lack of insurance or other benefits? A lengthy and expensive commute? Limited advancement opportunities? No Facebook access?"

• 10 Reasons Why Gen X Are Unhappy at Work: "I’m worried about Generation X and corporations. As far as I can tell, these two have a tentative relationship at best – and are likely headed for some rocky times ahead."

• The "Millennials" Are Coming: 60 Minutes reporter Morley Safer on the New Generation of American Workers.

• 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life: I’m nearly 35 years old, and I’ve made my share of mistakes in my life. I’m not a big believer in regrets …however, there are a few things I wish I had known when I was graduating from high school and starting out as an adult in life.

• The Web 2.0 Resume: "The paper résumé may soon go the way of the eight-track tape, Betamax and the manual typewriter (visual aids included for those of you who have never seen any of these things)."

• Move Over, X. Here Come the "Global Teens": "Work hard, play hard, spend hard, live hard. The children of the baby boom — what Douglas Coupland calls "global teens" — have no time for Generation X whining and self-doubt."

Totally Wired: On the Road

Anastasia Goodstein is an award-winning blogger and expert on how American tweens, teens and twentysomethings use technology. She is also the creative genius behind the Ypulse blog and Ypulse Mashup conferences (including the Tween Mashup in NYC this month).

Most recently she is the author of a book about teens and technology called Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online. In her book Anastasia explores what Gen Y is doing on the Internet and with social media and mobile technology. She also delves into issues around cyberbullying, MySpace (and other social networks), as well as how all this technology is impacting schools and educators.

Anasatasia, thanks to the folks over at Proctor & Gamble, is going on a fall book tour. In addition to being incredibly knowledgeable in how teens are using technology, she is also keenly aware of how technology is being (or not) integrated in the classroom to support the burgeoning digital learning styles of today's Gen Y student.

From personal experience, I can tell you that Anastasia is an engaging and interesting speaker who has the ability to explain (in real English, not geek speak!) how teens use technology, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of their total immersion in technology.

If you have the opportunity to hear her speak, please do so! You'll be glad you did.

Related Resources

• Schedule > Totally Wired Book Tour
• Powell's Books > Totally Wired
• Totally Wired Blog
• Proctor & Gamble > Being A Girl
• YPulse Blog
• YPulse Tween Mashup
• YPulse Mashup 07

Teaching on the Web

"Designing Courses and Teaching on the Web: A "How To" Guide to Proven, Innovative Strategies" Dr. Mercedes Fisher

Here is a practical, "how to" book written for new online web instructors. It will also be helpful to course designers, trainers, administrators, or anyone interested in the potential of online learning and training by providing an excellent introduction to the online education arena.

With direct and clear content, this book emphasizes that web-based learning should be active and engaging for students while supporting them in their learning journey.

Online Community and Identity in Virtual Learning Environments

To those unfamiliar with the social dynamics of virtual learning environments (vle), the online classroom may seem like a neutral environment devoid of human interaction, structure, or emotion.

Despite these assumptions, online instructors and course designers should be aware that students will develop an identity within an online learning community that is both individual and collective.

As students collaborate they form social ties, which in turn, motivates them to establish an identity within the group via active participation and contributions to the collective knowledge pool.

While it may run counter to traditional learning environments, teachers in the online space must learn to "step back" and provide students with the "breathing room" required for them to create and form bonds within the online learning community.

In doing so, it allows students to learn in social setting with peers, remain engaged in the topic, receive interaction feedback from peers, and also meets their need for feedback.

In addition, collaborative and interactive projects undertaken in a community structure allow students to interact with other members of the class, identify who has a particular skill or expertise they want to acquire, and provides opportunities for them to model and scaffold this knowledge with their peers.

According to Papert, these types of virtual learning environments allow students to explore and negotiate their understanding of the course content and find ways for the learning to develop a sense of intellectual identity. Through this process learners become motivated on an individual level, as well as fostering a sense of accountability to the group to continue to participate.

The learner in an online community is constructing a base of knowledge on both and individual and group level. As their personal understanding of the subject deepens learners are motivated to contribute to the collective understanding and receive positive feedback from the group.

Anthropologist Lori Kendall, who spent almost two years researching the dynamics of online social identity and community, concluded that members of virtual environments have "intact social systems, and highly charged social relations."

However, unlike the electronic window of television, Kendall found that members of an online community feel that when they connect to an online forum, they enter a social, if not physical space (Kendall, 1999).

In this new digital age, we need to redefine our concept of what constitutes a legitimate “social system” or “social interaction.” In many ways, the effective use of social media to support instruction provides the same or better quality of socialization than a traditional classroom.

If we are truly to expand educational opportunities via online or distance learning programs, we will need to recognize and validate the existence of online communities, relationships, and interaction.

Open Source Thinking, Learning, & Collaboration

Here's an Idea: Let Everyone Have Ideas: "Most companies operate under the assumption that big ideas come from a few big brains: the inspired founder, the eccentric inventor, the visionary boss. But there's a fine line between individual genius and know-it-all arrogance.

What happens when rivals become so numerous, when technologies move so quickly, that no corporate honcho can think of everything? Then it's time to invent a less top-down approach to innovation, to make it everybody's business to come up with great ideas."

While this article is clearly directed at the business crowd, I think there's also some important insight to be gained for the education crowd too. Many in education circles are still holding onto the top-down centric "sage-on-the-stage" teaching model.

What if education took a page from the open source playbook and created a new learning model where each pupil had an opportunity to contribute, share and discuss ideas with the group, while simultaneously exploring a personalized learning path?

Clearly the influx of multimedia, technology, and the web has changed the way students learn. Isn't it time we also changed our teaching practices to meet the needs of these digital learning styles?

Links

• NYT: Let Everyone Have Ideas
• Fryer: People are the Curriculum
• debaird.net + community

Newsweek: Putting the 'We' in the Web

The New Wisdom of the Web: "What makes the Web alive is, quite simply, us. Our presence, most often conducted at the speed of broadband, is constant and mandatory...

Less than a decade ago, when we were first getting used to the idea of an Internet, people described the act of going online as venturing into some foreign realm called cyberspace. But that metaphor no longer applies.

MySpace, Flickr and all the other newcomers aren't places to go, but things to do, ways to express yourself, means to connect with others and extend your own horizons. Cyberspace was somewhere else. The Web is where we live."

And increasingly, the Web is where we will learn too!

Links

• New Wisdom of the Web
• Who's Building the Next Web?
• debaird.net + social software
• debaird.net + community

eSchool News: For some educators, tagging is "it"

via eSchool News: "A new way to find and store information online has implications for schools : A new way of searching the web that has emerged in the last year or so makes it easier than ever to find, store, and share information online.

Supporters of the method, known as "tagging," say it could have broad implications for educators looking to direct students quickly and easily to more relevant information on the internet."

Links

• eSchool News
• MyWeb2: The Social Life of Search
• debaird.net + social bookmarking
• del.icio.us
• Rollyo

Gen Y: It's All About Them

To: Professor@University.edu Subject: Why It's All About Me
by JONATHAN D. GLATER >New York Times

"One student skipped class and then sent the professor an e-mail message asking for copies of her teaching notes. Another did not like her grade, and wrote a petulant message to the professor. Another explained that she was late for a Monday class because she was recovering from drinking too much at a wild weekend party.

At colleges and universities nationwide, e-mail has made professors much more approachable. But many say it has made them too accessible, erasing boundaries that traditionally kept students at a healthy distance." more >>

Links

• New York Times Education
• New York Times Learning Network
• Generation Y, Millennials, and Learning

Student Voices on Technology

Listening to Student Voices on Technology: The Student Voices study, a joint venture of the Center for Policy Studies and Hamline University, conducted research on student attitudes, perceptions and behavior on technology and its current and potential role in K-12 education.

The verdict? Today's web-savvy students are stuck in text-dominated schools.

Links

• Download Report
• Student Voices Home
• ee: Education Evolving
• Third Graders Combine Art, Technology, and Music
• debaird.net + generation y

iPod and Language Learning

iPods Helping Languages Click: "Moorestown Friends High School is using one of today's hottest media devices to help students acquire foreign language skills, providing students in 12 French and Spanish classes with iPods to use to practice speaking and improve pronunciation."