01-Communicate

There are times when email cannot reach a group efficiently and allow adequate feedback to discuss an issue or collaborate on a project. Social networking (i.e., Facebook) is fragmented and really not intended for efficient communication and discussion for a group either. There are three strategies for putting up Content at a web address. A web page, a blog, or a wiki. Each strategy has strengths and weaknesses, as per the chart below - and explanations following.
 * <  ||= Web Page ||= Blog ||= Wiki ||
 * < **__Full__** Customization || √ ||= ~ ||= ~ ||=  ||
 * Minimal Complexity (for the Reader) ||= √ ||= √ ||= ~ ||
 * Multiple (sub)Topics ||= √ ||= ~ ||= √ ||
 * < Minimal Technical Knowledge ||= ~ ||= √ ||= √ ||
 * < Allows Easy Response ||= ~ ||= √ ||= √ ||
 * Strong Sequencing ||= ~ ||= √ ||= ~ ||
 * Collaborative Authorship ||= ~ ||= ~ ||= √ ||
 * Selective participation ||= Difficult ||= ~ ||= √ ||
 * Multiple Discussion Threads Per Topic ||= ~ ||= ~ ||= Some ||

Minimal Complexity for the Reader - A well designed web page will draw the eye in just the right way. A blog is sequential by the date of the entry with comments immediately following each entry. A wiki usually has a sidebar menu, as well as links in the body of the content, and other places for discussion and comments that will take a new users at least a brief moment to place all the elements. Blogs may have sidebars a little like wikis, but the sidebars typically are secondary support elements, with the main content flow contained within sequential posts of the blog. Multiple (sub)Topics - Web pages can link off to subtopic pages as freely as the web site designers can develop them. Wikis are designed to present an array of pages, all of which can be updated and accessed easily from one visit to the next. The sequential stream of content in a blog make it very difficult to navigate (or create a navigation system) to trace subtopics.Menu systems can be developed but typically they relate to dates of posts, rather than topics. Minimal Technical Knowledge - Blogs and wikis can be launched with a fairly attractive appearance (admittedly from a template) in a few minutes. Most people can launch a web page with an hour or two of instruction in HTML or web editing software, but real polish takes much longer. Some items on a web page require fairly sophisticated software and skill sets. Allows Easy Response - Developing response boxes for a web page is difficult, and showing the responses on the web page is very difficult. Both blogs and wikis have "Comments" features as mainstays of their services. Strong Sequencing - With the time sequenced posts characteristic of a blog, blogs own this feature very solidly. Wikis can track changes, but are not intended to sequence content. Web pages don't do that either. What is new can be difficult to find with either a web page or wiki, while it is very obvious for a blog with the most recent post :on top." Collaborative Authorship - Wikis own this one as a primary purpose for a wiki. Multiple editors for a web page simply doesn't work as page generations become very confused with more than one person working on a page potentially at the same time. Blogs can have multiple owners, but their "diary" nature make that a very non-standard approach to blogging. Selective participation - Web pages can be passworded, but that is again a relatively sophisticated bit of programming. Blogs can restrict comments to those who have registered and can block access to the whole site, in some cases. In contrast Wikis can be hidden or not, and participants can be given several levels of access with regard to comments, page editing, deleting, etc. Multiple Discussion Threads Per Topic - Discussion rarely (if ever) happens with web pages, and is generally constrained to a particular post in a blog to which all comments on that post are directed. Some wikis only offer one stream of Comments to a page, (note PB Wiki). Other wikis provide a tab for comments on a particular page that can contain multiple threads of discussion on different topics (see Wikispaces). So, the different strategies have very different features and purposes. Matching ones needs with the strategy that best serves those needs is the first step toward success. Blogs and wikis are supplanting most non-commercial, and some commercial, strategies.From there, some favor blogs, while others prefer wikis, as a primary communication vehicle. The wise person, though, is capable of tailoring a service around a need. Obviously, this is the beginning of a larger lesson on web sites, blogs and wikis. For now, though, we will stop with blogs. You have used a type of blog if you have a Facebook, My Space, or Linked In account. The blog may, then, be the easiest of the three with which to begin. Whether you have used a blog-like social networking tool or not, though, the Subpage below helps you set up a professional blog (after a more thorough introduction just to blogs and blogging) with a subpage tutorial (at the bottom of the a-Blogs page). Following a ring of education bloggers, along with testing your own ideas through blogging, is a good professional development practice. **Performance Record** For your performance record email on **Monday, June 28**, simply send me - the web address of your professional blog, as you were stepped through in the tutorial pages I or II, depending on whether you want to use written instruction on I or Atomic Learning in II-Tutorial - (on your own, if you did not find either of the tutorials helpful). And, if you prefer not to use Blogger (a Google product) III-Tutorial at the bottom of the a-Blogs page gives you an Atomic Learning tutorial for WordPress. I will see by your blog what you have worked through one of the tutorials or at least successfully figured out how to get a blog working. You will use this blog to complete your CHIP assignments. And, - the professional blog that you saw at the bottom of the a-Blogs page below that you found most interesting, and why you found it interesting.
 * __Full__** Customization - The web page is the ultimate "blank slate." With the right tools and skilled staff, there is no limit to how a web page can be designed and constructed. Even a fairly basic site requires knowledge of HTML (HyperText Markup Language) or the use of web editing software and constraints ensue based on the skill set of the developer or the software. In contrast, blogs and wikis offer an array of templates, and a good bit of personalization within those templates - but one still is constrained by definite parameters in what a blog or wiki service is prepared to offer.