• Essay 1

    Posted on September 12th, 2009, 10:41 pm by admin

    Compare and contrast the works of Ward Cunningham,
    Adam Curry, Jenny Preece and David Winer in 500 words.
    What has been their contribution to development of online communities?

      
    Rheingold described virtual (online) community as
    “…social relationship aggregation, facilitated by Internet-based technology, in which users communicate and build personal relationships.” (Rheingold, 1993)

    Whether in construction, continuance, extension or understanding, Ward Cunningham, David Winer, Jennifer Preece and Adam Curry have made important contributions to development and use of online communities.

    Cunningham began and continues work in software patterns and extreme programming. Best known, however, for creation of   ’wiki’, collaborative, online software, Cunningham’s first offering, “WikiWikiWeb” was installed at c2.com in 1995. With “Wiki” being Honolulu for “fast” Cunningham’s aim was to create web pages quickly editable by their users. Today, Cunningham is Chief Technical Officer with AboutUs (www.aboutus.org) an online wiki community for business contacts providing

    “… introduction to sites in the areas you care about as well as a way to share your knowledge of those websites.” (AboutUs, 2009)

    Unlike wikis, blog content is typically contributed by single users, yet their characteristic methods for sharing information and feedback among members has contributed much to online community development. David Winer is credited with creating and publishing the first blog site in 1997 - Scripting News - www.scripting.com  and described as “software developer, entrepreneur and writer” (Wikipedia, 2009), pioneering outliners, content  management systems, xml-RSD and RSS - Really Simple Syndication.

    Involving enclosure tags within blogging software, RSS allowed “bloggers” to automatically syndicate information. Links received to information or audio visual updates in podcasting, enabled download of files for use offline. RSS has been described as -

    “… most significant advance in the fundamental architecture of the web…” (O’Reilly, 2005).

    Although facilitation options, such as RSS, were available, podcasts didn’t gain popularity until MTV celebrity Adam Curry, often referred to as the “podfather” fostered their development during the last decade.  Curry began with “Daily Source Code” - documenting simple day-to-day events, worked on “BloggerCon” in 2004 and continued onto “PodShow” in 2005, now known as “Mevio” - a digital media entertainment network, claiming some 9 million visitors through to 2008.

    As user-friendly, web-based tools, wikis, blogs and podcasting have grown rapidly over this decade and allowed development of online communities of users, with varying levels of success. 
    The fine line between successful communities or “electronic ghost towns” (Preece, 2000), has been investigated by  Jennifer Preece through her research into Human-Computer Interaction. Her book, Online Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability, is a respected resource when considering effective survival of online communities and analysis of the factors that impact their success or failure. 

    Cunningham, Curry, Preece and Winer provided tools allowing creation, maintenance and contribution by “connected” individuals to online communities, information sharing on previously unknown scales and potential to reach massive audiences.  These online communities have more easily permeated our personal and professional lives, assisted education through authentic learning experiences and their needs and successful maintenance are reflected upon in light of investigations and writings such as those from Preece.

    With no programming or background knowledge, I’m not destined to create or implement the next “big” technological or online invention, yet feel commonality with this group. Ideas are changing about how technology is used in our lives, yet this isn’t always true within school communities. Changing understanding, ideas and mindset of colleagues about technology in learning - perhaps implementing tools and ideas pioneered by this group, is something I am passionate about.  I aim to give students effective knowledge and tools for successful community membership - whatever form it may take in their 21st Century lives.

     

     REFERENCES

     AboutUs. (2009, September 2). What is About Us?
    Retrieved September 2, 2009,
    from AboutUs.org: www.aboutus.org

    O’Reilly, T. (2005, September 30). What Is Web 2.0.
    Retrieved August 30, 2009,
    from O’Reilly: http://www.oreillynet.com/lpt/a/6228

    Preece, J. (2000, October 13). Human Computer Interaction.
    Retrieved August 29, 2009,
    from Online Communities:Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability: http://hci.stanford.edu/seminar/abstracts/00-01/001013-preece.html

    Rheingold, H. (1993). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier.
    Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Wikipedia. (2009).
    Retrieved September 2, 2009,
    from Wikepedia: www.wikipedia.com

    76 comments Essay 1, Essays

    « Older Comments

    76 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

     Leave a reply