What I learnt so far

Week 1 - Introduction to Business Web Innovation

During the first week we had an introduction to the business web innovation. This included what is involved in the unit and what needs to be done to achieve the overall module.

Week 2 - Blogging

This week we learned about blogging. We were given our first assessment and were all required to create our own blog during our lab activity. We were required to update and maintain the blog throughout the module until a deadline is issued by the lecturer. This was an interesting task as we put everything we learned into our blog and reflect upon what we learned each week during our lectures, labs, e-activities and team work. For example we were required to put our thoughts on the content of the module, lecture and lab activities, what we are learning each week and reflect on the knowledge we have gained, what research we are undertaking to increase our knowledge, skills gained, our likes and dislikes and also our thoughts.

Week 3 - Collaborative writing

This week we learnt more on collaborative writing. During our lab we learnt about wiki and explored the use of wiki spaces. We were then required to create our own wiki account. Next we were put into groups by our group tutor and were given our first e-activity.  As a group we created our first group wiki together and named it as bus web. I enjoyed this group work. Everyone in my group were very friendly and we managed to work very well.  This experience definitely improved my collaborative writing skills. I am sure it will be the same with the rest of the group members. The important thing I learned from this activity is that even though one person lacks in some knowledge it can be easily overcome when you work collaboratively as a team. For example my knowledge on technology is not so great. Nevertheless having worked with the team successfully I realized that I have overcome this obstacle and managed to contribute well to the group work. It was one of my great achievements.  

Week 4 - Media Sharing, Social Bookmarking & Tagging

This week we learnt about Media sharing, Social Bookmarking and Tagging. Before this lecture my knowledge on this area was a bit poor. I gained new knowledge on the power of media sharing. For example files being embed in applications such embed video in a blog. I leant that while you are able to share almost any digital media file in your media player library including the files that you have downloaded from online stores you are also able to control what you are sharing with others depending on the media player you are using. For example I learnt that you are able to customize what you want to share and what you do not want to share with others.

I also gained new knowledge on pod casting. Even though I knew a wee bit about pod casts, my knowledge before the lecture was not so great. I knew that if I had an internet connection and pod cast software that I am able to download music and listen to them on my computer, iPod or MP3 player.

We also learnt about Social Bookmarking. I knew about bookmarking, but social bookmarking was something I didn't know before. I learnt that Social bookmarking is somewhat similar to the bookmarks we usually make for our private usage during surfing on the internet. However social bookmarking is not for our private usage. The difference in this is that social bookmarking is saving bookmarks to a public site which is made available to others. This is something that I didn't have any knowledge of before. 

Next I learnt about tagging. I must admit that I did not have any knowledge on tagging before. I learnt that tagging allows us to remind what each bookmarking is about for example what information is in a particular bookmarking link. The important thing that you need to know about tagging in a social book marking site is that tagging can be done by the individual user while it can be altered by other users and input more tags.

Week 5 - RSS Feeds and Mashups
This week we learnt about Mashups. In this the music is made up of other songs already released and it could be considered remix of digital data.

Week 6 - Social Networking

What we learnt this week was Social Networking. To be really honest I didn't know much about Social Networking. So this is something I learnt totally new. What I found interesting is that in Social Networking people would have few strong contacts for example those who they really know such as friends and family and in addition to this they would also have many weak contacts for example those who are not their friends or family but will be friends of friends and so on. The power of social networking lies in these weak contacts. This is because social networking is driven by members and frequent activities by them. If there is no activity among members it can gradually decline. 

Irrespective of many advantages that this may bring I am still not a great fan of Social Networking. I feel that it steels most of your valuable time that you could use elsewhere. However, this is only my personal opinion and hence have nothing against those who really like social networking. 

We also had our e-activity 2 given out this week which we handed in during week 9. To be honest, this e-activity was a difficult task for me due to my dislike in using social networking sites. However I managed to complete the task to the best of my ability. My lack of interest was very visible from the marks I gained for this e-activity which was only 18 out of 40. Even though I am very unhappy about my achievement I hope that I can make up for the loss of marks in this activity through the other tasks undertaken.

Week 7 - Web 2.0 Technologies

This week we learnt all about web 1.0, web 1.5 and web 2.0 technologies. We learnt about what is involved in it, the language and so on.

Personally as I am not much to the technology side. Therefore the theory behind these technologies did not capture my interest very much. However it was good to have gained some knowledge of what is involved and how the web web 2.0 came to exist from web 1.0

Week 8 - Web 2.0 Marketing

In this we learnt how with the advancement of technology the web 2.0 have been used by businesses for marketing and how this web 2.0 marketing has shaped their marketing mix for promotion for example product, price, place promotion has been altered accordingly to meet the need of the changing technology.

I gained valuable knowledge during the course of this lecture.
  

Week 9 - Measurement of Social Media and ROI

We learnt about the challenges of social media for example control, accuracy of information, anonymity and deception, security problems, legal aspects, privacy issues, cyber stalking, bullying harassment and so on. We also learnt how Social media has reduced the face to face communication. 

Next we also learnt about Return on investment. We learnt that when businesses use social media as a promotional tool it may be difficult to measure return on investment for example measuring customer satisfaction.

I gained valuable insight into social media during this lecture. It was good to know how challenging it is for businesses to use social media as a promotional tool. In order to gain a competitive advantage it is very essential that they are aware of what is involved in it.

Week 10 - Management of Social Media

We learnt about the features of social media and also the challenges that are involved.

We also got our e-activity three during this week. It was another good experience of working with others. Commenting on other post was my favourite. I enjoyed it more when others posted comments for my post. This is because I felt involved with peers.  I think this is a good way of improving team work and also increasing communication among peers. I really enjoyed participating in this group discussion activity. 

Week 11 - Social Media Control

We leant the risks involved in Social Media. The strengths and weakness and also the ethical issues surrounding social media.

Week 12 - Future of the Web

This was our last lecture and we learnt about the future of the web 3.0. The journey from web 1.0 to web 3.0. We learnt about the future trends for example mobile web, greater visualization, semantic web and about social graph.

Next we had a glimpse of what we learnt during the entire module from week 1. I kind of felt a bit sad that we have come to the end of the module. I really enjoyed this whole module. There were certain things that I didn't enjoy purely because of my dislike of social media. irrespective of that I really enjoyed the knowledge I gained throughout the module. I didn't know there were so many things to learn when I chose this module.

Nevertheless when I chose this module I thought that it was all to do with creating a web site or how to design a website and to learn how to design and upgrade a website. However I realised that web innovation has a whole new meaning and there were so many things to learn.

Week 12 - Future of Web 3.0

Future trends

With more and more advancement in technology it is expected that web 3.0 will bring about the following changes.

• User generated content will increase.
• Production process will become more sophisticated.
• Use of mash-ups will increase.
• Information will be overloaded.
• Problems with intellectual property.
• Growth of personal catalogues.
• More interaction with online services.
• Change in the way we interact with people. 

What is web 3.0. Please see the following video which gives a clear overview of what web 3.0 is.

Please listen to the following video clip which gives a clear idea of what the future of the web is going to be.

I have learnt a lot from this lecture and the research that I carried out on web 3.0 and the future trends of web. It is amazing to see how technology has shaped our lives and the way we work. Whether we like it or not it has become a part of our lives in the sense if you are looking for a job you may be better of knowing at least a little about technology irrespective of whether you have a degree or not. Because more and more businesses are now relying on web technology for their marketing and promotions. Therefore gaining a little knowledge about web can help you in the long run.

Reference :

You tube, Web 3.0 overview, (online), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYfiLa19eUA - accessed 10th April 2012.

You tube, The future internet: Service web 3.0, (online) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=off08As3siM - accessed 10th April 2012.

Week 11 - Social Media Control

E-Activity 3
I enjoyed this e-activity. It was a good experience. I particularly liked it when others posted comments on my post. This definetely helps improve communication among peers. Good approach to develop student discussion and communication. A huge thank you to all those who made comments on my posts. This boosted my confidence because I felt involved with the group members and felt valued.

Social Media Control


Risks - Security issues in Web 2.0 
According to Deans C (2009) Web 2.0 have changed our society immeasurably in a good way. However there is still a bad element of this that we all need to recognize, understand and defend outselves against.


He suggests that the open and participative nature of Web 2.0 is a strength while it could also be a weakness too. There are many risks involved in the following:

• Privacy
• Information disclosure (personal or work-related)
• Loss of reputation
• Authenticity
• Transparency
• Cyber stalking

Ethical Issues in Web 2.0
There are many ethical issues involved in the use of web 2.0. These are

• Digital divide
• Virtual world v real world
• Cultural differences
• Anonymity
• Privacy
• Online surveillance

What may seem to be not permitted in the real world may be allowed in the virtual world for example second life, world of Warcraft are examples of multi player online games. In this the player assumes an identity for example an avatar as his or her identity. However the threat here is that when the player conform to the rules of conduct there may be no harm done. Nevertheless there is no requirement for morally good behaviour in the virtual world. Thus there may be numerous crimes committed in the virtual world which may be prohibited in the real world. This is a real threat to the real world as more and more young generation is using the online virtual world and this may shape or alter their behaviour in the real world posing a threat to the general nature of real world.

Reference:

Deans C (2009), Social Software and Web 2.0 Technology Trends, IGI Global e-book,

◦Chapter 5 Security in a Web 2.0 World pp58-67

◦Chapter 8  Web 2.0, Virtual Worlds and Real Ethical Issues pp105-117

Week 10 - Management of Social Media

I missed the seminar and lecture this week again. It is becoming extremely difficult for me to cope focusing on my studies these days. I find it really difficult to keep straight in the morning not to mention the dizziness and nausea feeling throughout the day. I am worried that I am missing too much. I try my best to keep up to date by checking the information on Blackboard and also by talking to friends on any important issues discussed at seminars and so on. This is the only way I could keep up with my studies.

E-ACTIVITY 3

I realised that the E-activity 3 has been issued at this weeks class. The instructions have been posted in the Blackboard. This is to be completed by 12 noon on 5th April. This involves carrying out two tasks.

Tasks 1 

is to identify a Small Medium Enterprise and investigate how they are varying the promotion component of their marketing mix when delivering services through the Internet. We are also required to consider the general use of the Internet by them for promotion by specifically focusing on the use of web 2.0 applications.  Then we are required to Post a 150 word summary of our findings on our seminar group’s discussion board on GCU Learn.  This task is to be completed by Thursday 29^th March.

Task 2

In this task we are required to actively contribute to the discussion board. All members of the class are required to comment on and discuss each others’ postings. The discussion board will close at 12pm on Thursday 5^th April.

Social Media Implementation
Stages of Maturity

• —  Unawares
•         —Obstructors
•         —Neutrals
•         —Supporters
•         —Champions 

Social Media Life Cycle

Week 9 - Management of Web 2.0

I couldn't update the blog as planned yesterday. Therefore I have just created this new post. This will be updated in detail later on.

Positive features of Social Media

• Collective Intelligence
• Distributed responsibility
• On-line Community
• Personal Freedom
• Digital Democracy
• Digital Distribution
• Social Capital

Challenges of Social Media

• Control
• Accuracy of information
• Anonymity and deception
• Security of the information
• Information accessibility
• Openness
• Legal Aspects
• Privacy
• Spam
• Cyber stalking, bullying, harassment
• Minimising face to face communicaation
• Social polarisation/ fragmentation

Week 8 - E Marketing

My experience

I missed the seminar and lab for this week for the first time. This is because I became pregnant and being in the first stages of pregnancy I am strugling to keep up. However I decided to look into the lecture notes in the black board and maintain the blog as usual on a regular basis. This has become a difficult task for me. Therefore I decided that I will post as usual even though it is a small post and later on whenever I can to update the posts. This way I can make sure that I have at least one post per week.

E-Marketing
With the advancement in technology marketing has taken a new turn.  More and more people have started using new technology for their daily activities such as shopping and this has in turn affected how companies do marketing. For example online shopping as well as the usage of social media has increasingly become popular and this has made companies to include them in their marketing strategies and concepts for example how they plan their promotional mix such as product, price, place and promotion.

As suggested by Beynon-Davies (2004) good marketing approach will be reliant on good planning. Planning is an important element for e-marketing strategy. This will include;

An analysis of the environment for e-marketing.

In this the demand for e-commerce should be determined in particular market segments.

An assessment of current internal infrastructure which is made available to the company for e-marketing.

This will involve determining the feasible options made available to the company and evaluating the performance of the current infrastructure in terms of extending its e-marketing infrastructure.

Establishing a vision for e-marketing

This involves setting clear objectives for the use of e-marketing with regard to online contribution to company performance and the marketing mix of products, price, place and promotion.

5ps - Leverage Marketing

Reference :

Beynon-Davies P, E-Business (2004)

E-Activity 2

We were handed our second e-activity during week 6 lab which is to be completed by week 9 to be handed in on 15th March. this was to do with social networking and e-marketing.  We were given the opportunity to pick a company randomly and were asked to research their use of three social networking sites such as Face book, Linked in and Twitter.

This was one of the difficult tasks for me because I am not interested in using any of these social networking sites. However for the purpose of undertaking these assessment tasks I had to sign up with each one of these social networking sites. In order to do this I did some background research to find out if we are able to opt out of these services as and when you wish to do so and it turned out that we are able to opt out of their services whenever we want. This then gave me reassurance that I dont have to hold on to them if I dont like them.

Finally even though I didn't like the idea of signing up with these sites I decided that it is best that I learn about these and complete the relevant tasks for e-activity 2 and later on to delete my profile on these sites if I still didn't wish to keep them.

Week 7 - Cloud Computing

Future of Computers

This week we started the lecture by going through what we have learnt so far. It was good to recap. This was then followed by a lecture about Cloud Computing. This is about delivering hosted services over the internet service which is managed by the provider. Cloud computing consists of 

• Virtual computers / servers
• Data Storage Capacity
• Network Capacity
• Communication and Messaging Capacity

Cloud computing has two elements. Public Cloud Computing and Private Cloud Computing. This therefore has three categories.

1. Infrastructure as a service. Some companies will make use of this for servers and for storage.
2. Platform as a service. Some companies will use this for product development or the combination of the two.
3. Software as a service. Individuals may use it as a software.

An example of cloud computing is that iPad lets you save your essentials in to a drop box which is effectively cloud computing. The following video clip gives a further understanding of what cloud computing is all about.

How Cloud Computing Works

When your work and responsibilities as an executive or a manager involve ensuring that all of your employees have the right hardware and software needed to complete their tasks, you may need to buy computers but also ensure that you also purchase software or software licenses to  enable employees have the necessary tools they require. This would mean whenever you have a new hire you may have to buy more software or ensure that the current license allows another user.  

As a manager you may want to find ways to reduce spending more money. This is where cloud computing comes in for the rescue.

Cloud computing allows you to load one application instead of installing a suite of software for each computer. This one application will allows workers to log into a Web-based service which hosts all the programs the user needs to complete their job.  Remote machines owned by another company will run almost everything such as email, word processing to complex data analysis programs. This is called cloud computing. 

Cloud computing reduces the need for the local computers to do all the heavy lifting in running applications. Instead the only requirement by the user’s computer needs is that it should be able to run the cloud computing systems interface software, which is like using a web browser and the rest of the work will be taken care of by cloud’s network.



Reference

Strickland J (2012), How Cloud Computing Works, [Online], http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cloud-computing/cloud-computing.htm,  [Accessed 4th March 2012]