MONKEYmedia

MONKEYmedia is an interface design firm that seems to take a holistic approach to designing interfaces. If you click on the "mentor" link, you will find interesting information about how to design interfaces. Topics addressed are:
> domains of design
> 5 styles of interaction
> device characteristics
> slicing the interface
> making content meaningful (has quicktime component)
> questions for designers (thinking about the people being designed for)

The backgrounds of the people working at this firm are interesting, ranging from degrees in interaction communication, psychology, linguistics, cognitive science, sociology, speech communications, dance, graphic arts. Seems pretty consistent with my interest in sociable media.

See their website at www.monkeymedia.com

Lynda.com

My experience with many online courses is that they are very much reading dependent. The majority of the information presented seems to be text based, which is tiring. Everything from the lecture, books, email, chat, discussion areas, newsgroup all require reading words on a screen.

My brother-in-law sent me a link to a website that has a guided tour that (at least for me) serves as a model for how online courses could be presented in a more visual format. It combines visual and audio in a way that engages the viewer. I'm not a strongly visual learner, but found the relief from constant reading to be, well... a relief.
Take a look at it for yourself www.lynda.com

Social Software

Circles, a social sharing platform by Lycos, creates groups of contacts, photo sharing, discussion boards, group invitations and the ability to conduct polls (near & dear to cadre x's heart.) What's nice about this website is that it provides an overview of what's available, most social software sites require a sign in.


Trillian Pro 2.01, is a communication tool where IM uses text, graphics and streaming video. It provides video and audio chat and has a "time travel" feature where you can pause, rewind, fast-forward and record live video and audio sessions. This website provides an overview of its features.

Robin Good - What Communication Experts Need to Know

At first, I didn't get the joke (Robin Good - Robin Hood) too much reading I guess!!
But this is a great website that comes out of Italy, it has tons of articles regarding technology, book and product reviews. For the purposes of my blog, check out the section entitled "Social Networking."

Robin Good - Communication Experts

e-Learning Centre

I found a really interesting website out of London called the "e-Learning Centre." There are articles that discuss social networking and some of the social software that people are using to stay connected. A lot of it, as the title implies, has to do with how people keep in touch with each other socially using technology. Though I don't see why some of these resources couldn't be transferred to the classroom. This article does highlight some of the social software being used by a number of universities.

One article to read is "We Learning: Social Software and E-Learning, Part II"
By Eva Kaplan-Leiserson
Summary of Article:
Early e-learning traded technology for human interaction. Now, the personal element is being added back in. New social software tools borrowed from business and the younger generations combine tech and touch for the best of all possible worlds (including virtual ones).

The article covers open source tools, wikis, social network analysis tools, proximity tools and virtual worlds with links to view some of programs listed in the article. Notice this article is "Social Software and E-Learning PART II) well there is a link to Part I, which is a good read as well.

Use this link to go to e-Learning Centre, once there under "library" then "trends & technology" scroll down until you see the title of the article or...

click here to go directly to the article.

The Sociable Media Group (MIT)

The Sociable Media Group investigates issues concerning identity and society in the networked world. They asks questions such as "what does a virtual crowd look like" and they build experimental interfaces and installations that explore new forms of social interaction.

Take a look at what they are exploring: