Social Media and Cross-border Collaboration

Social media, Web 2.0, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Buzz, Google Docs, FTP, Jaiku, Qaiku, Ning, microblogs, Wiki, LinkedIn, etc. can be used to enhance and improve cross-border collaboration.

I’ll be speaking about this at Tallinn BlogFest 2010 May 25 and now writing a manuscript for success. What did we learn from the Innovationtrain? Where are the limits of self organization? How good is BarCamp?

What are the obstacles we need to overcome when we have long distances, cultural differences and the participants can’t use their mother language? 

Jay Mathews - A Surprisingly Sensible 21st-Century Report - washingtonpost.com

Jay Mathews writes for Washington Post. I wanted to analyze his personal writing style. What could I learn from him and his way of telling and sharing a story? Here is just a short insert copy-pasted.

Jay Mathews - A Surprisingly Sensible 21st-Century Report - washingtonpost.com: "I telephoned Silva to express my concern that we differ on this issue, since she always knows what she is talking about and I sometimes don't. Our conversation reassured me. She has the same doubts I do about the loose and overheated way the 21st-century skills concept has been marketed, and the failure to give teachers useful guidance on what to do with it. She agrees with me that much of what is labeled 21st-century learning is not new, but represents what our best educators have been teaching for several centuries.

For those of you unfamiliar with this topic, here is what alleged 21st-century skills are: the ability to think creatively and to evaluate and analyze information. Does that sound futuristic to you?

Silva and I are also of one mind on the need to make sure this emphasis on analytical and critical thinking does not derail the national effort to make sure all students learn the basic content of the important disciplines, such as literature, math and science. Learning how to learn, one of the goals of the 21st-century skills movement, is fine, but it is not a substitute for being able to recall without resort to Google vital facts and concepts, like the causes of World War I, the usefulness of active verbs and how to calculate..."

The story continues. Go to Washington Post to read more but I add one thing more here to show what this story is all about.


They got money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and now have 40 schools in nine states.

"Student learning at New Technology is designed to simulate real life and real work," Silva writes. "Instead of completing traditional worksheets and daily assignments, students are assigned periodic projects, often as teams, and must complete a combination of products, including written essays and practical demonstrations. Each project assigned to students is accompanied by a set of rubrics that measure a student's performance on fundamental skills, like writing, as well as criteria such as critical thinking, application and originality. Students receive multiple grades, one for each criterion, for each project."

Cathryn Hrudicka, Chief Imagination Officer, Creative Sage

Cathryn Hrudicka, Chief Imagination Officer, Creative Sage(tm)/Cathryn Hrudicka & Associates.

Cathryn writes, "I'd really be interested in your thoughts, as I work as a management consultant and executive coach, and my specialty areas are creativity and innovation (in organizations, creative project teams, and individuals); and marketing and public relations. I work with companies, trade associatiions and nonprofits. All of them are concerned about the large number of people of my generation—and Gen Y's parents, the baby boomers—who will be retiring in the next decade, and what that will mean for the world's workforce. So, I'd like to hear the opinions of the young people who will be coming up in the workforce concerning work, careers, money, and what you're looking for from your job or career—what qualities, in addition to a good salary?"

Helge: We are in the same business. I need to talk more with Seppo about some of the evolutions in the San Fransisco Bay area.

Cathryn continues, "I also work with professionals who want to redefine "retirement" and live an accomplished, creative life after leaving a corporate job, perhaps starting their own business, writing a book, exploring an artistic talent, traveling around the word, or developing a meaningful project to help other people, animals, or the environment. So, I work with people of different ages who want to enhance their creativity and do something extraordinary, whether through work or another pursuit."

Helge: We've twittered about future clean tech and rural villages developments. I guess social media can expand out of the talk and dialog mode to something more specific. Innovations need to have some limits and border lines. It's easier to create a future village than to change the whole world. All big things start small.

Mobasoft, LLC

I am an entrepreneur in eMedia. Passionate about the space. I'm an artist, dangit!

About

• Name Michael Bailey
• Location 64050
• Web http://www.mobaso...
• Bio An entrepreneur in the eMedia space.

Mobasoft, LLC: "Social Media Whitepaper By mbailey | November 15, 2007 I've been trying to wrap my thoughts around how to go about describing new media, social networking to others who may have expressed an interest in such areas. I started writing down my thoughts and decided to turn it into a 3-page whitepaper. Perhaps others can build on my work as I have built my first whitepaper from what I know about this space, and from conversations which I've had with others during the last year or so. There's a link to the PDF file in the center of my blog, or you can get it here. Feel free to download and disperse it as you see fit. I welcome any and all comments, suggestion, or smart remarks which you may have ;^)"

Dear World Society

By mbailey | November 9, 2007

I know that somewhere out there, you are holding on to at least one person who understands my passion and who can see my vision as I do.

Helge: I get curious.

By now, you know me well enough to see how much I despise money - you know that I see it as a necessary tool, one which I know that I need to use to accomplish my goals. You can also see that my tool shed is now nothing more than empty shelves and cobwebs.

Helge: Money?

I ask you this - please direct the person(s) in my direction, so that we can meet, let me borrow from them so that I may create some services and systems which will connect more of us in ways we only dreamed about.

Helge: Getting connected.

You do know that if I had $10 million in the bank right now, and if my immediate necessities were taken care of, that I would be spending $10 million to better the lives of as many people as I could - you do know that, right?

Helge: Quality of life.

Most of us trade our time for money - most of us do not really like what we end up doing on a daily basis - but we all have the same dream - we want a better life.

Helge: A better life.

Money does not make our lives better, though some people use money to items for a short term ego boost, in the end, it’s not about the “things”.

Helge: Short term.

Thanks, and you know that I believe in you, so believe in me and let’s move this forward.

Helge: I ask for more information about the project.

Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

Helge: This is interesting. More critique against Internet. Web 2.0 has been criticized. The user generated mediocrity is and issue at seminars. The same has been with all technologies:

- Books and Printing
- The steam engine
- Railway
- Cars
- Electricity
- Movie, Film
- Radio, Television
- Nuclear Power
- Video
- Computers
- Games
- Internet
- Web 2.0

Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2: "Goodbye Yellow Brick Broadband. Elton John thinks we should close the Internet in order to spur creativity. He thinks a five year shut down would get folks out from behind their keyboards and monitors and out communicating. And with all that talent we'd see an upsurge in creativity and better music.

Not sure I agree completely on the creativity point, but as far as the social aspect of entertainment and culture, I think getting folks out to listen to music and see plays would be a good thing. Don't think we need to shut down the Net to do so, though."

Helge: I got this from the blog of Warner Crocker. There is some truth in this. I use a lot of my daily life on the net. I've been here for quite some time. This summer, in Sotkamo, Finland, we've been doing quite a lot of outdoors work in the garden. It has been great for a change and some very creative solutions have materialized.

A lot of what happens on the net seems to twitter away and doesn't leave a jaiku in your mind, but concrete hands-on work does the trick. The same goes for live music or theater. Please, don't close the net yet, but it's a good idea to move between the virtual and real.

Biography

I'm an theatre producer, director, playwright, and the current Artistic Director of Wayside Theatre in Middletown, VA. I am also a Tablet PC enthusiast and participate in that community in many ways including formerly as a News Editor on Tablet PC Buzz and currently as a member of the GottaBeMobile.com team. I also have received a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award in the category of Tablet PC. Here's a blurb about the award:

The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Program recognizes and thanks outstanding members of technical communities for their community participation and willingness to help others. The program celebrates the most active community members from around the world who provide invaluable online and offline expertise that enriches the community experience and makes a difference in technical communities featuring Microsoft products.

For more about my theatre career here's a link to my bio on Wayside Theatre's website

And here's a bit about this blog: The Second Act of Life On the Wicked Stage

Helge: I should ask about Second Life. I've some plans about business applications but haven't started to use it.

I choose to write about and share the things I enjoy. Tablet PCs and my life in the theatre. You'll also find things that amuse me, things that astound me, and occasionally things that tick me off in the occasional post here.

Helge: I blog about what I enjoy too. I didn't care about readership in the beginning but with Twitter and Jaiku there was a deeper understanding for the dialog.

Whatever your pleasure, if you're visiting, I hope you'll enjoy what you read and if you care to, feel free to leave a comment. Or you can email me at waywtc at gmail dot com.

Helge: We talk about how to transform Finland to a creative economy. Understanding the way creative people work and how they connect might give some insight into this mystical field: CREATIVITY.