A bit of time to breathe

Now that I have a bit of free time – waiting for feedback for my first 3 chapters, I’ve decided to blog about what’s happened recently.

So I’ve had to recreate Knowledge Trails because apparently the server that it was hosted on got moved and so I couldnt even log into the site. 😦 On the plus side, in creating the new site I realised that I am able to put my knowledge about community of practices in action when re-deciding what plugins to include in the site. I’ve also been able to find new plugins that will allow me to write the form to create Knowledge Nuggets instead of uploading them as files that were created in a word document.

I’ve been able pre-design the dashboard of the site so when a new user logs into the site, they wont be overwhelmed by a blank page. If they dont like the layout, they can edit the page when they become more well versed with using the site.

I’ve managed to find a plugin that will allow me to edit the spotlight area. This is good because I wont have to keep the current spotlight up on the site showing just information about Elgg. Since this plugin allows me to divide the spotlight area into three columns I think I’ll be using it to direct the users to the Video walkthroughs (if I’m allowed to reupload them), upload current information about Parks Victoria, and posting other information such as featured video clips for example.

I’m quite happy with the progress of my exegesis thus far.

I know I’ve only completed 3/4 chapters but I’ve already put the first 2 chapters into InDesign and while I know I still have a lot of editing to do with my third chapter once it comes back, I’m relieved to know I’m almost done. With my final chapter I have a vague idea of what I need to do to tie it all together.

I’ve gotten to the stage where I’ve started worrying about printing this beast and trying to figure out how big of a hole it’s gonna put in my pocket (printing 4 copies) and 4 sets of DVDs. I scared myself thinking that I needed to print it either ALL in colour or ALL in black and white. Luckily it’s not the case otherwise I’d be paying just over 500 bucks for 3 copies. erk. Anyways I think I should get crack-a-lack-en on my fourth and FINAL (yay!) chapter =D

Exegesis Layout

The topic of my project revolves around the use of social media in nurturing a community of practice: knowledge management within Parks Victoria.

Chapter 1

• What is the project about
• What was in the brief (from Parks Victoria)?
• What was it that Parks Victoria wanted us to do ?
• What is social media? Which social media was chosen for the implementation of this project? Which program was chosen and why?
  
• What theories will be discussed along the course of the exegesis? – social media, communities of practice, folksonomies, the birthday paradox, computer mediated communications, knowledge management, Small World Networks, Social Networking, Web 2.0

Chapter 2

• Explain the theories and concepts in more depth.
• Information from the Literature Review can be used and expanded on here (since Literature Review is seen as the bare bones of the exegesis)
• Discuss how all the theories relate to each other.

Chapter 3

This is the methodology chapter.

• How was the project carried out? – local server and live server
  
• The use of personas and scenarios
• Testing the widgets – to see which would be appropriate for the site and to see if it really does what it’s supposed to do.
• If the widget doesnt work or doesnt do its job, need to look for alternatives
• Migration from local server to live server – what was involved, aspects that changed due to the migration (such as the new ability to send messages internally on message boards, comments and  registration approval because on the live site there’s an email server that allows this)
  
• Migration of personas and scenarios – the personas developed, their stories changed to accommodate the knowledge nuggets and real life situations.
• Screenshots of the whole process to be used as evidence of claims ( to be included as appendices)

Chapter 4

This is where the feedback from the interview/survey is used to come to a conclusion of the project

• What did the users of the site think of it ?
• Did the users use the site to its full potential ? – did they communicate with others in the community of practice, did they share detailed information about their exploits when they went on exchange, etc
  
• Was the project successful in what it set out to do? Why/why not ?