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Thursday, 22. June 2006
15.07.2006 Presentation Time
ligi kodiyat, 14:21h
Today we already had the first presentations….and they were so good!!!!
Teamrooms
Roman, Andreas, and Philipp presented this topic.
Roman has written an explicit report about the content of the presentation, so I would suggest to check out his blog entry “11. Veranstaltung: Virtual Teamrooms", for more details.
Roman and Andreas who moderated through Centra spoke very well. They always made it a point to ask questions and involve the participants in the conference. They had also prepared very good and innovative slides. Philipp ended the presentation with a short discussion about how we use team rooms in our daily work.
Weblogs and Wikis
Martin and Lars presented this topic. Even though we had already learned about Wikis and Weblogs in the beginning of this course it was interesting to refresh the memory. Martin and Lars spoke very clearly and had prepared the slides very well. They did have a few problems in between because some program was always crashing but they came through fine. The case study on Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein was the most interesting part because they could show that these tools are really implemented and used by the people in the organizations.
Taking part in these presentations helped me to jot down quite a few guidelines as to what has to be prepared for such a web presentation. Prof. Dr. Back has also made a blog entry “Beobachtungen zu den ersten beiden Webconferencing-Präsentationen” on useful tips for the presentation.
I am not only impressed by both these groups but also a bit anxious as to how well our group will perform next time…..
Teamrooms
Roman, Andreas, and Philipp presented this topic.
Roman has written an explicit report about the content of the presentation, so I would suggest to check out his blog entry “11. Veranstaltung: Virtual Teamrooms", for more details.
Roman and Andreas who moderated through Centra spoke very well. They always made it a point to ask questions and involve the participants in the conference. They had also prepared very good and innovative slides. Philipp ended the presentation with a short discussion about how we use team rooms in our daily work.
Weblogs and Wikis
Martin and Lars presented this topic. Even though we had already learned about Wikis and Weblogs in the beginning of this course it was interesting to refresh the memory. Martin and Lars spoke very clearly and had prepared the slides very well. They did have a few problems in between because some program was always crashing but they came through fine. The case study on Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein was the most interesting part because they could show that these tools are really implemented and used by the people in the organizations.
Taking part in these presentations helped me to jot down quite a few guidelines as to what has to be prepared for such a web presentation. Prof. Dr. Back has also made a blog entry “Beobachtungen zu den ersten beiden Webconferencing-Präsentationen” on useful tips for the presentation.
I am not only impressed by both these groups but also a bit anxious as to how well our group will perform next time…..
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Wednesday, 17. May 2006
ligi kodiyat, 15:06h
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13.05.06 Moderating in a Live-Conference
ligi kodiyat, 03:23h
Today Ms. Ress will be showing us how we can moderate a live-conference session on vconference.de
The session started with a presentation of the additional moderator functions, on which we had to focus today. The moderator, who has the function of leading a session, has special rights over the microphone and the whiteboard. The participants can use these functions only if the moderator grants them the permission. Functions such as application sharing or web safari (explained in the weblog of 12.05.2006) can only be used when the moderator activates it.
Then we also had a discussion about the differences in presenting live in front of people and in presenting live per Internet. The major difference is that the moderator has to be aware that the presentation should be simpler as in a one to one communication. The participants have to focus on the screen and on the sound. If the presentation tends to get too complex or maybe even monotonous then it is difficult for the participants to follow the subject. Furthermore being physically in different geographical locations tends to be a temptation to engage oneself in other activities as well. So the moderator should frequently involve the participant actively in the session to keep them engrossed in the conference. Lively slides with pictures or animation also help to grip the attention of the participants.
Next we all went to our workstations to create a 15 min power-point presentation, which we would then present as moderators to the class. I chose to talk about the firm Blacksocks because I thought it is a very interesting business idea (created by a HSG-Alumini Samy Liechti) and not too complex for Saturday morning!!!
All the participants presented very interesting topics. It was interesting to hear everybody speak without seeing them…some always kept checking if we were attentive by asking us questions and bringing up polls…..but it was sometimes difficult to concentrate when the topics became very complicated.
I was nervous when it was my turn to be the moderator. Even after using the tools so intensively I felt that there was too much to focus on while moderating. The polls and questions that I had integrated in the presentation made the others to participate actively. But I was so focused on the matter that I wanted to eyplain that I forgot to ask them if they could follow what I was explaining or if they had any questions in between.
I need to pratice more......
The session started with a presentation of the additional moderator functions, on which we had to focus today. The moderator, who has the function of leading a session, has special rights over the microphone and the whiteboard. The participants can use these functions only if the moderator grants them the permission. Functions such as application sharing or web safari (explained in the weblog of 12.05.2006) can only be used when the moderator activates it.
Then we also had a discussion about the differences in presenting live in front of people and in presenting live per Internet. The major difference is that the moderator has to be aware that the presentation should be simpler as in a one to one communication. The participants have to focus on the screen and on the sound. If the presentation tends to get too complex or maybe even monotonous then it is difficult for the participants to follow the subject. Furthermore being physically in different geographical locations tends to be a temptation to engage oneself in other activities as well. So the moderator should frequently involve the participant actively in the session to keep them engrossed in the conference. Lively slides with pictures or animation also help to grip the attention of the participants.
Next we all went to our workstations to create a 15 min power-point presentation, which we would then present as moderators to the class. I chose to talk about the firm Blacksocks because I thought it is a very interesting business idea (created by a HSG-Alumini Samy Liechti) and not too complex for Saturday morning!!!
All the participants presented very interesting topics. It was interesting to hear everybody speak without seeing them…some always kept checking if we were attentive by asking us questions and bringing up polls…..but it was sometimes difficult to concentrate when the topics became very complicated.
I was nervous when it was my turn to be the moderator. Even after using the tools so intensively I felt that there was too much to focus on while moderating. The polls and questions that I had integrated in the presentation made the others to participate actively. But I was so focused on the matter that I wanted to eyplain that I forgot to ask them if they could follow what I was explaining or if they had any questions in between.
I need to pratice more......
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12.05.2006 Live-Conference
ligi kodiyat, 03:13h
Today and tomorrow we will be having a training session with Ms. Lore Ress from Vcademy on Live-Conference.
As I wrote in my last weblog live or web conferencing is similar to a forum in which participants can meet to discuss a topic of common interest.
Ms. Lore showed us how to use the tool through the tool…..now how does that work???
All the participants including Ms. Ress were distributed in different rooms. Everybody had a computer and headset to communicate and was connecteded to each other via the Internet. During this web-conference session Ms. Ress was the moderator who led the session and therefore had exclusive rights.
vconference.de
The tool we used throughout the session is called vconference.de (from Centra Software.Inc.) We had to first of all install Centra on our PCs then check the headsets for the audio quality and finally log on to our training session.
This is how the user interface looks like
The interface is divided into several segments. On the top there is a tool bar with different functions, which enable an active participation during the session. The first segment on the left hand side shows live pictures of the people who are speaking. The second segment shows the participants and their participation status. The last segment is the agenda of the session. The slides or notes are projected in the biggest segment in the middle.
A few characteristics of vconference.de:
· The most basic feature is the screen sharing, whereby conference participants see whatever is on the presenter's screen.
· The moderator has the possibility to actively engage the participants in the session by making them use different the tools such as answering questions through the YES/NO symbol or applauding or laughing.
· The participants have the possibility to raise their hands and show that they would like to give an input. The headset enables a voice communication between all members. They input could also be made through the live-chat function.
· Whiteboard: This tool is a virtual flipchart. It enables the moderator to develop and idea live on the screen. And the moderator also has the possibility to let all the participants to work simultaneously on the same screen.
· Polls and Tests: The moderator can also get feedback or test the participants through polls or by asking the participants to answer questions.
· Application-Sharing: Through this tool the moderator, who is running an application (WORD, EXCEL, etc.) on his own PC can demonstrate the file to the others and he can also give the others the authority to cooperatively edit or modify the file.
· Web-Safari: It is similar to application-sharing except that the application is the Web-Browser.
In last part of the session all of us were divided into random groups and had to work on a small assignment with vconference.de. It was strange in the beginning and everybody just started to write what he or she thought about the question without communicating. Then gradually we started using the chat and the other tools to find out how we could optimise our answers.
Mr. Ress mentioned that many firms were already working with this tool. The main purpose till now has been to overcome the geographical barrier.
Cost
An organisation has to pay 25’000.- EUR for a lifetime licence with CENTRA and 2’000.- EUR for a lifetime membership for a user.
My experience
Even though I am using such a product for the first time, the user-friendly interface and tools of the vconference.de made me feel very comfortable during the web-conferencing session.
It is certainly perfect for companies who are spread around the world and need to be in constant contact with each other. The challenge lies in fostering a culture where all the employees are motivated to work and communicate through web tools.
Such tools also enable the new human resources approach of enabling the employee to work when and from where they want to.
It’s also a very interesting tool for the student's world since it could enable us to participate in the sessions without being physically present at the university. Last semester Prof. Hilb had pre-recorded all the lectures on Personnel Management on a CD and we had the possibility to consume them when ever and where ever we wanted to. This made our (and his) time schedule flexible and we had the opportunity to refer to his contributions repeatedly.
It would be also interesting to use such a tool in my private life as well. My group suggested that we should have all our team meetings through live conferencing. We do have the opportunity in this class but otherwise the cost of the product is a dilemma. From what I have heard Microsoft will be launching it new Operating System soon, which will have similar tools integrated in it. And I hope it will be more price-friendly for the “small” users.
Lets wait and watch!!!!
As I wrote in my last weblog live or web conferencing is similar to a forum in which participants can meet to discuss a topic of common interest.
Ms. Lore showed us how to use the tool through the tool…..now how does that work???
All the participants including Ms. Ress were distributed in different rooms. Everybody had a computer and headset to communicate and was connecteded to each other via the Internet. During this web-conference session Ms. Ress was the moderator who led the session and therefore had exclusive rights.
vconference.de
The tool we used throughout the session is called vconference.de (from Centra Software.Inc.) We had to first of all install Centra on our PCs then check the headsets for the audio quality and finally log on to our training session.
This is how the user interface looks like
The interface is divided into several segments. On the top there is a tool bar with different functions, which enable an active participation during the session. The first segment on the left hand side shows live pictures of the people who are speaking. The second segment shows the participants and their participation status. The last segment is the agenda of the session. The slides or notes are projected in the biggest segment in the middle.
A few characteristics of vconference.de:
· The most basic feature is the screen sharing, whereby conference participants see whatever is on the presenter's screen.
· The moderator has the possibility to actively engage the participants in the session by making them use different the tools such as answering questions through the YES/NO symbol or applauding or laughing.
· The participants have the possibility to raise their hands and show that they would like to give an input. The headset enables a voice communication between all members. They input could also be made through the live-chat function.
· Whiteboard: This tool is a virtual flipchart. It enables the moderator to develop and idea live on the screen. And the moderator also has the possibility to let all the participants to work simultaneously on the same screen.
· Polls and Tests: The moderator can also get feedback or test the participants through polls or by asking the participants to answer questions.
· Application-Sharing: Through this tool the moderator, who is running an application (WORD, EXCEL, etc.) on his own PC can demonstrate the file to the others and he can also give the others the authority to cooperatively edit or modify the file.
· Web-Safari: It is similar to application-sharing except that the application is the Web-Browser.
In last part of the session all of us were divided into random groups and had to work on a small assignment with vconference.de. It was strange in the beginning and everybody just started to write what he or she thought about the question without communicating. Then gradually we started using the chat and the other tools to find out how we could optimise our answers.
Mr. Ress mentioned that many firms were already working with this tool. The main purpose till now has been to overcome the geographical barrier.
Cost
An organisation has to pay 25’000.- EUR for a lifetime licence with CENTRA and 2’000.- EUR for a lifetime membership for a user.
My experience
Even though I am using such a product for the first time, the user-friendly interface and tools of the vconference.de made me feel very comfortable during the web-conferencing session.
It is certainly perfect for companies who are spread around the world and need to be in constant contact with each other. The challenge lies in fostering a culture where all the employees are motivated to work and communicate through web tools.
Such tools also enable the new human resources approach of enabling the employee to work when and from where they want to.
It’s also a very interesting tool for the student's world since it could enable us to participate in the sessions without being physically present at the university. Last semester Prof. Hilb had pre-recorded all the lectures on Personnel Management on a CD and we had the possibility to consume them when ever and where ever we wanted to. This made our (and his) time schedule flexible and we had the opportunity to refer to his contributions repeatedly.
It would be also interesting to use such a tool in my private life as well. My group suggested that we should have all our team meetings through live conferencing. We do have the opportunity in this class but otherwise the cost of the product is a dilemma. From what I have heard Microsoft will be launching it new Operating System soon, which will have similar tools integrated in it. And I hope it will be more price-friendly for the “small” users.
Lets wait and watch!!!!
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Thursday, 11. May 2006
ligi kodiyat, 13:43h
Who will win the FIFA World Cup '06?
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05.05.06 Workplace E-Collaboration
ligi kodiyat, 03:10h
Today’s topic was workplace e-collaboration
Gartner says that by 2010, 70 percent of the population in developed nations will spend 10 times longer per day interacting with people in the electronic world…..that sounds a bit unexciting at the first go…..as if everybody is going to build their own world around them and u could talk to the only through some electronic device!!! No PERSONAL connections!!!
Per definition “E-Collaboration is the process of two or more (dis-located) people working together on a common purpose or goal where the participants are committed and inter-dependent and work in a common context using shared resources, supported by (web-based) electronic tools. ”
So in an organisation the purpose is more to inter-link and support people in their daily work so that they can work effectively and efficiently within and across the organisation.
Prof. Back showed us the importance of workplace e-collaboration by placing it in the St. Galler Business Engineering Model.
We will be focussing on the e-collaboration tools Teamrooms, Instant Messaging and Live Conferencing.
Teamrooms
This is a tool for information sharing and collaboration. By creating a shared context for teamwork, Teamroom creates leverage both for the individuals on the team and for the team as a whole. Because the technology is built on a group sharing platform, the context is richer and the leverage is greater than is typically possible by sending an e-mail or saving a file in a shared directory. Teamroom also support teams whose members are geographically distributed, and who are sometimes unable to access their computer network.
These are some well know Teamroom providers:
- Lotus Quickplace
- Teamspace.de der 5Point Ag
- Basecamp
All the groups were given access to their personal Teamrooms so that they we could get first hand experience by working on our assignments with this tool. I have never used one before so I was curious…We all logged on to our Teamrooms and personalized our identities…..Jing, Fabian and me will be using a service called Teamspace. I could put in my pic and fill in information such as address, telephone number, and so on…..then we have different services such as a pinboard for short messages, e-mail, sms, calendar, chat, milestones and so forth…..till now the tool has been really user friendly….but I have to admit that I haven’t used it much either!!!
Instant Messaging
This is a tool that enables you to create a kind of a private chat room with another individuals in order to communicate in real time over the Internet. It’s similar to a telephone conversation but using text-based communication. Typically, the instant messaging system alerts you whenever somebody on your private list is online.
These are some well known Instant Messaging providers:
- Skype
- ICQ
- Microsoft Live Communications Server
I do not use Skype too often anymore because Cablecom offers free telephone service in the evenings!!! But it is a really good service to talk to people in foreign destinations or to be actually able to see the people as your communicating with them. Even though instant messaging is a very practical tool I have the feeling that it could develop into a problem in case it starts constraining the privacy of the people using it. Prof. Back also mentioned that organisations still have a conservative approach towards this tool because the safety of the transferred data is not ensured yet.
Live-Conferencing
This tool is similar to a forum, an area in a bulletin board or online service in which participants can meet to discuss a topic of common interest.
These are some of the well known providers:
- Saba
- Microsoft Office Live Meeting
- IBM Lotus Sametime
Prof. Back demonstrated a stunning example. She presented a live management seminar to her students in St. Gallen from an institute in Orlando. The students could see and hear her teaching, watch the slides, give comments, discuss, etc.
So will we need our classrooms anymore??? Now that looks like the FUTURE!!!!
Gartner says that by 2010, 70 percent of the population in developed nations will spend 10 times longer per day interacting with people in the electronic world…..that sounds a bit unexciting at the first go…..as if everybody is going to build their own world around them and u could talk to the only through some electronic device!!! No PERSONAL connections!!!
Per definition “E-Collaboration is the process of two or more (dis-located) people working together on a common purpose or goal where the participants are committed and inter-dependent and work in a common context using shared resources, supported by (web-based) electronic tools. ”
So in an organisation the purpose is more to inter-link and support people in their daily work so that they can work effectively and efficiently within and across the organisation.
Prof. Back showed us the importance of workplace e-collaboration by placing it in the St. Galler Business Engineering Model.
We will be focussing on the e-collaboration tools Teamrooms, Instant Messaging and Live Conferencing.
Teamrooms
This is a tool for information sharing and collaboration. By creating a shared context for teamwork, Teamroom creates leverage both for the individuals on the team and for the team as a whole. Because the technology is built on a group sharing platform, the context is richer and the leverage is greater than is typically possible by sending an e-mail or saving a file in a shared directory. Teamroom also support teams whose members are geographically distributed, and who are sometimes unable to access their computer network.
These are some well know Teamroom providers:
- Lotus Quickplace
- Teamspace.de der 5Point Ag
- Basecamp
All the groups were given access to their personal Teamrooms so that they we could get first hand experience by working on our assignments with this tool. I have never used one before so I was curious…We all logged on to our Teamrooms and personalized our identities…..Jing, Fabian and me will be using a service called Teamspace. I could put in my pic and fill in information such as address, telephone number, and so on…..then we have different services such as a pinboard for short messages, e-mail, sms, calendar, chat, milestones and so forth…..till now the tool has been really user friendly….but I have to admit that I haven’t used it much either!!!
Instant Messaging
This is a tool that enables you to create a kind of a private chat room with another individuals in order to communicate in real time over the Internet. It’s similar to a telephone conversation but using text-based communication. Typically, the instant messaging system alerts you whenever somebody on your private list is online.
These are some well known Instant Messaging providers:
- Skype
- ICQ
- Microsoft Live Communications Server
I do not use Skype too often anymore because Cablecom offers free telephone service in the evenings!!! But it is a really good service to talk to people in foreign destinations or to be actually able to see the people as your communicating with them. Even though instant messaging is a very practical tool I have the feeling that it could develop into a problem in case it starts constraining the privacy of the people using it. Prof. Back also mentioned that organisations still have a conservative approach towards this tool because the safety of the transferred data is not ensured yet.
Live-Conferencing
This tool is similar to a forum, an area in a bulletin board or online service in which participants can meet to discuss a topic of common interest.
These are some of the well known providers:
- Saba
- Microsoft Office Live Meeting
- IBM Lotus Sametime
Prof. Back demonstrated a stunning example. She presented a live management seminar to her students in St. Gallen from an institute in Orlando. The students could see and hear her teaching, watch the slides, give comments, discuss, etc.
So will we need our classrooms anymore??? Now that looks like the FUTURE!!!!
... link (1 Kommentar) ... comment
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