Has this site helped you collaborate?

[Rob Duncan]

Hi Folks,

I am doing some research into whether online social networks like this one have helped people collaborate more effectively with their peers. Could you please share some of your experiences, for example:

1. Have you met valuable new contacts through this site?

2. Have you been able to collaborate on specific problems through this site?

3. Have you been aided by the discussions on this site?

4. Any other ways this site has improved your ability to perform your profession?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and stories! I would like to possibly include some anecdotes in my doctoral thesis and some upcoming presentations about collaborative innovation, and will disguise the responses accordingly. Cheers.. Rob

[Tadeusz Lemańczyk]

I'd like to thank you, Rob, for this discussion. Online social networks like this one really help people collaborate with each other in many various ways. So far, in my case, it is mostly the third question asked by you - as an enthusiast of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) I've recommended six times discussions on this site to my Polish students enrolled this semester in my blended course Information security ( http://triton.cs.put.poznan.pl/platon/files/opisyPrzedmiotow/ib_dzi... ): Bezpieczeństwo informacji nie tylko w systemach teleinformatycznych ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bi/forum/topics/bezpieczenstwo-informa... ), Praktycy bezpieczeństwa informacji ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bi/forum/topics/praktycy-bezpieczenstwa ), Naturalna potrzeba zabezpieczania informacji ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bi/forum/topics/naturalna-potrzeba ), Pojmowanie wyrazu "tajemnica" ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bi/forum/topics/pojmowanie-wyrazu-taje... ) [Thanks again, Sally], Więcej niż bezpieczeństwo przemysłowe ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bi/forum/topics/wiecej-niz-bezpieczenstwo ), Kontrwywiadowcza samoobrona przedsiębiorstwa ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bi/forum/topics/kontrwywiadowcza-samoo... ). I'm looking forward to their enrollment within two years in the English-speaking concentration Technology for Information Protection: hence I've just begun to prepare for them e-courses Introduction to Biometric Security ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bs ), Biometric Security standards ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bss ), Biometric Security products ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bsp ), Biometric Security applications ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bsa )? Who of you wish to collaborate with me in preparation of these four e-courses? Whom of you could I assist in teaching your students in return?

Best,
Tad

[Nimalan]

Hi Rob

Thank you for this post. We mostly tend to take things for granted but when I started looking at where I would be if I had not see this site, then there is a huge list:

For me it would be 1,3, and 4. I have not collaborated on specific issues.. maybe just one or two.

1 - Yes. Quite a lot of people I now know and correspond with.

3. Yes. It was through this site and the discussions that I came to know about courses offering CI and it was here that I first heard about Mercyhurst (thanks to Ellen Naylor). I have also sought the opinion of lot of other members on this forum regarding my future aspirations in the field of CI.

4. Introduced me to new concepts and trends. Helped me come up with value adding widgets in our reports to clients.

The list can go on but I have gained a lot and especially this has broadened my perspective on CI.

Hope this helps
Nimalan

[Alan S. Michaels]

1. Have you met valuable new contacts through this site? Yes
2. Have you been able to collaborate on specific problems through this site? Yes
3. Have you been aided by the discussions on this site? Yes
4. Any other ways this site has improved your ability to perform your profession? Yes, specifically:
- Forced me to think through the value of spending time on this Ning versus
a) Spending time on other Nings, including our own corporate planning and global marketing Ning at eCompetitors
b) Spending time on LinkedIn, including LinkedIn Groups, including the SCIP LinkedIn Group
c) Spending time on our own website and blog
d) Spending time doing my job (global research)

Bottom line: this Ning is best Ning I've participated in - it's great; and I find myself checking in at least once a day. It seems to me that Nings will make blogs less relevant, although they both have their place.

[Heather Disher]

Hi Rob, this site has definately helped me not just in the actual world but also knowing that there are people only a click away I can ask questions of, people who understand the language I am using. I have also met many wonderful international people that I normally won't be able to know unless I talked with them at conferences but by the time you catch up with people who you already know it becomes more difficult to met new people. The discussions are sometimes helpful and sometimes not but that's the beauty of this network you get to see it all so at any given time you can take out of the site what you need while still being able to contribute. Just knowing that the people on this site are specilists in the same field is worth being part of - how could you not learn or be able to teach within this forum. I love it!