By Beth J. Bates, New Media Special Correspondent

If you are one of the coveted few who received Google Wave invitations and you still don’t get it – you’re not alone. I recently received my invitation and gleefully logged in, ready to roll. Once I logged in I thought… huh? On first glance, Google Wave looks like a new type of email client. But it’s much more.

Google Wave provides a collaborative environment where teams can collaborate on documents in real-time. More important, they can collaborate on the same version of the document without the worry of multiple versions floating around via email.

Google Wave is most effective when you have several connections that can contribute to your wave. So, if you are part of the small beta group of testers, you may not have other connections to collaborate on your wave.

Confused yet?

In a nutshell, Google Wave is a real-time collaborative tool that:

• In most instances, enables you to see what someone else is typing in real-time.
• Enables developers to build apps and widgets, so its functionality is pretty extensible.
• Can be embedded on any blog or website.
• Allows files to be shared via drag and drop.

While we all muddle through this new tool, we need to understand that Wave wasn’t meant to be understood instantly. Expect to take some time to familiarize yourself with the tool, its use and others that you might connect with.

The good news? There are many professionals paving the way to help us better understand Google Wave:

• Google Wave (Not) For Dummies
• The Complete Guide to Google Wave
• Trying to Understand Google Wave

Is Google Wave going to transform your business? Not in the short term. But it’s a tool with enough potential that it could change the way groups collaborate in the future. For this reason, it’s worth investigating sooner than later.

Beth J. Bates consults with Hinge on social media tool selection and strategy and helps its clients find effective ways to leverage these new mediums to meet business goals.

Virtual worlds are starting to break real ground on the educational / e-learning scene but some of the costs associated with 2nd Life have made it a little prohibitive – OpenSim is the answer with FREE virtual world capability.

There are a few things that I love about the concept of OpenSim – Firstly, it’s free which is always great when you’ve got concerns about price or financial controllers breathing down your neck about expenses.  Secondly, you can exercise a lot more control (for free) by creating your own, self-served simulated world on your hosted server or even run it on a single machine.

A lot of educators have been scared off by the price of starting up on 2nd Life, as well as the risks involved.  Of course, there are costs associated with setting up your own simulation environment (ICT staff, training, customisation if you require purpose built objects and places) – but you don’t have to pay for an island or intangible realestate.

Check out the OpenSim website to learn more!

But how do I use it in my classroom? Here are just a couple of ideas…

• Create educational scenarios (and act them out with virtual avatars)
• Use for vocational training (VET) to simulate the real world – eg gyms, hospitals, hotels, court rooms…
• Use it as an online collaborative space for delivery and discussion
• Pair a simulated scenario with camtasia for a truly unique assessment experience

How do I get started?

You will most likely need to chat with the techies for this one, but if you’re brave or savvy the OpenSim website provides a number of links to YouTube tutes that will get you started.

Got more ideas?  Used virtual environments for education before?
Post your comments!

One of my favourite things is available via the web!  Inspiration mind mapping software (makers of Kidspiration for those who are familiar with the k-12 product) has released a beta version of Inspiration for the web – Webspiration

Fans of the PC/MAC install version will love this new cloud software.  With the capability to collaboratively mind map ideas, processes and charts, this tool provides an invaluable tool for educators and businesses. Mind mapping provides a brainstorming approach to organising concepts, ideas and information into related groupings, generally around a key central idea.

Being from a business background, I love the potential for this tool in online collaborative process re-engineering.

But how do I use it in my classroom? Here are just a couple of ideas…

• Incorporate it into assessments centred around process review and improvement to collaborate, discuss and work on a live version of your document
• Use it online to brainstorm, create ideas, flows, structure assessments
• Use it to collaborate and map out key issues by research and literature reviews

How do I get started?

• Create an account
• link out from your LMS or web page and provide the details to your students so that they can share the experience

Got more ideas?  Post your comments!

Summary in my own terms : Google Wave is an online collaboration media. Actually, its like a conference chat application, the only difference is that “chats” are now called “waves” and can also have videos,docs,pics,gadgets, etc.. and of course, google wave has the most interactive web-based platform I’ve ever seen.  You can have real time multimedia conferencing using wave, where others will see/hear exactly the same thing as you. Well to be frank, I don’t find something very new in google wave, because other applications do exists for the same purpose (though not web-based, and some are not even free like Cisco’s). Anyways, wave is still under development and I only hope more features are added to it with time.

By the way, I have 8 invites of Wave, anyone wants ???

I have recently become a ‘flickr pro’ member and started using groups more meaningfully. It is a social networking site that taps into my unconscious, I feel. Frequently I am surprised to see my own connotations that spring up when presented with a new image uploaded by one of my contacts.

I love the daily flickr newsletter and those previews, the mix of them, 5 in a line maximum per contact, every day a visual treat. They trigger unknown associations in me. I click on the one that makes me most curious when I don’t have much time to explore all of them.

You never know, sometimes it’s light and shadows, details in the background, personal tags that add another layer of meaning, a comment by another viewer that is moving. It’s so intense the dynamic, like being pulled into a narrative that resembles a film. A few images tell a story but the story differs from what the person saw who took the shot which also differs from the real story. Interpretation of the interpretation.

Today, TooSix uploaded a simple neonsign saying Kreuzberg – the part in Berlin where I spent nearly 7 years – it made me do what expected least: a German poem-style memory unfolded, I typed without really thinking. I hadn’t been aware this was still living inside me. So fresh. Nothing’s ever lost. Nice. Grateful for the inspiration, thanks TooSix.

Gute alte Zeiten. Sehnsucht. Ratten. Strassenkehrer. Doner Kebap. Best in town. Politische Debatten nach 2 morgens. Ach.
Ein Neon Schild. Nicht mehr. Nicht weniger.

ESADE is all based on team work as we all know. However ESADE makes sure that the team work is not perfectly smooth and forms teams of 6-8 team members instead of the efficient 3-5. ESADE also ensures that the cultural and professional backgrounds are very diverse to make things even more tricky. This is done on purpose in my opinion but it has been extremely beneficial for our learning experience to be confronted with all those difficulties, different opinions, backgrounds, etc..

Another issue with team work is finding the time to meet and having the right tools to collaborate. Google docs and calendar, Yugma, Skype, Msn, etc. have been extremely useful but how about a tool that allows brainstorming for? I am still looking for the program or application that combines all the common online collaboration tools.

AND Google has done it again!!!

Check out the latest product of Google, called “Google Wave“. It is difficult to describe because it seems a little bit like a revolution on the web. It is an open source email service, wiki, blog, chat, collaboration tool, photosharing, IM, etc. in one! You don’t believe me? Have a look at this stunning piece of tool that is currently still in beta but will have an amazing future, of which I am sure! Check it out here.

I am curious what the feelings will be in 2 weeks when the first euphoria has settled but as of now it looks great! Create your own waves!

I got an invite to Google Wave some time back and at the moment about half of my 11 contacts in Wave have engaged in some online collaboration. This was predominantly in 1:1 conversation, so very similar to emailing at this point.

One major exception, though. A wave that started on 6th November, includes in this hour 125 -invited- users (basically by friend’s snow-balling), and discusses the simple question whether Wave will become a success. So, it’s Yes, No or Maybe. Nearly 80 messages and comments have been generated and to me it’s been an excellent way to explore the limited options a little further. Wave Preview is restricted with respect to add- ins and gadgets. Here is a list of Google Wave extensions and Google Wave Robots that we are supposed to be able to use sometime soon (when exactly is still unclear).

Some users within this Wave declared they were getting impatient, this was the main argument people made who thought Wave is not going to be a success. However, this specific wave is managed (so people stay on the topic) and contains some gadgets. New comments are highlighted, in order to trace back when a wave was started and what was said by whom there is a playback menu, which also allows to toggle between frames and lists a full list of participants of a wave.

So far I find it very interesting to see how much speculation there is and how much misconception – this extends to those users who haven’t engaged in the managed wave. It seems the lack of communication provided by Google within Wave feeds into pessimism and the lack of time or curiosity to explore options and play equally nurtures the failure some see on the horizon. Those who are not familiar with editing wikis and collaborating in semi-private online spaces argue they want more privacy and control, others claims it’s boring and some said they would only log in to see whether someone had said something to them (which, I admit, made me instantly think about their real life relationships…).

Wave raises interesting questions as to power and control, censorship and regulation – on the micro-level of the individual user. Some seem to be very comfortable talking to anyone who has posted something worth commenting on. Others remain observers – at least they are still listed as such. Users can unfollow any wave, just like in Twitter. There is an option that allows users to tag a wave, so it’s collective tagging which is fun – and can help looking at discussions from a different angle, depending on the users’ expertise and professional background. Now there is also an option to up-and download a wave or copy it to another wave. The latter option made me wonder whether all comments are recognised by users as not copyrighted. Basically, Wave operates as password-protected area but I doubt every user holds the same authorship ethos – attribution may become an issue.

Wave is fast and operates well in Google Chrome but it seems to cause problems in other browsers. So far it has delivered it key promise: to provide the main features of Twitter, Facebook and Wikis, with a few more options and gadgets, this could become my favourite tool of discussion, in particular in combination with Google Docs.

The growth and diffusion of Internet usage is unprecedented. Knowledge exchange and the use of online resources has potential to provide needed improvement in international public health communications.

More and more, international public health field professionals are turning to the Internet as a source of information retrieval. Information that is found is traditionally in the form of explicit knowledge – knowledge that is formally in written text. There is a need to also share tacit knowledge, information residing in the heads of practioners.

Making Tacit Knowledge Explicit

Tacit knowledge is usually unorganized, undocumented and less likely to be captured. But is it is this [informal] knowledge that is essential in capturing different perceptions of studies, situations, implementation methods, challenges, and accomplishments. This knowledge helps add to the knowledge base of others.

Public health workers have the opportunity to contribute to the knowledge base of the Internet, providing first hand knowledge based on experience. In order to manage knowledge, public health workers must become better collaborators (Saint-Onge, Knowledge and Strategy, 1999).

Concerns

First, there is a need to educate people on the how to contribute to sources of knowledge sharing as it relates to their line of work. If this is not accomplished, there could potentially be:

1. slow knowledge of new research and cutting edge technology
2. less peer-to-peer communication
3. less sharing of best practices
4. less interaction among peers in conflicting countries
5. decreased collaborative activity

Solutions

A solution to improving the knowledge base of public health workers in international development would be to implement successful knowledge management practices in program and donor organizations.

The National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales has embarked upon a radical and far-reaching program of change and reform. However, to date the results of organizational quality and service improvement initiatives in the public sector have been mixed, if not to say disappointing, with anticipated gains often failing to materialize or to be sustained in the longer term (Bate and Robert, 2002). Researchers recommended the NHS turn information into knowledge through the use of “collaboratives”. Collaboratives are defined as a social network that provides necessary informal knowledge exchange mechanisms for tacit knowledge flows to occur.

The purpose of KM as a field of research and practice is how to better utilize the knowledge or ‘intellectual capital’ contained in an organization’s network (Cummings, 2001; Stewart, 1997; Teece, 2000).

James Surowiecki points out that many people can give a collective portrait of a situation, issue or disaster. In his book “Wisdom of Crowds,” Surowiecki introduces a simple idea that a large group of people are smarter than an elite few. I suggest this broad concept be considered and integrated in to the international public health field when developing communications and knowledge sharing plans.

Knowledge Management in the Public Sector

The public sector is starting to grasp the importance of harnessing workers’ intellectual capital by implementing knowledge management practices. The national standards body in the UK (British Standards) has identified public sector knowledge management a key area of interest. While knowledge management may have always been in place and just not explicitly mandated, they report that knowledge is a key component of developing policy and providing services.

Efforts have begun to establish social networks in public health in the form of online communities of practice. The WHO, in partnership with USAID has established Implementing Best Practices, a web site that supports online collaboration.

TDC LLC has announced multilingual availability of its revolutionary Online Project Management and Collaboration suite PMP HQ.

As its answer to model globalization trends and to meet growing demand for online project management solution for multinational teams TDC LLC introduced multilingual interface for its revolutionary online project management and collaboration suit – PMP HQ. PMP HQ availability in English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, German and many other languages will help teams worldwide boost their productivity, simplify collaboration, improve operation visibility and help project managers get full control of their projects.

“Software as a Service (SaaS) offering PMP HQ is almost the only online project management software available in so many languages,” said Marina Brounova, Chief Marketing Officer of TDC LLC, the creator of PMP HQ. “In global economy language barriers are one of few obstacles which reduce productivity of distributed teams. Availability of multilingual support in online project management and collaboration tools like PMP HQ will help people from different countries benefit from affordability and effectiveness of our solution.”

PMP HQ is available as on demand service with monthly and annual subscription options. With simple pricing model without “per user” or “per project” charges and plans starting at just $19.00 per month, PMP HQ is an affordable and attractive alternative to costly in-house deployments.

For more information about PMP HQ please visit http://www.pmphq.com.
For online demo please visit: http://www.pmphq.com/demo/

How do you ensure a product still in development catches fire come launch-time?

Keep things largely under wraps, while simultaneously spilling a bunch of the beans.

A neat trick that takes finesse to pull off; one recent example is the rollout of Google Wave.

Limiting who gets to test drive

Not quite ready for prime time, there’s already gobs of chatter about the Wave, which is in limited preview. You must be asked to give it a test drive.

Invitees include developers and influentials — tech writers and bloggers being a big block here — who are in turn allowed to ask 20 additional individuals to join the fold.

Google’s tactic of limiting who gets a preliminary trial ensures invitees are quick to spread the word. To clue people in on the Wave, of course, but also, it’s an opportunity to infer, without really saying so, “I’m one of the chosen people.”  It’s a status symbol.

Anyone can peek under the hood

You can get a gander of the product by visiting the About Google Wave web site.

The site includes a long (80 minute) video presentation, originally given to developers, about this new collaborative communications platform that appears to be a souped-up combination of email, chat, photo sharing and other social media tools, with considerable real-time capability.

FYI, you don’t need to watch the video all the way through. The first part has demos and explanations in plain English. The rest is for developers who may want to build apps and other tools to work with the Wave.

If you’re not into tech talk stop after the first segment: You’ll still see what the ruckus is about.

Buzz builds

Meanwhile, buzz about Google Wave continues to build.

Mashable and TechCrunch have guides to the product. Lots of journalists and bloggers, including Mr. Web 2.0 himself, Tim O’Reilly, are getting the word out.

Computerworld claims the Wave is indeed innovative, but wonders if it’s truly useful in the real world.

As yet another tantalizer, you can request an invitation to Google Wave.

Follow the leader

Few businesses have a footprint as big a Google, where this kind of rollout has such immense impact.

No matter, you can still follow the leader. Here are the basic steps.

• Unveil your upcoming product to select influentials. This group includes members of the media (both traditional and social media), prominent existing and/or potential customers, people who will eventually market your product, and others who communicate to audiences that can derive benefit from your product.
• Inform invitees of their exclusive status.
• Tell the general public you are giving pre-launch test drives to invited individuals (to elevate the status factor even more).
• Post limited information about your new product, that anyone can view, showing how it works. The “you can look but not touch” approach creates anticipation and desire.
• Tell invited influentials you are not simply looking for free PR, but want authentic feedback on how they perceive the product.
• Listen to and absorb the feedback, both positive and negative.
• Dangle a carrot to the uninvited indicating that you might let them take the product for a spin.
• Gradually increase the number of invitees.
• Launch product and watch the sparks fly.

Time will tell if Google Wave is a tsunami (or not).

Until then, the fire lighting up public interest continues to burn.

- Deni Kasrel

Have you heard about Google Wave? Are you one of the chosen few who gets to test the Wave? What do you think about Goggle’s limited preview? Can you see it working for other products? Please offer your thoughts. Comments welcome.

TDC LLC has announced the public availability of its revolutionary Online Project Management and Collaboration suite PMP HQ.

PMP HQ provides small and medium size businesses with an innovative new way for online project management and collaboration by combining a comprehensive project management suite with an arsenal of collaboration tools including wiki, file sharing, version control integration and much more.

“PMP HQ will improve and simplify the way in which people work together,” said Marina Brounova, Chief Marketing Officer of TDC LLC, the creator of PMP HQ. “Bringing together several project management and collaboration tools PMP HQ provides company executives, project managers and team members with a new visibility to the project. We expect PMP HQ to make its contribution to global productivity growth as it will be adopted by millions of users over the years to come.”

Using PMP HQ Web 2.0 online service companies will no longer need to make complex in-house deployments and investments in IT infrastructure and staff. By moving project management and collaboration tools to the online cloud enterprises would be able to focus more on their core business making it more robust and efficient.

PMP HQ , the Next Step in Online Project Management Software, has introduced new standard to the online collaboration and project management software and will change the way people collaborate.

For more information about PMP HQ please visit http://www.pmphq.com.
For online demo please visit: http://www.pmphq.com/demo/

Time will tell if Google Wave is a lot of hype, or the real thing. It does look like Google’s making a serious push to grab an entire new branch of online communication.

From the link:

The Web search giant is hoping that software developers far and wide will create tools that work in conjunction with Wave, making an already multifaceted service even more useful. Google (GOOG) is even likely to let programmers sell their applications through an online bazaar akin to Apple’s App Store, the online marketplace for games and other applications designed for the iPhone. “We’ll almost certainly build a store,” Lars Rasmussen, the Google software engineering manager who directs the 60-person team in Sydney, Australia, that created Wave, told BusinessWeek.com. “So many developers have asked us to build a marketplace—and we might do a revenue-sharing arrangement.”

Combining instant messaging, e-mail, and real-time collaboration, Wave is an early form of so-called real-time communication designed to make it easier for people to work together or interact socially over the Internet. Google started letting developers tinker with Wave at midyear and then introduced the tool on a trial basis to about 100,000 invited users starting on Sept. 30. Invitations were such a hot commodity that they were being sold on eBay (EBAY). For Google the hope is that Wave, once it’s more widely available, will replace competing communications services such as e-mail, instant messaging, and possibly even social networks such as Facebook.

The beta-test review copies of Google Wave dropped today (and, no I didn’t get an invite). Here’s two very early reports from CIO.com on what may end up being an actual paradigm shift in web communication.

First up is five reasons to use Wave.

From the link, here’s reason number three:

3.     Real-time Sharing and Collaboration. Arguably the most compelling aspect of Google Wave is the real-time collaboration functionality. Wave participants can comment inline and the statements are accompanied by the user’s avatar and a timestamp allowing you to easily identify who said what, when. Users can see text appear in the wave as it is being typed- even as they typo and backspace to correct the text. Wave participants can view and edit the same content at the same time-collaborating in real-time. Even cooler is the Playback function which allows new participants who just joined the wave to play the wave stream back post by post. They can add comments and edit text as they go through the stream and get caught up on their own schedule so they can join the real-time conversation.

And next is how Wave fits into the web 2.0 world of social networking and how it’s going to affect Twitter and Facebook.

From the link:

Google Inc. today released a review copy of its upcoming Google Wave collaboration and communication tool to about 100,000 users and developers. The Web-based application is designed to consolidate features from e-mail, instant messaging, blogging, wikis, multimedia management and document sharing, while offering a variety of social networking features.

Analysts call Google Wave the latest, and possibly the most comprehensive, entrant into a burgeoning social networking business that is still largely made up of hot newcomers that have made a strong name for themselves, but are still far from profitable .

Thus Google, with its marketing clout and hip name , may have a good shot at disrupting the likes of Facebook and Twitter, noted Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group.

“This represents a displacement threat for everybody,” Enderle said. “Everybody in this space — Twitter, Facebook and MySpace — is nervous at the moment. If they’re not nervous, then they’re missing the memo. The market hasn’t settled and when it’s not settled, then something like Wave could come in and make headway.”

Facebook and MySpace declined comment on Google Wave. Twitter couldn’t be reached.