Colleges need to step it up. As a recent college grad, I see academia’s sluggish embrace of technological innovation as a disservice to my fellow students. Today’s job market has suffered in these tough economic times, but employers still seek workers who can gather information, assess it and act. Those in the workforce already rely on the web-based information-gathering tools daily, but if you’re currently enrolled in undergraduate college classes, you probably don’t even know they exist.
Are Students Helpless?
The three universities that surround us here at MetaSpring, the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and Washtenaw Community College, are valued assets to the Ann Arbor community. As a recent grad from the U of M, I consulted my network for a comprehensive view of the issue at hand.
An informal poll of 15 of my peers (college seniors or recent grads from assorted majors) revealed that only one was happy with their exposure to Web 2.0 tools. All reported some experience with web-based database systems in which professors and instructors could post powerpoints and class-related articles, but when it comes to utilizing Google’s research tools or implementing keyword tracking programs for crowdsourcing, most students draw a blank. (Unless those students are Computer Science majors or programming wizards.) When Web 2.0 or new media did come up in liberal arts or business classes, it was discussed by students rather than an instructor. A professional’s insight can make a big difference.
Let’s take a step back and discuss a few terms I’ve been throwing around so far.
- Web 2.0 – This term refers to the current generation of the Internet wherein websites provide applications facilitating interactive information sharing with a user-centered design. A few examples include online social networks (Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube), wikis, blogs, GoogleDocs, etc. Web 2.0 tools are those you’ll hear about in today’s offices.
- Web 3.0 – This concept is a semantic term denoting the next phase of internet programming that some are calling “the intelligent web”. Think artificial intelligence technologies.
- Crowdsourcing – Basically defined as a group problem-solving model in which a problem is broadcast to a group or online community with the hopes that a flood of ideas comes back. There are many approaches to crowdsourcing, but the ultimate goal is to consult the insights of many. Web tools are able to expedite the crowdsourcing process.
- New Media – Everyone has their own definition of “New Media”, but I like to think of it as any technology that is used in innovative and creative ways. Sure social media marketing falls in this category, but so do Apple’s thousands of apps, along with thousands of other widgets you can find online. In my definition, Web 2.0 tools are included in New Media.
Students & Professors: Divergent Viewpoints
Jason Spector, a master of crowdsourcing ideas, is in the process of authoring two works on the subject and proved to be a great consult for this topic. When I came to him with the question about Web 2.0 in the classroom, he presented a unique perspective that identified the conflict of viewpoints that bog down the Web 2.0 education.
As an example, let’s consider the typical business class at Eastern Michigan University. Students casually bump into Web 2.0 daily, yet they rarely reflect on the business principles that the various networks and applications provide. Professors and instructors on the other hand are well-versed in business, but probably not as much in social media. “It’s when they meet in the middle to collaborate where the true education begins,” explains Jason.
But Don’t Blame the Professors
Wait, so all professors are stuffy, unhip, old lecturers? Not quite. Most professors crowdsource and research like any marketing guru or investment banker. Professors at the University of Michigan and many other institutions are encouraged (required actually) to publish regularly. Clearly, staying up on new trends is pretty important. So why isn’t Web 2.0 used in the classroom more often?
For that answer I talked to Scott Moore, Associate Professor at the U of M Ross School of Business, who has put together a course called, “Web-based Information Resources”. I was invited to look over the syllabus for the class (appropriately found at HowCanIFindIt.com) and was pleasantly surprised.
After a semester with Professor Moore, students know how to use search engines at an in-depth level. They understand the exceptional value of informational technologies. They can find blogs, podcasts and email alerts. They can assemble their own applications to assess information. To borrow a phrase directly from the syllabus: “This course is about finding information on the Web and having it delivered to you with a minimum of effort.” Music to my ears.
A Matter of Missed Opportunities
So, it’s clear that a majority of students feel they are missing out when it comes to career preparation and information-gathering. This concern is important to college co-eds because they feel that their future employers will demand certain web-related capabilities. Although most students and young people are perceived as knowledgeable users of Web 2.0, their professors and instructors are not teaching them how to apply these tools with a career in mind. There are some professors forging ahead with classes exploring New Media and the internet’s business tools, but there’s more room to improve.
Where Can We Improve?
Focus Expectations On Course Selection
It’s easy to point the finger at the faculty and administrators of our universities when it comes to this dearth of Web 2.0 knowledge. I may have even cast colleges as the villain to open this post. But in many ways, the students share the blame. Students can learn about Web 2.0 in some courses, but shouldn’t expect Twitter tutelage in all of them.
Require Courses for Graduation
To expedite this adoption of Web 2.0 technologies, I’d like to see web-related courses become mandatory for graduation. Classes like Professor Moore’s will prove to be invaluable in the workplace, so why not require students to fill three credit hours of Web 2.0 instruction in order to graduate. This will also help faculty and administrators become familiar with Web 2.0 and it’s academic worth, sweeping in a relevancy many students yearn for.
Introduce Timely Material
One of the most common exclamations heard after students walk out of an exam is, “When am I ever going to need that stuff?!” It’s time to add timely issues to curriculum. Merely knowing about Twitter and Facebook is not enough. I contend that exposure to Web 2.0 and web development stimulates the creative process. Classes exploring web-based tools should be thought of as a career prep.
Tomorrow’s leaders and thinkers must be aware of the big picture when making decisions. An important part of this picture is how to harness the Internet with answers to questions like, “How does a website work?” or “How can we best market this launch?” Web development is racing ahead these days and before we know it, Web 3.0 will be here. Students attend college to receive preparation for future endeavors. Traditionally, this preparation has included topics like algebra or economics, but an understanding of Web 2.0 tools has become just as critical.
Additional Reading
If you’re looking for a few ways to enact change in your classroom, here’s a helpful chat transcript from Poynter.com: How to make changes in curriculum.
So, where do you stand? Did you have the opportunity to learn about Web 2.0 tools in your collegiate curriculum? Was it enough? Let us know in the comments!
How about a little love for the guys and girls behind the scenes, eh? After celebrating some great web design posts last month, we’re turning the focus to Web Development for this edition of the MetaSpring Blog Carnival. So let’s get right to it!
The Trouble with Soft Delete
“Soft delete is a commonly used pattern amongst data-driven business applications”, but as Richard Dingwall points out in this post, “[soft delete] usually ends up causing more harm than good.” Richard outlines the various pros and cons of soft delete and offers a few solutions for those struggling with implementations of the pattern.
Scaling Rails – On The Edge – Part 1
This is the first of three screencasts by Greg Pollack in which he explores nine new Ruby and Rails libraries which can help you to scale your rails application. This first post deals with three tools: Bullet, Rails Indexes, & Scrooge. The content covered in these posts is easy to discern for all levels of Ruby development.
behavior: a Rails gem/plugin for storing application configuration in the database
Paul Campbell from Pabcas.com put together this post highlighting the advantages of a new Rails gem/plugin that he’s pushed out called “behavior”. Paul worked on the Rails Development Directory and developed behavior as a solution to storing issues that came up. As Paul writes, “It is useful to store site title, description, email address, passwords, etc. outside the source code.” Behavior does this with a Yaml configuration file. Installation instructions can be found at the end of Paul’s post on his website.
We Can Have Hack Free CSS With the @unsupported Directive
This forward-thinking post by Chris Eppstein discusses a feature for CSS that does not yet exist. Chris makes his plea to CSS3, requesting an @unsupported directive, which would provide benefits like “Feature Queries” and legacy browser targeting.
Top 15+ Best Practices for Writing Super Readable Code
The developers here at MetaSpring take great pride in well written, succinct code. (MetaSpring programming Architect, John Ku took this concept to the extreme a few months back in a post about Ruby Quines.) Now, Burak Guzel’s post urging developers to write highly readable code will continue that theme, because as Burak says, “readable and maintainable code is something to be proud of in a finished product.”
Top 20+ MySQL Best Practices
Burak Guzel is so good that we had to feature another of his posts! This time Burak covers a few MySQL optimization techniques. Burak walks through a step-by-step process for structuring tables properly, writing optimized queries and assembling better code. This 21 point plan for making optimized web applications is a great read for any programmer.
Next Month’s Issue: Usability
Thanks to all those that submitted blog posts this month. Hopefully you learned as much as we did. Next month’s theme is one that gets discussed a lot in both the world of development and design: Usability. Usability issues are at the forefront of many projects these days, so we’re sure to have a great batch of links. The deadline for submissions on BlogCarnival.com or through our email is January 17th. If you have a usability-related post or a suggestion for a topic that you’d like to see discussed, make sure to let us know at media@metaspring.com.
Happy Holidays!
Remember the first day of school? When the teacher would have the entire class regale each other with tales from their summer vacations? Well, we’re admittedly a bit far into the fall semester for that analogy, but hey, if the shoe fits…
We’ve certainly had a busy summer at MetaSpring - bringing on several new staff members and moving into our great new office space. In between those big changes, we’ve been working really hard on some awesome projects that we’d like to share with you now.
Ashcom Technologies
Ashcom Technologies, a software development company out of Ann Arbor, was ready for a fresh identity on the web and we were happy to help! They develop a family of maintenance management software packages to help companies run more efficiently. We worked with them to integrate a custom CMS solution to meet their specific needs.
What we did:
- Web Design
- HTML / CSS Templating
- Custom Content Management System
- Scheduling widget to manage training class schedules
Acheson Builders
Acheson Builders came to MetaSpring looking for a web presence that truly represented the Acheson ethos and showcased the quality of work they do. Working closely with Acheson, we were able to create a website that showcases their talent and allows the work to speak for itself.
What we did:
- Web Design
- HTML / CSS Templating
- WordPress Blog Integration
- Custom Photo Gallery
The Fairy Godmother’s Blog
Susan Fenters Lerch, President & CEO of the Make-a-Wish-Foundation of Michigan, is known to many as the Fairy Godmother. Very much a child at heart, she lives each day with the goal of bringing joy to the people around her. The Make-a-Wish Foundation came to us looking for a blog design that would allow Susan to reach the public and evoke the characteristics of traditional fairy tale godmothers.
What we did:
- Web Design - Worked with their existing site template and branding to create a fun and friendly design for the Fairy Godmother’s Blog
- WordPress Integration
EveryMeeting.com
EveryMeeting’s goal is to make marketing meetings easier for professional meeting organizers by creating a centralized hub of events that users can easily search by interest. MetaSpring designed and developed the system from the ground up to accomplish these goals and remain adaptable for future development.
What we did:
- Web Design
- HTML / CSS Templating
- User Interface Design
- Custom Ruby On Rails Web Application
Amish Furniture Home - Design & Decor Blog
Amish Furniture Home, part of the Amish Tables family of websites, needed to better communicate the hand-crafted, quality nature of the products they discussed on their blog and we were happy to oblige!
What we did:
- Refreshed their existing blog design to give it a more custom, hand-crafted look and feel
- HTML / CSS Modifications
- Customized their existing WordPress installation to optimize usability
NNDC MoodBook
The National Network of Depression Centers wanted to create a site where their researchers from around the world could share their work in a collaborative environment. Utilizing the Scientific Collaborative Framework developed at Harvard University, we put together a clean and elegant design with the flexibility of the Drupal CMS to create a site that they could easily maintain internally.
What we did:
- Web Design
- HTML / CSS Templating
- Integration with a customized Drupal CMS installation utilizing the Scientific Collaboration Framework
E.W. Lynch
And last but certainly not least, the blogging home of our very own, multi-talented, Director of Operations, Eric Lynch! When he’s not here at MetaSpring directing ALL of our operations, Eric can be found hunched over his drafting table, hard at work on the latest issue of his graphic novel.
What we did:
- Web Design
- HTML / CSS Templating
- Customized WordPress installation with Twitter integration and Photo Gallery
More, Coming Soon…
We’re already well into the Fall quarter now, with a number of exciting launches fast approaching. If you’d like to keep up to date with all of our new launches and other MetaNews, follow us on Twitter @MetaSpring!
Welcome to the first ever MetaSpring Blog Carnival! Over the last few weeks, we asked our readers to submit their favorite blog posts for inclusion in our new monthly Blog Carnival and we received a ton of great submissions - much thanks to everyone who participated!
For our first Carnival, we thought we’d keep it varied, so the following batch of posts span across the topics of link building, web design and development, social media and search engine optimization. We’ve already started to receive submissions for next month’s carnival (which will focus on web design) - so make sure to submit your post soon!
Design and Development
All the way from Northern Ireland, freelance web designer, Lee Munroe, shares some neat CSS 3 tricks and explains why he thinks Internet Explorer Users Don’t Care About Rounded Corners. It’s a bold statement, but somebody had to say it!
Steve Hamilton of Ann Arbor’s own, Nology Design, sent in a bit of advice for those seeking to build a website in his post, I Need a Website, What Do I Do Now?. Steve stresses the need for in-depth planning and scope definition and provides some noteworthy advice on ROI expectations.
Next up, John Laugherton presents his Top 50 Web Design Resource Blogs. I know - a list of recommended blogs within a list of recommended blogs - how very meta of us!
Another great post from Lee Munroe highlights 21 iPhone integrated websites to get your creative momentum flowing - Web Design Trends: iPhones.
Social Media
Our friend Jason Spector sends in this post entitled, The Twitter Elevator Pitch: Rethinking Your Social Bio. Jason explains how elevator pitches falls short in this world of social media and how your social bio can represent your elevator pitch, personal brand, and more.
Our friends over at Simply Zesty, a social media marketing company in Ireland, discuss the concept of Virtually Dressing for Success. Could avatar dress codes be in our near future?
Jody Fransch broke down the statistics from the September “Did You Know?” video in her post, The Media World Is Changing Fast! The “Did You Know?” series reveals eye-opening internet and tech-related factoids in a short, quirky format.
Writing Effectively
Evan Gould’s cleverly titled post, Five Ways to Write Blog Posts without Writing, offers a few tools and techniques to get you started on that next blog post. That old writer’s block excuse isn’t going to work after reading this.
In the last few years, we’ve heard it over and over - “content is king,” but Larry Brooks, guest author for CopyBlogger thinks that king is dead and a new one has taken the thrown. Why Content is No Longer King (And Who’s Taking His Place) offers insight as to how context usurped the crown.
Patricia F. Anderson, another Ann Arborite, was kind enough to share this post urging you to Consider Your Content. She runs down the why, where, when, who, and how of generating content for social media profiles and other forums around the web.
Link Building
Here’s a vlog from Welly Mulia titled, “Backlink Analysis Using Free Tools“. Welly has documented a few practices to save you time and money when it comes to analyzing your domain’s backlinks. The video is a tad long, but I’ve got some bookmarks for you - he covers the Yahoo! backlink tool from 5:00-13:00, and the SEO Quake Firefox plugin is covered from 13:00-24:00.
Posting guides on eHow is a great way to build links back to your site in a natural, and helpful way - and you can even make a little money in the process. Brian shares his tricks in his guide: Increase SERP Rank on eHow.
Next Month’s Issue: Web Design
Thanks for checking out MetaSpring’s first ever Blog Carnival - be sure to check out next month’s issue on Web Design. If you have a design post you’d like to share, submissions will be accepted through November 15.
If there is a specific theme that you’d like to see covered, email us with your request at media@metaspring.com.
MetaSpring is excited to announce a new feature coming soon to our blog - on the fourth Friday of every month, we’ll be posting the MetaSpring Web Marketing & Development Blog Carnival!
What’s a Blog Carnival?
A blog carnival is a type of blog event (thanks, Wikipedia!) that can be easily compared to print magazines - they’re published on a regularly scheduled basis, they revolve around a central topic, and they usually contain content from multiple sources.
Blog carnivals allow authors to provide regular collections of recently published, high quality resources. This helps to raise the standard of information being generated on a topic and encourages thought leaders in niche web communities.
In addition to MetaSpring’s carnival, you can find a wide range of carnivals, or even start your own, at BlogCarnival.
The MetaSpring Carnival
The MetaSpring Carnival will be posted every fourth Friday of the month.
If you’d like to submit your post for inclusion, entries will be due by the third Sunday of each month. That means that submissions for this month are due by Sunday, October 17, with the first carnival going up on Friday, October 23.
Submissions can made in one of two ways:
- Complete the form on our BlogCarnival page
- Email us directly at media@metaspring.com with the URL, title and a brief description of your post
Please only submit posts that fall within the following topics:
- Online Marketing
- Social Media
- Digital Design
- Web Development
- Web Innovation
- Small Business
- Meta/Philosophy
The articles we accept will be rewarded with a do-follow link from our blog and will have the honor of being included with some of the best content on the net.
Please limit your submissions to two posts per month.
Thanks for reading and we look forward to your posts! Let’s have some fun, it’s a carnival after all!
