BAPP Task 1b: Professional Communication Technologies

The task 1b of the Module 1 of the BA (Hons) in Professional Practice at the Middlesex University consists of looking at the Reader 1, and after you have read it you evaluate what you have learnt about it via writing a post and publishing into your blog.

The readers are texts written by our BAPP Tutors with extracts from literature to help us build our own ideas and thinking. And it has indeed! When, at the beginning, I looked at the title of our first reader, Professional Communication Technologies, I thought it wasn´t going to be really interesting to me, however I was completely wrong, the moment I started to read it, I was completely caught by the content, because for many years I have been using Web 2.0 platforms, without even knowing, there were called them like that. Especially 1 year ago, I launched all my Official Social Media as a Professional Dancer (Facebook Page, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ as well as my Youtube Channel, created 4 years ago), so for me this Reader was perfect not only to learn more about those technologies but also to analyse the work that I have done during the previous season on those platforms so I can improve using this new knowledge that I just got from Reader 1. Here you can see a summary of what´s the most important aspects for me in the Reader 1:

What is Web 2.0?

Even though, it is difficult to define Web 2.0 due it is a very extensive concept. You can refer it as the second generation of web-based communities, including social media, blogs or wikis. In a very simple way, Web 1.0 is a one-way communication between the creator and the reader, with very limited opportunities to interact or create our own content (Like a normal website), however Web 2.0 provides this opportunity, therefore the reader becomes the creator.

Different positions and interpretations

In an article published by Tim O´Reilly in 2006, he created this Meme Map (See the picture below) identifying a number of core competences. Especially there are 3 of those that are important in order to put Web 2.0 in a professional practice and the work place.

1- Architectures of participation- Web 2.0 is used as tool of networking and communication encouraging and enabling participation that is connected to the ability to people to interact, as well as implying and active and passive aspect, taking part in something as well as creating it, some writers refer to these processes as cultural consumption and cultural production (Bourdieu 1993). Also Hamilton (2000) said that participation is a function, in part of the reduction of barriers to access. And Ulrich et al. (2008) describes this process as the “architecture of assembly” where the methods by which people access and use Web 2.0 make “data and functionality accessible”. In a simple way Web 2.0 takes the traditional one-to-one basis communication and transform it into a many-to-many approach for thousands.

2- Remixable data and transformations- Web 2.0 is used as an instrument of constructing connectivity and networks that frequently is supported by a remix culture. Valtysson (2010) suggests that the blurring of the distinctions between the people who make media and the people who consume it encourages people to engage and participate in the media. These transitions between consumption and production are one of the key selling points of the role of Web 2.0 in any network or industry.

3- Harnessing collective intelligence- There had been many studies into the effectiveness of Web 2.0 in building and developing communities. One of those (Feenberg & Bakardjieva 2004) identified that Web 2.0 allowed communities to develop beyond their ‘existing professional networks’ and offer a ‘social space for people, strangers and almost strangers with diverse backgrounds to come together as equals, as generators of ideas, to deliberate and act collectively’. Web 2.0 platforms are designed to encourage social interaction. There are a lot of myths and fables that surrounds the notion that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so in terms of Web 2.0 the notion that a collective intelligence of many may be viewed as far more valuable than the observations and musings of the one of the few. Gruber (2007) suggests that there are three components of an online system that support collective intelligence and the benefits that might be gained from the idea that in a Web 2.0 platform: A social system, supported by computing and communication technology, a search engine that is good at finding questions and answers in this body of content and intelligent users, who know how to formulate their problems in the queries that the search engine can match to online question and answers. Web 2.0 platforms generally provide the user with all three of Gruber’s processes.

Ethical Considerations for using the Web

When we use those tools, it is important for us, as professionals what you say, participate in, and discuss with others on the web. Copyright and authenticity can be an issue with web-based thinking. It is very important that everyone consider issues such as confidentiality, working with children and adults in terms of permission, and the veracity of sources. Also When working on any public forum you need to consider your own professional reputation needs.

Using the Web 2.0 for learning

Throughout the BAPP Arts Programme we will be using different Web 2.0 platforms for communication and to develop the ability for professionals to engage with others using public forums that are used by other colleagues and professionals. However There are many sources about using Web 2.0 to learn for higher education, one clear example is the use of Wikipedia in academic writing that generally isn´t allowed because it is an un-authored source.

I hope that you have enjoyed this post as much as I did when I read all of this information in the Reader 1 and all the articles that are related with it in our reading list!

Gonzalo