Let's Talk About Something Else...For A Little Bit Anyway

I have spent a considerable amount of time on this blog discussing the election and politics over the last several weeks. Occasionally I have pointed out the worth of the technology I am learning in the Emerging Technologies class at Drake University, but want to spend a little more time on that in the next several posts.

I did not avoid writing on the issue of technology because I fail to see value in this learning, but rather because I am not very good at self-reflection. Don't get me wrong, I am a strong supporter of its use. I just have the same excuse as everyone else...I have a lot to do, and writing on a familiar topic is easier than reflecting on the use of technology in my life.

That being said, I would like to focus on what new technologies I have learned, and the uses I see for them them in my personal, business, and educational career. The first such learning is on the use of collaborative tools such as Wiki's, and Google Docs.

In past jobs I was required to manage employees who did not work in the same office, and on one occasion, the same state. For this reason it was often difficult to collaborate on projects within the team. Many times we would pass documents from one person to another via email, and would have to appoint one individual to be the "point person". The "point person" would be the one to receive revised documents from team members, and combine these revisions into a "master" copy.

This way of collecting feedback was time consuming, and often led to errors in the final product. The collaboration tools I have learned and used will allow me to better communicate in a business setting by providing a way to share documents without the need to email them. The documents can be stored in one place and each team member can view, download, and edit them.

From an educational perspective I have been able to use this technology recently by creating a wiki site for another class. The input from class members during our sessions are inputed onto the wiki, and access is given to all members. They can view and revise this material at anytime, and provides them materials that would not otherwise be available to them. It also acts as a place members can go to add information or comments they feel is valuable.

In all, the usefulness of these tools could be documented in far greater detail than what I have been able to do here. The important thing to remember is that these tools are free, and their use opens up a greater level of collaboration with people than was ever thought possible just a few years ago. Gone are the days when individuals could only collaborate with those in their circle (e.g. coworkers, friends, classmate, etc.). Now with the use of these tools, individuals can collaborate with people all over the world...even with those they do not know.

Technology can be a wonderful thing....