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WebWorkerDaily » 3 Key Web Working Tools for Students

05-Jan-09

Here is a great post by WebWorkerDaily titled 3 Key Web Working Tools for Students «. The tools go through use of Wikis, Forums, and Project Management sites for coordination and collaboration with classwork.

I do agree that these tools are a great advancement for academic collaboration; however, I must point out that many students have not had the need to use these tools and will likely be avoid using them. I would say that the tools are most appropriate for non-traditional students (old folks like me) who have been in the workforce and have needed these tools due to hectic schedules.

Touching off on the use of Forums, I tried using Yahoo Groups for a class a few years back. The Yahoo Groups included file storage and threaded conversations. I think they even included chat back then. Roughly everything you need to keep people organized on a project was in the group. In one case, the group was younger students; the Yahoo Group never caught on. They were always on campus and could easily meet for study groups. In the other case, it was a group of older students who had families and jobs; they had no reservation in making use of the web tools to collaborate on the project.

This may have changed since then. With the proliferation of smartphones with email and web browsers, it is possible that younger students find online collaboration more convenient than face-to-face meetings. Even so, one student has to have the knowledge that these tools are available and take the initiative to set one up. I’m predicting that the non-traditional student is more likely to have that knowledge and initiative.

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Interview with Lucinda Cross, President of Ultimate VA Support

04-Jan-09

President of Ultimate VA Support

President of Ultimate VA Support

Join us Monday morning on Blog Talk Radio. I will be talking with Lucinda Cross, President of Ultimate VA Support. We’ll be discussing how a Virtual Assistant can help you and your small business.

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RGV Tweetup Jan 3 at South Padre Island

30-Dec-08

There will be a tweetup at Paragraphs on South Padre Island on January 3. We think we’ll meet at 6 pm, 3 pm but is subject to change. If you live in the Rio Grande Valley and want to join a bunch of Twitter friends, be sure to make it. It’s always a great way to meet people and learn something from each other. If you want details, give me a call at 956-205-0706

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BPOVIA Interview on Dec 29

25-Dec-08

BPOVIA logo Join me as I talk with James Huang, CEO of BPOVIA.com on December 29 on Blogtalkradio. We’ll discuss BPOVIA’s recent Red Herring Award and other topics regarding outsourcing and virtual assistants.

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Linking Multiple Basecamp Accounts Together With One Login

23-Dec-08

I discovered a while back that you can tie together your Basecamp, Highrise, and Backpack accounts with one login if you use your OpenID account. When you log in with your OpenID, there will be a bar across the top of your accounts with links that let you switch from one to the other easily. What I did not know was that you can also link your different Basecamp accounts together with your OpenID. I discovered this today when I set up my PodCamp San Antonio login on Basecamp to use my OpenID.

This is great because it means that you can have a free account for your own personal project and have additional projects through other people’s accounts. So long as you use OpenID logins in your guest accounts, you can have a network of interlinked accounts under a single user name and password. How awesome is that?

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Project Updating Should Be Easy For Users

22-Dec-08

A house framer should only worry about building a house frame. He doesn’t need to know all the details about the foundation, the roof, the plumbing, the electrical, or insulation. A framer only needs to worry about his part of the project. When he reports to the contractor, the job is either not started, underway, or complete. He doesn’t need to talk to the roofers, plumbers, or electricians. Whereas the framer only deals with his part of the construction, the contractor has to deal with the entire job. The contractor has to make it as easy as possible for the framer to keep him updated so that he can devote time to talking with the other subcontractors about their progress. The framer’s investment in the project is much smaller than the contractor’s.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to Phil Henry of Smartsheet.com regarding my recent post about Basecamp. We talked a bit about project management and my experience with a recent project. Phil shared with me a bit about the research that Smartsheet has done in the field of project management. One thing they found is that the Project Manager is indeed more invested in a project than the participants. Therefore, the Project Manager may invest more time in learning how to use a project management system than would a person reporting to him. A person doing the work can do their job very well without ever learning how to use a project management system. For this reason, people are often reluctant to use project management software. Where project management software often fails is that it is so complicated and expensive in terms of time and money to maintain and learn. Often, it relegates the Project Manager to a record keeper because he or she is the only person who has access to and knows how to use the software. A good project management system should make it easy for people to report and collaborate. An even better project management system makes the process equally easy for the the project manager and the person reporting.

Getting reports from people who are busy working can be difficult. Whereas they are focused and working hard on one or two parts of the project for which they are responsible, the project manager is responsible for the entire project. Therefore, the PM has a greater investment in both moving the project forward and in getting updates on what is going on. This can be done with phone calls, emails, letters, faxes, or meetings. Depending on the number of people involved, the volume of information can be daunting. For this reason, it is counterproductive to make the project manager the only person responsible for updating the project tracking software. The system has to be easily accessible and easy to use for the people updating in order to offload some of that burden from the PM.

Smartsheet does just that. Their service looks like the familiar spreadsheet. On the surface, you see rows and columns with information peppered about. Underneath that veneer, is a powerful system that tracks all the minutia of a project. They purposely make the interface as simple as possible for the PM and the person reporting. In fact, the PM can send a project update request that includes one single line of the spreadsheet by email. The person reporting does not have to see anything other than that one line that they can update with their equivalent of not started, underway, or complete. There is no special software. There is no need to learn how to use a new program. Most importantly, the PM does not have to update this information. He can spend more time in the field rather than being tethered to the computer that runs the project management software. Recently, Smartsheet took things a step further in liberating the PM from the office by with a mobile interface.

Although Smartsheet excels in other aspects of project management, one of the best features is the simplicity with which others can send updates from their email without having to log in to the site. Add to that the ability to leave the office and view updates from your smartphone, and you’re in Project Manager heaven.

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