Different constituents
From BuildTheOpenMesh
A number of different kinds of students and disciplines is required to implement this project.
The six areas/constituencies:
- Programmers
- User Interface Designers
- Content creators and producers
- Network Operators
- End-user usage/behaviour pattern study
- Business/Marketing/Management
- Synergy - trans-disciplinary collaboration
An underlying assumption of this system is that an integrated platform, which can aggregate lots of different kinds of content, people/friendships (eg. social graphs) and services together will provide a comprehensive experience to end-users.
This course will study that assumption and leverage the synergy created by combining content, people and services - together. Six different constituencies and areas of study - are being combined together in this inter-disciplinary study.
- Tools for all to use
This course will utilize an on-line project management dashboard, which will be used for course collaboration, system and software specifications, rules, regulations and documentation.
The on-line tools will be turned into a collaborative platform which will help create cohesion across the many constituencies.
- Learning from each other, new domains of expertise
All of the students of this course will benefit from learning from the other constituent areas.
Knowing how to operate the system or generate revenues from a system like this - are imperative to all! So a major benefit of running inter-disciplinary courses is one learning not only from their OWN domain of expertise or interest, but also from garnering information, tricks and insights from OTHER domains as well.
- Content is still King
At the end of the day, software is about people. And people like to do things.
And content is a big par of what people like to do. Content can be interpreted different for each constituency. Content is the data that humans generate to programmers. Content is the text, photos and videos that are displayed by a user interface. Content is teh message, footage and edits created by a creative person. Content is the statistical data generated based upon user behaviors - to sociologists and content is a revenue generator to business people.
This course will demonstrate a trans-disciplinary approach to content, leveraging the synergistic powers of content, people and services working together.
Here are the different kinds of student categories:
Contents |
Programmers
.. will be focusing on......
- Adaptive User Interfaces
- Dashboard start pages
- Embedding external web services into our dashboard
- ID federation
.. will require.......
- Knowledge of LAMP, Java or ASP .NET
- Knowledge of how to build a web site or web services
- Knowledge of how to take user interfaces (built with CSS/HTML) and wire them up to backend processes, web services and applications
- Basic knowledge of MySQL
- Basic knowledge of how the Internet works, DNS, Apache, web services and other basic Internet technologies
User Interface designers
.. will be focusing on......
- Start page UIs – 3 usage levels
- Themes that can be mixed and matched with each other
- UIs for our service partners
- Dashboard designs (DLAs)
.. will require.......
- Ability to create a User Interface design
- Ability to script HTML and/or CSS
- Ability to take bit map graphics and include them in user interface designs
- Understanding of how humans interact with software interfaces
- Ability to design different ‘themes’ of user interfaces
Content creators and producers
.. will be focusing on......
- Producing a documentary entitled: "The History of Hessler street"
- Editorial skills, op-ed pieces, filtering links, tagging
- Links and Feeds
.. will require.......
- Ability to create or produce video documentaries
- Ability to write a script, interview or explore other kinds of documentary content
- Possess some sort of Visual or Musical creative skills
- Willingness to help us produce a documentary entitled: “The History of Hessler street”
- Willingness to help us produce, on an on-going basis, relevant, contextual editorial content for our project’s “dashboards”
- Ability to research, recommend or filter Web Links and Activity Stream Feeds
Network Operators
.. will be focusing on......
- Running the system:
- content moderation
- user moderation
- answering feedback, questions
- running an 'ad bureau'
- inserting ads, banners and widgets
- Community support and liaison
- Coordinating with Volunteers
- Work with the residents of Hessler St.
.. will require.......
- Understanding of how social media and social networking - works
- Understanding of user's expectation - and an ability to answer user's questions
- Ability to operate a web based dashboard interface and then to test for the results of one's actions
- Ability to learn the rules, regulations and procedures for operating the Hessler St. dashboard and to execute those procedures, if necessary.
User behavior focus
.. will be focusing on......
- How users react to different kinds of start pages, different usage levels
- What happens when you give users broadband connections?
- What kind of activities are enabled by super broadband (gigabit bandwidth)?
- What kind of activities are users drawn towards?
.. will require.......
- Understanding of the basic process and flow of how users interact with software
- Ability to study how users react to different kinds of start pages
- Ability to study adaptive user interfaces and software which can be interacted with at different “usage levels”
- Ability to study what happens when you ‘give’ users broadband connections
- Ability to study what kinds of activities are enabled by super broadband (gigabit bandwidth)
- Ability to study what kind of on-line activities users are drawn towards
- Ability to setup and run analytics on users interacting with our dashboard software
- Participate in the decision of what areas ot track o fthe user's usage patterns
- Ability to understand how web site analysis software works.... (analytics)
Business/Marketing/Management
.. will be focusing on......
- On-line social media business models
- Contexual or targeted advertising
- Hyper-local viral contests and promotions
.. will require.......
- Knowledge of on-line commerce and the business models utilized in today’s Internet
- Understanding of the importance of social media in today’s business environment
- Understanding of the importance contextual or targeted advertising
- Ability to participate in the creation of various kinds of hyper-local viral contests and promotions
In addition, when we start to work with sociologists.....
Social Activism
.. will be focusing on......
- Volunteerism
- Bridging the Digital Divide
- How to build a Digital City
- Run meetings with the residents of Hessler St.
.. will require.......
- Understanding of the importance of on-line social media software in achieving change in society
- Understanding of the importance and role of Volunteerism in today’s society, especially volunteerism enabled or facilitated by on-line technology
- Basic understanding of social media and the power of UGC (user generated content)
- Ability and to study and do something about the (so-called) Digital Divide
- Understanding and willingness to help us “… build a Digital City”
