Some inspiring online initiatives
It is already some time ago that I spoke about some interesting online initiatives. So today I decided to talk about some I use in my lectures.
There happens a lot online. And of course we try to follow all these developments. Well you will know this is rather impossible. But here is a selection of some interesting cases.
Waarkomthetvandaan (Vara)
Transparency is a key trend in today's society. The Dutch public broadcaster Vara acts on this by letting consumers tell where products come from. Many of the products come from the same factory but differ in prices. The website wheredoesitcomefrom allows users to share all the information they know about products.
Tipspot was founded on one simple question: why isn't there a simple overview of what we can do in our town? An overview based on the interests of my friends. And this is now exactly what tipspot does. There is also a mobile version of the site.
Yoostar let's you play a role in blockbuster movies. All you need is some software and microphone and here you go. Yoostar will be a big success.
Are you used to using Google to answer your questions? Perhaps you'll be interested in Aardvark. By installing this online service's software you can look at experts in the online world to answer your questions. Different from applications such as Twitter, this software first determines whether someone has the appropriate knowledge, based on history and profile. So you won't share your question with hundreds if not thousands of other users. This cuold be a nice example of a Google competitor and a different way of gathering info. The concept resembles Eurekster, which used Swickis. These are wiki-like apps that everybody can start based on a certain theme that people can subscribe to. This creates thematic user groups in which you can ask specific questions.
An American initiative as a response to the often ridiculously high rates for school books. Online there's a lot of (reviewed) book content available as wel as possibilities to compose your own books or download audio books. Worldflat knowledge enables social learning. Learning thanks to your 'social network'. The clip below demonstrates how.
Book GluttonOur books are free online. We offer convenient, low-cost choices for students – softcovers for under $30, audio books and chapters, self-print options, and more. Our books are open for instructors to modify and make their own (for their own course - not for anybody else's). Our books are the hub of a social learning network where students learn from the book and each other
Book Glutton allows users to jointly read and comment on online books. You can create so-called 'bookgroups' to facilitate chatting with readers of the same book. As such social reading is established.
BookGlutton is an online book community for people who want to read, share, annotate and discuss, right inside the text.
Check out the different websites as well. I've got many more cases that I'll show in the next weeks.