Notable

Cross browser incompatibility and security setting inconveniences are nothing new, so when a colleague told me she could not log into ItsLearning using Internet Explorer 7 and consequently resorted (her words not mine) to Firefox whenever she needed ItsLearning, I went looking for a post on the browser or cookies-setting that I could recommend she change. Not everyone at the university has this far-better-browser installed, so I was certain I would come across this question again soon.

What I found was a well written post from a student entitled: it’s:learning™ is crap! The post’s author, clearly an informed thoughtful user is both thorough and structured in their critique. But that is not all. This engaged user shares a bit about their attempt to help the developers, only to be rebuffed:

I was contacted 2005-12-15 by it:solutions support personnel, and mailed back and forth a number of times. I lobbied for a separate interface that’s designed for efficient use, but they did not appear to grasp concepts such as usability vs usefulness, and had no distinction between presentation and business logic.

Needless to say, the post’s author is now a passionate detractor.

That this should be the case would surprise me, if I hadn’t experienced it myself, and often. Constructive criticism is increasingly lumped with general whining, treated with halfhearted “thanks for your suggestion” platitudes, even condescending arrogance. The host of new media interactivity options (blogs, forums, social networking, etc.) has raised the noise level for developers, and it isn’t surprising that they should want to listen only to compliments and conciliatory suggestions, while dismissing instances of emphatic criticism.

Of course, there is better way to look at it. It’s far better to have critics that not, and way better for business. Kathy Sierra, co-creator of the Head First book series cleverly called it the Kool-Aid point.

The Kool-Aid Point: “You don’t really have passionate users until someone starts accusing them of ‘drinking the Kool-Aid.’ If you create passionate users, you have to expect passionate detractors. You should welcome their appearance in blogs, forums, and user groups. It means you’ve arrived. (Posted on headrush.typepad.com)

If you are a smart developer, a smart inventor, or a smart start-up, you will use this feedback and recognize it for what it is: a potential road map to success or an opportunity to create customer loyalty. (Did you just hear: blah, blah, blah? Well, maybe you just need a cup of coffee. ) Focus groups are useful. But I contend that they are not nearly as valuable as engaged user feedback. Questionnaires are limiting. Yes-men are useless.

If you haven’t already, check out Get Satisfaction and the products and services that participate there. The site provides an effective forum for customers to communicating directly with the companies behind the products and services they use, a mechanism for prioritizing feedback, and customers communicating and supporting each other.

… Oh yeah, and I dare say, ItsSolutions is not very smart. (And, if you are interested in my opinion, when it comes to ItsLearning I agree with the passionate detractor mentioned earlier.)

An “enabler” of the Rector’s recent forray into the world of blogs, I was curious and pleased that the debut sparked a bit of discussion.

Arne Krokan, a Professor of “Technology, communication, organization and society” writes in his post “My rector blogs as well” that:

(Translated from the original Norwegian) Rector at NTNU, Torbjørn Digernes, is following in the footsteps of several of his Danish colleagues, and starting to blog. I consider these “corporate blogs” important, because they play a role in making visible what leaders are concerned with, and they contribute to contemplation of important, organizational and political issues. In this manner more and more academic and political issues come to light, prior to our hearing about them or being “exposed to them” through (channels) the line organization. (Min rektor blogger også – Nov. 4 2008)

Historian and researcher (IDI, SVT), Ola Nordal writes in his post a “A new IT revolution? “:

(Translated from the original Norwegian) Two observances from today: NTNU´s Rector has got himself his own blog, and FAST Search & Transfer´s John M. Lervik has blind faith in the future of the search engine company (it is still streaming from the IT-ovation conference where he presented earlier today). I conclude, first: Something is happening in regards to how people use the Internet. The tools have been there a long time, but it seems that it is only now that their potential is beginning to be utilized. The first key word is “contact interface”… [ ... ] How Digernes is going to use his blog will be exciting to follow; personally I hope it will be somewhat fresher than the “Rector´s column” in the university paper (Universitetsavisa).

A little digression: I notice that the rector is using WordPress as a technology solution. Much smarter and better that what is available for NTNU´s web portal, I would say. NTNU.no is far too large and complex for WordPress, but it should at least be considered by the university newspaper (Universitetsavisa). WordPress for an online newspaper sounds perhaps a little hazardous, but it would be better than the solution they have now. Not least because the Rector´s blog is already in my RSS-reader, while Universitetsavisa is still not. RSS has been available for a while now, and it is soon quite overdue that the news organization at Norway´s technology university acquires it? (En ny IT-revolusjon, – Oct 22, 2008).

An IT-revolution it isn’t, but progress it is indeed, given that the focus remains on content. As a technology enthusiast the form and the trend is interesting to me of course. The larger point however — not lost on these two social commentators — is the impact that direct and unfiltered communication can have on an organization.

• Interested in trends of this nature?
  Blog usage examples from other universities (US/UK).
• Interested in some tips about this form of communication?
  Blogging writing guide
• Bloggers at/from NTNU
  An incomplete list

A short list of blogs — of varying degrees of quality — united by the fact that they are used in academic circles. Their purposes range from organizational communication to public relations.  The list is by no means comprehensive. An eventual elaboration to come, with a list of blogs in used for and by academic subgroups for academic pursuits.

Administration and PR

• Harvard Business School blog – “From the Director”
  www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog.html
• University of Chicago Law School – Faculty Blog
  uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2006/01/why_the_senate_.html
• Princeton University Library Blog
  blogs.princeton.edu/englib/
• From the President’s desk – Michigan State University
  president.msu.edu/
• University of Oxford – admissions interview blog (www.oxblogster.blogspot.com/ )
  www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/071206.html
• NTNU ! Geomatikk blogg – Terra Incognita (for studenter og ansatte ved faggruppen for geomatikk)geomatikk.blogspot.com/
• Alumni blogs – MIT Sloan School of management
  mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/alumni/blogs
• Harvard University Press Publicity Blog
  harvardpress.typepad.com/
• Dean of Engineering – University of Connecticut
  dean.engr.uconn.edu/blog/
• Dean of Arts and Sciences – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  ascweb.blogspot.com/