Is Social Media Underestimated in Academia?

Rachel Pittman blogs about the dilemna of social media’s role in academia. I agree with Rachel that it is hugely underestimated. There is so much opportunity to exchange research and scientific findings on a wider, broader scale.

Blogging about science is becoming a popular channel to engage the non-academic public in discussion with researchers and authors. Peer reviewed journals remain the most widely used channels through which research is disseminated within the scientific community.

A very popular blog, ScienceBlogs.com, consists of numerous science-related blogs that share information on recent scientific findings. The bloggers and their readers dispute, discuss and comment on recent findings and statistical analysis.

I believe academia’s reluctance to embrace social media lie in its ability to challenge researcher’s expert authority in their respective discipline. I thing there is a huge opportunity for wide audiences to understand science through dispute and discussion. Why should we accept scientific findings at face value? Let’s move to open the discussion and allow the public to decide what they wish to accept and not.

Senior researchers were challenged to become part of the blogoshpere at the  Science Blogging Conference, London 2008.

The White City provides stats and demographics of America’s “whitest” cities, and they are coined progressive. In the commentary, numerous people discuss the data source, how the research was accomplished, etc.

Knowledge Management for Data Use and Decision Making in International Public Health

“Knowledge Management for Data Use and Decision Making in International Public Health” captures strategies that facilitate sharing knowledge, building skills and using data for decision making. This topic paper is intended for international health program managers and researchers whose role includes a communication or knowledge management component. Anna Schurmann, Lisa Mwaikambo, and I examine ways in which knowledge management can increase engagement between research, policy-making and public health practice to close such gaps. We base our understanding on the notion that improved knowledge sharing will lead to wider understanding, enhanced cooperation, more effective use of good practices and better health outcomes. KM is important as it can provide cost-effective ways to access knowledge and engagement between different stakeholders—therefore making knowledge sharing more possible. Examples of communication platforms used as part of larger KM strategies presented in this paper come from organizations such as Nike Foundation, Measurement, Learning and Evaluation project, USAID, WHO, Population Reference Bureau, Intrahealth, K4Health, AIDSTAR-One, MEASURE Evaluationand many others.

About the Authors:

Anna Schurmann

A maternal and reproductive health consultant.

Leah D. Gordon

A knowledge management specialist for an international public health project and a public relations consultant working and living in Durham, NC.

Lisa Mwaikambo

An e-learning coordinator for an international public health/knowledge management project.

Real-time communications for an international audience

I recently returned from an international workshop held in beautiful Guanajuato, Mexico. My role was to advise the the international non-governmental organization hosting the workshop on their knowledge management and communications strategy.

This NGO has a network that reaches 920+. Only 100 people were able to attend the workshop due to space limitations. The network is particularly global, reaching health information specialists on every continent working to improve health systems for their local populations.

Prior to submitting my strategy, I was aware the NGO was planning to give its website a facelift, provide more up-to-date information and incorporate a blog. Their primary means for keeping in touch with their network is via a listserv that hosts very lively discussion and debate on health information system related topics almost quarterly.

The Strategy

For this workshop in particular, the NGO wanted to keep everyone in the network abreast of each day’s events and discussions. In the knowledge management proposal I wanted to ensure information reached the network in a timely, readable, non-hassle manner for those in remote and low-bandwidth locations.

The strategy focused on knowledge distribution, knowledge preservation, and knowledge delivery. Here’s an excerpt from the knowledge management strategy proposed:

Knowledge Distribution

USAID’s K4Health 2009 Health Information Needs Assessment (pdf, 1.15MB) surveyed health professionals whose job functions include program manager, service provider, technical advisor, teacher/trainer, researcher/evaluator. Of the 90% percent of respondents which work in low and middle income countries, over 50% never use video conferencing software. Email is the most commonly used technology used to communicate with other professionals in different locations.

Knowledge Preservation

Tacit knowledge will be shared and captured through the use of powerpoints and documents (tacit made explicit). Preserving the knowledge shared at the 2010 workshop will provide historical reference for HIS experts and practitioners. Use of appropriate communication technologies will promote knowledge sharing and preservation from the 2010 workshop.

Knowledge Delivery

Communication technology must be used to share knowledge and connect non-attendees to the workshop as it is happening. Employing appropriate communication technology will achieve [the NGO's] desire to engage its audience virtually.

Everything I proposed was agreed upon, and off I went to Guanajuato, Mexico with less than two weeks for planning!

Information Communication Technologies Used.

Listserv

I used the listserv the NGO already had in place. It is the most expected form of communication the recipients rely upon.

Website

The daily reports sent to the listserv where mirrored on the NGO’s website to start moving towards their goal of keeping up-to-date, blog style information on the homepage of their site.

Slideshare.net

Slideshare was instrumental in making presentations available in an accessible format for people across the world. The “YouTube” for PowerPoints standardized the files and compressed them for easy viewing. Uploading was a bit of a hassle though, it took hours to upload some of the larger files, just to find out there was an error in uploading. After converting the larger files to .pdf, the uploading was almost a breeze.  If I was in another country with not-so-mature connectivity, uploading to slideshare would have been almost impossible. Further planning ahead would be necessary to have presentations uploaded state-side.

http://www.slideshare.net/

Photobucket

I, along with many others, used simple point-and-shoot digital cameras throughout the meeting. Photos were taken, uploaded to my laptop and posted to Photobucket.  After correcting lighting and red-eye issues in Picassa, the upload process was seamless. The bulk uploader function in picassa really helped get photos posted quickly and effectiently.They were easily viewable by professionals off-site and in other countries and gave them the ability to see the participants engagement and activities daily.

http://photobucket.com

YouTube

Everyday, I interviewed about three people asking them what messages they took away from speeches, activities, and what they felt about the workshop as a whole. I used my snazy little Flip Video cam. I attempted to upload to Photobucket using the video upload feature, then Youtbe but experiences were a HUGE PAIN. Once I got stateside, I uploaded to YouTube and of course, it was a breeze.

YouTube.com

People

I know people are not technically a technology, but they are integral in the communication process (of course). I organized rapporteurs to report daily on events and discussions since I could not be in every place at one time. The notes from rapporteurs will also be incorporated into the final workshop report to preserve knowledge from the 2010 workshop.

A joint press release was written with the co-hosting organization’s communications person to and submitted to local and national press.

Wrap-up

This entire process was not quite the live conference blogging that is becoming more and more popular in the developed world, but confirms the desire by people around the world to have up-to-date almost real-time information to stay engaged and involved, although they are not present at the event. The organizing team received high praises from around the world and many thanks for keeping them up to date although they were unable to attend. They got to follow developments in the health information system world, cutting edge discussions and tools to improve their own health systems locally.

Improving Global Health by Employing Knowledge Management in Low-Resource Settings

Lessons learned as a result of applying methods for improving public health outcomes for developing country populations are seldom shared among peer groups and/or creators of the methods being used. Lack of knowledge sharing can lead to repetition of failed efforts and can lead to mismanagement of human and monetary resources.

“Improving Global Health by Employing Knowledge Management in Low-Resource Settings” shows how effective knowledge sharing can be achieved through strategically implanting knowledge management into programs in low-resource settings.

To explore this issue, I read and referenced literature that defined knowledge and knowledge management, researched challenges and constraints in knowledge management and found examples of successful knowledge management activities in global health settings.

To find information on how new technology relates to web use in developing countries  to technologically support knowledge management, I found literature and blogs that specifically covered web 2.0 in developing countries.

Knowledge exchange among group members of common health practice will result in improved practice and improved health status of populations served.

When health managers adopt knowledge management as a necessity to improve health outcomes, they will prioritize knowledge exchange and utilize existing human and technological resources to better serve local populations.

Download “Improving Global Health by Employing Knowledge Management in Low-Resource Settings“

Literacy is key…

Anyone can publish on the web and according to socialmedia.edu, almost anyone can watch your browsing behaviors. I don’t think the public is truly aware of their electronic privacy rights. Trey gave some excellent resources that assist in educating us about online privacy.

The FCC is constantly having to adapt its internet regulations. Recently, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to examine the possibility of new regulations to ensure open access to the internet.  The proposed rules will examine the issue of “net neutrality,” codifying and expanding existing policies on internet regulations.

FreedomWorks argues net neutrality will “strengthen the government’s control over the internet, but the rulemaking raises the possibility of expanding the regulations to cover the emerging wireless networks, a dynamic and competitive sector of the market that has provided consumers expanded services and falling prices.  New mandates could limit this growth and reduce consumer welfare.”

To protect our privacy, are we in need of government-run Internet?

Newspapers saved by social media?

My colleague blogged on the newspaper industry’s murder by technology in “Technology Killed the Newspaper.” It is evident that newspapers have not done as well economically due to the rise in social media and Internet use for news retrieval.

I found a post on one of my favorite sites, Mashable, that highlights 10 Ways Newspapers are Using Social Media to Save the Industry. Woody Lewis, social media strategist and web architect, writes “Social media gives any business an interactive channel to communicate with its current and future customers.” Some of the tips are now common, such as tweeting headlines, others continue to be coalescing, such as publishing API for third-party developers.

I’m excited to see these tips for newspapers and businesses catch on and begin to thrive, once again. Perhaps the industry is deathly sick with an opportunity for revival.

Long Form Writing

My colleague’s latest blog post is covers his concern that we may become a 140 characters or less society in his post “Is long 4m wrtng ded? Ur gonna b srprzd“.

We are living in a tech savvy society, however, there are sources of information that not only come in the form of blogs and tweets, our society still has access to long-form, in-depth journalistic writing. Journalist, Mark Reynolds, writes about his desire to seek essays and in-depth reports. Although, not as mainstream as they used to be, essays and in-depth articles are still accessible. It is by personal choice these forms of writing will “stay live” and not die.

Journalists have become obsessed with this fear that quality journalism will die as a result of failing newspapers. They are dying because they took too long to adapt to the wave of the Internet. This does not cause death to writing and journalism.

There are plenty of community papers, college newspapers and radio stations with quality journalism. As an individual, you just have to go out and find what suites you.

Oregon Daily Emerald

National Public Radio

WUNC Radio

WNCU Radio

 

Integration of technology and education

Cliff Missen, project director of WiderNet, states giving one laptop to each child in the world’s poorest countries is not enough. Developers must teach people how to maximize their use of technology and deduce information they are provided with. Economic and educational goals must be met to satisfy countries’ needs.

I appreciate Torchflickers first and third solutions to the integration of education and technology. Online collaboration and sharing of best practices is endorsed. These, in my opinion are key to continuous, sustainable learning. They are examples of knowledge generation, the step beyond information.

100 Global Health Blogs That Will Open Your Eyes

People around the world are concerned with providing healthy living conditions, medications, preventive care and more for their citizens so they can live long, healthy lives.

Provided by US PharmD, these global health blogs reflect the concerns from people of many countries and can help you learn about health care issues that affect people.

100 Global Health Blogs That Will Open Your Eyes

International Public Health Blogs

Global Health Ideas
Read Global Health Ideas to learn about solutions to major international health issues.

Global Bioethics Blog
Stuart Rennie wants a greater discussion on bioethics and ethical research in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Malaria Matters
On Malaria Matters, Bill Brieger, a Health Systems professor at Johns Hopkins University, writes about health rights, funding, health education, health and the environment, HIV, and plenty more issues in Africa.

Global Health Policy
The Center for Global Development blogs about health education, health and gender, U.S. public health legislation, developing nations, and more.

Global Health – Change.org
Change.org’s global health issues blog reports on health crises in developing nations, epidemics and pandemics, environmental health issues, and more.

The Lancet Global Health Network
This global health journal blogs to share the leading stories in international medical research, pharma news, health care quality, plagues and epidemics, and more.

HIV and AIDS News
This HIV and AIDS news blog has also been accredited by the The Health On the Net Foundation.

Malawi Clinics
Learn about health care policy, HIV and AIDS, and nutrition in Malawi.

War and Health
Read opinion and analysis on public health issues and legislation in war torn and conflict-ridden regions.

Global Health Council Blogs
Interactive blog from the Global Health Council’s Policy, Research and Advocacy team

UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases
Blogging all things global health at UNC-Chapel Hill