Web 2.0 Tools for Faciliation
As facilitators we need to be aware of new ways to effectively bring groups together, both when we work with them in a meeting room and when they are spread out across the globe. Web 2.0 tools are much more than the latest Internet buzzword. They reflect a set of attitudes captured in software that very closely match the core values of most facilitators. For example, facilitators are very concerned with accurately capturing the input of all participants. Web 2.0 supports this by creating tools that allow participants to co-create powerful information stores on their own, with only facilitative guidelines. “Wikipedia:http://www.wikipedia.org/ is the pre-eminent example of this. Creating meaning from information is one of the core tasks of groups, tools like “tagging”, applying definitional words to articles, pictures, just about anything, creates a folksonomy that can accurately capture themes a group identifies.
The term Web 2.0 was coined by Tim O’Reilly, CEO of O’Reilly media—he desribes what Web 2.0 means and doesn’t mean in his clear essay What is Web 2.0.
One tool that captures the essence of Web 2.0 that I am quite fond of is Attendr, which is a mash-up, an overlay, of Google Maps and a variety of other software including Flikr and Technorati. This is specifically designed to help groups learn about their members prior to a meeting or project. Participants are invited to a unique Attendr event for which they create a personal profile that can include photos, URLs, bios, and most importantly a series of tags that capture their interests. Once all of the members have entered their profiles, Attend creates a geographic map showing the spatial relationships between people. But that is just the start, members can identify who they already know in the group, creating another map of connections, and who they would like to meet. But perhaps the most useful feature is the tag cloud that is created. By clicking the words in the cloud, you can quickly see others who share your interests and the overall mix of interests in the group.
Other Web 2.0 tools that I have used include project wikis, which are great for document collaboration as well as documentation, blogs which open communication lines, and You Tube/Flikr for sharing video and photos. Most Web 2.0 tools are Open Source meaning you can use them without typical software licenses and fees.
Web 2.0 is not going to save our next challenging engagement, nor will it wash our windows. What they will do is make it easier for groups that we work with to collaborate and have some fun!”
Filed by Joseph McIntyre under Facilitation