No. 2

June 28, 1999

 

Technology:

Third Voice

Every so often an idea comes along that makes some people sing "Hallelujah!" while others scream bloody murder; Third Voice is just such an idea. Here's how it works: a small and free browser plugin allows any Web surfer to put electronic "sticky notes" on any Web page. These notes do not alter the original page in any way and are visible only to those who have installed the same plugin into their own browsers. To these people the notes will appear as small, red arrows sprinkled on a page, as if they were markings on a sheet of acetate placed atop a printout. Clicking on such an arrow will reveal the content of the note underneath. All other visitors will not even be aware of their existence. The notes may also be password protected, so only their author or other authorized people can view them.

Simple, ingenious, useful. Imagine designing a Web page and inviting others to give you feedback on its appearance or features. No more irrelevant, redundant, or cryptic e-mail messages - all comments can now be placed right next to the spots they refer to. The reviewers can also read each other's postings and react to them, either reinforcing or disputing a particular opinion. Or imagine a group of students taking a course involving the use of online materials: these notes can  become an equivalent of scribbles and highlights on a journal article, with the added advantage of being able to turn them on and off. A community of interest can quickly and spontaneously form around any Web site, regardless of whether it provides its own discussion board or not.

So where's the problem? To some critics, this whole idea is akin to allowing people to spray paint graffiti on any public or private wall they want, as long as the paint they use is not visible without a pair of special glasses. Is it free expression or legalized vandalism? Collaboration or gang rape? Would you be comfortable knowing that someone placed obscene or lewd comments on your family's Web site, even if they were not visible without the Third Voice plugin?
The software, still in beta, has already stirred quite a controversy. Since the "sticky notes" are stored on the Third Voice's servers and not alongside the annotated page, the owner of the page has no control over what, when, and by whom is scribbled there. Understandably or not, this has made some people so nervous that they started a "Say No To Third Voice" campaign.

Third Voice works currently only on the Windows platform (95, 98, and NT) and only with the MSIE 4.0 browser, but the company promises to release a beta versions for Netscape Navigator 4.x and MSIE 5.x soon. Whether it will mature into an accepted tool or become a roadkill due to the controversy, it's definitely worth taking a look and pondering its interesting implications.

Third Voice screenshots (click on a thumbnail):


Sidebar functions
Annotated page

For more information please visit the Third Voice site or search the ACT database of Groupwork Tools.

Initiatives:

National Indian Telecommunications Institute

NITI's mission is "to employ advanced technology to serve American Indians and Alaska Natives in the areas of education, economic development, language and cultural preservation, tribal policy issues and self-determination." To that end it provides services such as: Internet training, Web site design and hosting, listservs for indigenous groups, technical support, curriculum development, Internet access, organization of conferences.

This nonprofit organization is supported with grants and donations from NSF, LANL, Soros Foundation, Ford Foundation, NASA, Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, Microsoft, New Mexico Technet. Karen Buller is the Institute's President and CEO.

More information on the National Indian Telecommunications Institute, located at 110 N. Guadalupe, Suite 9, Santa Fe, NM 87501, can be obtained by visiting its Web site or sending an e-mail inquiry to info@numa.niti.org. You may also call them at (505) 986-3872 or send a fax to (505) 989-4271.

Conference:

Syllabus 99
  • Conference and Expo
  • Held July 24-28, 1999 in Santa Clara, CA
  • Syllabus 99 is a conference for college-level faculty, department chairs, administrators, instructional technology and media professionals, as well as high school educators, administrators, and technology personnel, who want to learn about the latest technology and how it can be used to improve teaching and learning.
  • Topics to be covered:
    • Best Practices for Teaching with Technology
    • Supporting Technology-Based Teaching and Learning
    • Distance Education and Learning
    • Technology Planning and Management
    • Faculty Case Studies.
  • Registration fee: $495. Pre- and post-conference full-day workshops ca. $275 each

Online event:

The Future of Collaboration

  • Real-time Collaboration, Collaborative Commerce, Distributed Project Management, Virtual Scheduling and other new trends
  • Seminar by David Coleman
  • Starts at 3 P.M., July 8, 1999
  • Location: Placeware Conference Center
  • From the Web site: "The goal of this web presentation is to familiarize the audience with the current level of collaboration in their organization and compare it to other benchmarked organizations. We will then examine many of the new tools and trends being supported by the interactive nature of the WWW. There has been an explosion in the number and use of tools for real-time Internet collaboration. These tools are being used for distance demonstrations, distance training, distance presentations, and distance meetings. Other real time collaboration tools are helping to put the "person" back into the process of selling on the Web, what we call "collaborative commerce." Finally, we will look at some new tools that deal with the coordination of time and tasks. These tools aid distributed teams working on projects as well as helping to create "project communities." Other tools and services now support the painless coordination of meetings and events."
  • Registration fee: none
  • Technical requirements:
    • Java-enabled browser (4.0 or better)
    • Internet connection (33.6 kbps or better)
    • Separate phone line for audio portion

She said, he said:

"Learning is the new form of labor. (...) Learning is the heart of productive activity." -- Shoshana Zuboff


©1999 Vlad Wielbut and the Alliance for Community Technology