Author: john

Crowdsourcing tech law

The Internet BlueprintA few days ago, the tech advocacy group Public Knowledge unveiled a website (The Internet Blueprint) where the public can propose bills, vote on other users’ submissions, and where groups and congresspeople/senators can get behind the proposal. It’s actually pretty close to the model that I suggested for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, some time back. The site gets right to the heart of the matter that geeks have quite a bit to offer, in terms of how to structure our “east coast code” to jibe well with computer (“west coast”) code.

The one thing it slightly lacks is a community element. While there’s voting, and the ability to get behind a proposal, I think the tools to generate a real online community around an initiative could really 1) show where the momentum is, and 2) craft the greatest solutions from many/great minds. I’m thinking of a “My Barack Obama” like website for tech law. Both are/were built in Drupal, so the possibility is most definitely there!

 

Innovation and the Public University

This weekend, the Times chronicled the role that Bell Labs played in technical innovation (Innovation and the Bell Labs Miracle – NYTimes.com). While the author compared Bell’s slow, planned innovation to the more rapid Silicon Valley model, I can think of at least two important components missing in the story.

To me, the role of the large research university simply cannot be understated. Try a search for “university” on the Wikipedia “History of the Internet” page, and it lights up. What’s more interesting, and perhaps warrants further study, is the relationship between business and the university. It’s a relationship that’s often hinted at, but it’s story (to my knowledge) has never been told.

Another aspect is the role of the individual inventor. Richard John’s Network Nation is a fascinating read that goes into some detail — specifically on the history of Bell.

Innovation is a story that’s often oversimplified. Perhaps the bell in an ivory tower is a nice metaphor. Of course, the cathedral connotes a somewhat different metaphor of innovation.

How Twitter Killed my Blog

Twitter is an amazing technology. The ease with which one can share ideas, resources, and network with people you otherwise might not have met is (I think) unparalleled. As with any new technology, however, it has come with a cost — it has nearly killed my blog.

TwitterFor some time, I used my blog as a place to publicly chronicle things and ideas that I want to remember. Looking back (and hopefully forward), I can see the benefit that blogging had. Its forced reflection brought me to strengthen some deeply held convictions. Blogs are great for that kind of stuff — deep reflection, perhaps with a light amount of network.

Now, it’s just too easy to compress an idea down to 140 characters, or worse yet to quickly post a link with little or no commentary. The benefit has been social. As a shy but opinionated person, Twitter is a perfect medium.

With all of this in mind, this post marks another shift in this blog. Stuff on the rest of the family has been moved to more appropriate places (Facebook wasn’t around when we started, and our great photos are on their way to Flickr). To highlight the change, we’re also changing to a theme that heavily emphasizes text.

That’s what Thinking Out Loud will be about for the next phase: deep reflection. To do that (efficiently) calls for some writing.

Thanks for reading!

Using analytics to nudge in higher education

It’s pretty rare that a single article can change how you think about an issue. For me, the Times’ take on business’ use of analytics to boost sales did just that (How Companies Learn Your Secrets). The article describes how Target (a “home town” company for yours truly) uses analytics to lead customers to new products and services. Most interesting was that their model was largely proactive — their goal was to look ahead to a particularly susceptible points in a customer’s life, and target specific promotions during that short period of time.

The approach reminded me a great deal of Thaler and Sunstein’s book, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. The authors argue that benevolent social engineers can use cues to “nudge” people towards good decisions (for example, putting health foods in easy reach at a cafeteria). While some have criticized the work for perhaps a paternalistic approach, I think their ideas might stimulate useful design. Rather than put no thought into a design (or worse, to base the design purely on profit), a designer might look for points at which we make decisions — and use those opportunities to steer people in the right direction. This might be especially powerful when the design is backed by data.

Most of the models of analytics that I have heard of in the realm of Higher Education are reactive. A student gets a bad grade, or is not logging in to the learning management system, and then someone contacts the student to attempt to intervene (after the fact). I think Target’s use of “analytics to nudge” might be a better model. If you’re collecting analytic data on student interactions, why not use that data to help them make better decisions. Perhaps an incentive, like a badge, could inspire a lagging student to visit the library. Perhaps some students would find links to useful resources (like counseling or help with study skills) after they trigger some kind of early-early warning.

I think a more proactive and positive model of analytics would be much more productive than a reactive or fix-it-after-it-has-become-a-problem approach. If only schools could devote the same kinds of resources to these efforts as our colleagues in the private sector.

Edit

Here’s Stephen Colbert’s humourous take on the story (on Ash Wednesday):