Monday, August 14, 2006

expert locators

Couldn't sleep again... but if all goes well the jet lag should be gone now. And the good thing is that while I was lying awake another thought occurred. Well, more than one actually, but this one applied to eLearning...

I'm sure you're all aware that our online world is changing. Web 2.0 and Learning 2.0 are the latest buzz-words that every eLearning developer should be aware of. Part of this new (r)evolution is social networking. Places like MySpace, Friendster, OpenBC, LinkedIn etc... Another related thing that my colleague Ray first made me aware of is the Expert Locator. A database with people and their skills so you can easily find what/whom you need.

We also almost all carry a cell phone and/or PDA. Now imagine that you are allowed to take these items on a plane again (sigh) on a long-distance flight and that you're actually allowed to keep them switched on. Suddenly it starts to beep. You look at it and it tells you that one of your LinkedIn contacts is on the same flight. (S)he gets the same message. You don't know yet who it is though, as they first have to allow you to see their details (and you have to allow that they see yours). Much like most IM clients really. But wouldn't it be cool to be notified if any of your contacts was close? And of course you should be able to automatically connect to their profiles to give you a reminder about what the connection is etc.

Now don't get me started on the potential of this for "plane-dating" :-)

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