Free interactive learning software

I’ve come across a very useful tool while looking at open access fisheries models. The Wolfram Demonstrations Project offers free interactive software for a variety of economic concepts. The software allows the user to play with various models and get an instant visualization. No more guessing economic reasoning about what happens to economic rents; now it only takes a few clicks. In the fisheries model I played with, I could slide a bar to increase price or units of effort.

Their YouTube channel gives a quick peak at over 6000 of their interactive models. Watch 20-second clips of what you can do with the model and then decide which ones to play with. Very effective time-saving! Now if only I can stay focused on my topic instead of playing with this software…

Economics blogs

Here are a few economics blogs you may want to follow:

• William Easterly’s Aid Watch blog
• Economics Roundtable
• William Polley’s Comments on Economics blog

I will add to this list as I come across interesting blogs. Feel free to leave a comment with suggestions!

What’s next for social media?

As an economics major, I get to do a lot of forecasting. In a social media context I’ll have to step away from regression analysis and hypothesis testing (which would show an increase in demand for social media, I’m sure) to give you a preview for where I think social media is going.

What I’m looking forward to most about the next stage of social media is what I call virtual shopping. The less exciting, but perhaps equally important change (depending on your interests), is a move to universal computation.

I see virtual shopping as the next step to increasing our productivity. Getting to the mall and spending the hours browsing in stores for our shopping needs will be a thing of the past. It is time-consuming, and hassles such as parking, long lines, and crowds will make shopping from home more attractive. Online shopping is still very primitive compared to what it will be in the future. I foresee a user-tailored shopping experience that lets you preview what clothes will look like on you, will tell you your size, and will make suggestions for you based on your preferences. Shipping charges will go down, and I don’t see virtual shopping as being limited to clothing.

Products for infants, seniors, and busy students will also be successful with this model of social media. Though the joy of in-store shopping will still be prevalent, its time-consuming nature will force it as a thing of the past.

I am looking forward to being able to shop this way.

The less exciting avenue I predict social media will take is a move to universal computation, by which I mean that software will be usable for all devices.  All cell phones will have the same chargers, all media players will use the same file format, and the battle between Mac and PC will work itself out to make everything compatible. Users are getting sick and tired of having to use adapters, different software, and different interfaces to do the same things on different devices. Though the industries behind both “sides” are huge, I foresee a limit of two or three systems, not the many that are in our technology market today.

What does this mean for academia? It means we’ll be able to spend more time studying than shopping, and that we’ll be able to use software more efficiently and effectively. I, for one, can’t wait!

Answering how-to’s with screencasting

Have you ever had trouble with your computer and needed an immediate solution?

Unfortunately, most “help” files aren’t helpful at all when you don’t have the time or patience to read them. Screencasting offers a solution to this frustrating problem.

Often containing narration, screencasts are videos recording a computer screen. How-to’s are answered most effectively in this way.

Check out this screencast about how to use Stumble Upon, a user-tailored search engine that finds the best of the web, according to your preferences:

Can you think of other screencasts that are useful to academic research? Are you an expert in a software tool that you could make a screencast for?

The best software for making a screencast is Camtasia, which is easy to use and incorporates voice and video of the creator (optional) to enhance the learning experience for the user.

Whether you need help answering a computer-related problem or are offering a solution, screencasts are the best tool for the job.

Podcasting: Time to crack open your shell

It takes a confident voice and an interesting message to make a good podcast. You might be trying to appeal to an audience that listens to podcasts at the gym, while commuting, or while doing household chores. Whatever they’re doing, you want your podcast to distract them from it.

What can you offer with your voice? Think about your message and practice inflections that will be interesting. No one wants to listen to a monotone lecturer, and the “next” button is at their fingertips. Luckily, you can enhance your voice with software like Garage Band and even add background noises too.

The important thing to remember, as with all forms of social media, is your auidence and purpose. What actions do you want your audience to take, if any? Why should they care about what you have to say?

Podcasting is a great way to get your messgage across, and you don’t need to be a techonology expert to make one. Check out this link to get started!

Twitter got your tongue?

If you’ve thought about using social media to enhance your research you’ve probably come across Twitter. Here are some quick tips to de-mystify what the chirping is about.

Who to follow: Follow people doing similar research, or people who have already contributed to your field.

How to get followers: Use buzz words related to your topic. Some people who have automated searches to add users who post about certain key words. Also, your name will come up as a suggested person to follow if your tweets match other people’s interests.

What to Tweet: Point people in the direction of something you find interesting. Twitter isn’t about what you’re doing, it’s about what you’re interested in. If you’re stuck, why not re-tweet what an expert in your field is interested in. It’s a good way to add filler, but don’t forget to focus on your own tweets too.

Finally, tweet often and remember your audience!

Four easy steps to a successful blog

Blogs are one of the most effective social-media tools. Once you’ve established your audience, here are four easy steps to a successful blog:

1. Grab attention: Focus on things like your heading and the first line of your post. These are what grab your readers and convince them your blog is worth reading.

2. Build interest: Give your reader what they are looking for quickly. Use key ideas that they will be able to transfer to their situation and experience.

3. Create desire: The best part about a blog is that it is ongoing; you can keep adding to it and feed your audience’s hunger. Keep them wanting more, and give them more! Think about value-added posts.

4. See the action: This is where readers give feedback, in the form of comments or purchases, and is the final step in making your blog a success. To encourage users to comment, ask questions, use giveaways and competitions as incentive to post or Tweet about your blog, and don’t forget to keep them coming back by keeping them engaged.

Bonus (this is the value-added bit!):

In addition to the four steps above, commonly known as AIDA, it is sometimes useful to develop an Attract-Engage-Retain strategy:

1. Attract: Know your audience and provide a service to them (that’s your purpose!).

2. Engage: Ask questions of your audience. Get them to post comments or participate in other ways such as Tweeting about your blog.

3. Retain: Keep them coming back by replying to their comments, and adapting your style as needed to keep in the interests of your audience.

Happy blogging and remember, if at first you do not succeed — keep posting!

InterNETWORKING poetry

Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter—to name a few,

Are these users my friends, or do I just have nothing better to do?

Facebook is my weakness, but I’ll tell you a tale,

It’s not only for downtime; sometimes good work does prevail.

Her assignment was due in only an hour,

And my poor friend Carrie was not feeling in power.

She couldn’t get her template for ENGL401 to update,

And just went it seemed like her grade would be left to fate…

She sent me a message; I happened to check,

And we Facebook chatted until she was out of her wreck!

Now email is fine, but I don’t know about you,

When time is an issue only online chat will do!

So even though it’s mostly a procrastinator’s fix,

Social networking can be a useful part of your daily mix.

Happy networking, everyone! 🙂

Top secret! I can’t wait to tell you about it…

How do you balance sharing your experiences with maintaining your privacy?

Is there a socially optimal level of privacy? We want to know more about each other, but at what point do we start to know too much?

First, let’s start with the good things about open information sharing with an example.

Earlier this year my best friend’s father passed away. I got a voicemail from her saying she was getting on a plane to head home and that this was it; he was dying. She flew home to be with her family and turned off her cell phone to shut out the rest of the world–but that included me! I left message after message trying to let her know I was there for her, but of course couldn’t get through. Then I had an idea. I got on the internet and used Canada 411 to find her home telephone number. I called her house and after being screened by her mother was able to talk with her, cry with her, and mourn with her.  Short of flying up north, that was the best I could do. Because she had a listed number I was able to contact her.

We still cry together on a regular basis, but now it’s in person.

I wanted to share that story for two reasons:

1) It shows a benefit of lack of privacy. I was able to contact her because she hadn’t requested an unlisted number; and

2) I just shared a very private experience with everyone who reads this blog.

Due to lack of internet privacy, you could figure out who I am, who she is, and perhaps make a profit on it. Well, okay, in this case maybe only if you were a facial tissue company and sent us coupons (we love coupons by the way; send as many as you’d like).

Okay, so that was an example where there were gains from lack of privacy, but potential for invasion of privacy. There are coupon-sending creeps out there, and let’s face it, they aren’t always welcome.

So what about when there isn’t enough privacy, and we get outcomes that are sub-optimal. Do I really need to know where my younger sister was last night?

What about when it’s something a little bit more serious, like applying for a job. Don’t worry about having a nice resume; just delete all of the party pictures on your Facebook page!

HR managers are making decisions based on judgments, perhaps even at the expense of the company. If I have a clean Facebook page does that mean I should be the one who gets the job? What if I’m not the most qualified?

So the debate still continues, and the optimal level of privacy remains ever elusive.

Better safe than sorry, so don’t be afraid to go back to the phrase, “That’s on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know.”

Don’t copy me! Copyright law fails me once again

Externalities: They can be positive or negative, but they aren’t transmitted in prices.

We learn about externalities in third year in economics. We may have been introduced to them earlier, but never really to the point of understanding (or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention that day). Basically, there are spill-over effects from actions within markets that may benefit–or harm–players outside of the market. In environmental economics we talk about pollution as a negative externality. But for me, sometimes even just attending class can have unplanned negative effects.

Talking and sharing ideas for our honours theses made me really internalize this economic concept (pun intended). After spending weeks preparing my topic and narrowing my idea, I share it in class, and then lo and behold a week later someone is asking me if their idea conflicts with mine.

“OF COURSE IT DOES! PICK YOUR OWN TOPIC,” was what I was screaming inside, but of course I was polite and said, “As long as you don’t cover x, y, and z they will be different, and it will be fine.”

Well, of course she’s covering x and y, so now all I have left is z. That wasn’t the plan! When I shared my idea I wanted feedback to help me develop it further, not to give it away to someone else.

Unfortunately, you can’t copyright ideas, so I’ll have to live in the Pareto-inefficient world where she gains from my knowledge spill-over with no benefits to me.

Maybe if I tell her about potential Pareto improvements she’ll catch on! 😉