Emerging Technologies - Assignment Example

Objectives: To demonstrate effective use of social media (e.g. blogs and twitter) To evaluate existing web site and identify areas for improvement Todemonstrate your understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of emerging technologies in a specific context To reflect on your experience and understanding of using different emerging technologies Introduction In your tutorial from week 3 onwards, you will cover the activities needed for this assignment, so please think of this assignment as something that starts in Week 3, even though it is submitted in January. Blog post 1 – Write a blog post (100+ words) that links to other valid web resources and gives Suzanne Bolt a specific example of how the use of blogs could help her achieve Salford Sports Village goals. 7 November Deadline for posting for maximum marks (paste the blog post url into the Reflection section of your assignment – see page 3) In the modern 21st century, the advent of web technologies has become pivotal means of communication for many individuals. The dynamics of Web 2.0 have been modified to reflect the true purpose of creating new avenues of communication that have never been utilized. The whole essence of Web 2.0 is to generate means of cloud computing in which collaboration and discussion is encouraged. In this particular scenario, blogs can be critical towards achieving Salford Sports Village goals. One of the critical things to implement in order to thrive in blogging is understand search optimization engine key words. In essence, search engines such as Google tend to send “spider bots” that crawl and search for key words whenever an individual types in the Google search bar. A successful blogger must understand this technique and use it to their advantage. Blogging for this specific purpose is to clearly transition from subject matter to another subject in a very transitive manner. For example, blogging should be conducted and discussing the advantages of sports and community. Using keywords such as sports, community, football, street, parks and recreation, stress reliever can tremendously help. Another huge element towards expanding this horizon is offering free services. For instance, giving a free view of upcoming programs in the community can really engage all the individuals, which can boost clicks on the webpage. The best thing Suzane can do is write something along the lines of “ Today, I have realized that the parks and recreation center needs drastic improvements. I had a brilliant opportunity to visit the Glenside Public District which has transformed the dynamics of their recreation. They have implemented a senior center that has been a catalyst for healthy aging. The kids have an amazing new playground that accommodates to their needs. Moreover, creating a playground for the kids is a long-term investment because it will add value to the community. Since tax money already is allocated, hiring construction workers will also raise employment and the value of the community. One of the key things to exploit is to get sponsorship from outside vendors. Suzanne must overcome the challenge of a budget and seek outside resources through blogs, videos, audio podcasts that will continue to grab attention. Blog post 2 – Write a blog post (100+ words) that embeds a relevant image and/or video combines with text that shows Suzanne Bolt how visual media can help her achieve Salford Sports Village goals, 21 November Deadline for posting for maximum marks (paste the blog post url into the Reflection section of your assignment – see page 3) The best way to advertise oneself is through youtube because of many reasons. First and foremost, Youtube allows individuals to sign up for a policy in which the user uploads videos that Youtube will compensate the user for. Moreover by clicking the subscription button, individuals are allowed to penetrate the online community because people will constantly receive updates on new videos posted. It is crucial that Suzanne continues to make videos that engage people to discuss ideas and share their comments so Google recognizes that these blogs are engaged in a continuous activity. Furthermore, if advertisers feel that Suzanne has interesting topics, she will be able to put advertisements on her videos which can be another channel for revenue. Creating the blue prints for the children center will encourage everyone to take part and implement their feedback. Giving a vision of the future center can definitely be a plus point. The Web 2.0 should try to focus on building a Customer Relation Management, which is achieved through creating a brand value. In essence, the videos and blogs should enable other individuals to share their ideas and reflections. This mutual symbiotic movement should allow individuals from different demographics to collaborate in an effective manner. In any manner, subscriptions to the videos and blogs are necessary as it attracts advertisers to flourish in a competitive environment. Web evaluation online activity – The evaluation of Salford Sports Village web site is crucial to your consultancy report for Suzanne Bolt. You should aim to complete this by 29 November to feed into coursework preparation. Submission Part 1 Suzanne Bolt, local Olympic silver medal sprinter, has recently taken over the running of what is currently a run down sports centre in Salford. There are many challenges ahead for her as Salford Sports Village has had little strategic direction in the past few years and membership has seriously dwindled. However Suzanne is determined to make Salford Sports Village a successful community-focused centre. A strategy that Suzanne wants to introduce and that will differentiate this sports centre from others in the local area is a focus on young people. A range of alternative sports will be offered such as skate boarding, street football, street/urban dancing, BMX biking alongside the traditional offerings. Additionally, Suzanne wants to launch a charity event to link with the Olympic games, ‘2012 Salford Games’ to encourage the local children to get fit and try new sports. Local primary schools will adopt a different country’s identity and put forward a team to compete in the games and a team of games stewards. There will be an opening and closing ceremony so all the children can get involved. Salford Sports Village has a web site1 that is in need of a serious overhaul. Suzanne is aware that there are problems with the web site but is not quite sure what they are or how to fix it. However she has also been hearing a lot about social media and Web 2.0 and is curious to find out more about this and how it might help promote the Sports Village and attract sponsorship for the ‘2012 Salford Games’ charity event. Suzanne has approached you in your role as a consultant in social media. Eventually Suzanne wants to build a business strategy for Salford Sports Village use of emerging technologies, leading to a new web site integrated to social media and services. In the first instance, she wants to increase her knowledge and skills in this area so she can begin to experiment and make good decisions about where to go next. Suzanne wants you to explain the key features of these media and services and an evaluation of the web site in a report. Your informal report should be presented as an electronic document with clickable links to cover the following key areas, each of which should be backed up with an example (including links to web sites/ screen shots or as appropriate): 1. Introduction (word limit 250) that explains five relevant technologies of your choice, e.g. web presence - blog, web site; social networking services -Twitter, Facebook, MySpace; media services such as podcasting and video services - YouTube.com, etc.; sport services such as Nike Fitness, MapMyRun etc and/or any other technologies/services that you think might be relevant The five relevant technologies that are going to be utilized is Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, MyTracks, and NikeFitness. These are the most prominent companies along with Google search engine are crucial. The Nike Fitness Campaign that has been highly championed through high-profiled athletes such as Adrian Peterson and Troy Polamalu from the Steelers is a clear indication of the popularity of the fitness campaign. The innovations of smartphone applications have allowed users to track down their fitness progress, measure their BMI, track down their fitness regime and achieve a healthier lifestyle. It is truly amazing to see personalities like Scott Herman and Scooby fitness who have created their channels and are being sponsored by not only Youtube but other companies. Any individual with videos can generate subscriptions, which should be Suzanne’s goal as well. We have the similar mindset for this project. It is essential to appeal to project stakeholders and serve as a liaison between a developing team and the business users. Twitter is also not a bad channel to penetrate since users can follow Suzanne and be more involved with her updates. This allows her to attract and engage individuals in her project along with spreading the world. The unique element about Twitter is the fact that “tweets” can be shared in a dynamic manner that can be crucial towards championing a cause. 2. Give TWO Examples (word limit 200 for each example) of these technologies in use by small or medium-sized sports organizations (see criteria overleaf). Sport organization such as Chicago Bulls use Facebook and NBATV to promote their game. Newsfeed is dynamically updated through Facebook along with headlines. Moreover, NBATV is given to users with video about the game, which includes highlights and other necessary information. Facebook and other mediums not can be simultaneously connected in order to benefit users in the long-term. Another thing that this organization is pursuing is attempting to use Skype. Many organizations have derived these benefits because it allows them to use free sources to gain attraction. Lastly, Google keeps tracks of all the sport teams because it has become the supreme search engine. Even if an individual does not internet, they can text “Google” with keywords to obtain instant updates. The first example should be of how sports club or centre uses technologies and services in an integrated and innovatory way http://fitkid.wordpress.com/events-celebrations/ and the second example should demonstrate the use of these technologies promoting charity sports event www.justgiving.co.uk (please find alternative sports sites for your answers). 3. Evaluation of web site for Salford Sports Village (word Limit 300) Informed by your online evaluation activity and based on principles taught in lectures, provide a short report summarising your evaluation. I found that the website was informative and user friendly for individuals. Everything was outlined in a very clear and concise manner. Furthermore, the graphical outlay suggested that good website dynamics were enacted in order to give it a very professional look. The website is extremely user friendly as clear differences are made for accessibility. Students can also questions about the website to the web administer. All the correct information was found on the information tabs. For instance under “project proposal,” the estimated budget is visible. In addition, the website has the calendar in which everything seems to be update. It is a great website for students who not only want to challenge themselves, but have fun while acquiring their math skills. A great thing about this website is the fact that there are no unnecessary pop ups. Since it is an educational institute, it completely eliminates that problem. Lastly, it utilizes the future technology with having links to social networking websites. Undoubtedly, this shows it understands the students and to build a network. The website does associate everything regarding math and makes it very interactive for students. The website is current to date as the math community is also involved in this website. Facebook should be extensively pursue to attract consumers to expose the market base. In addition, creating radio along with television advertisements should be the main objective to exploit the market. Creating a strong market brand equity through blogs and feedback can be pivotal. More information “About us” would have enhanced the website. 3. Conclusions (word limit 250) with suggestions of two practical steps that Suzanne could take next with Salford Sports Village in order to start using these technologies. The two practical steps that Suzanne can take is to create a Facebook page. That is extremely easy and literally takes seconds. The first unique element is to promote the product on Facebook by encouraging customers to like the page. The second element would be to start a blog in the website that would attract consumers through positive feedback. The second practical step that Suzanne can take is to create a Youtube Channel and urge people to subscribe to the channel. This will continue to propagate for the cause, spread the word, and create a customer value brand through e-marketing. Part 2 Word limit 300 Reflection: This part of the assignment enables you to bring together theory (from lectures and module resources) and practice (from your online and tutorial activities, and your Assessed Tasks). In this part you should reflect on how your understanding of emerging technologies has been influenced by your practical experience of those technologies, for example of engaging in the first two Assessed Tasks, participating in social networks, or doing the online or tutorial activities assigned for this module. For example, if you learned about tagging or accessibility and were able to bring that into Part 1 of the assignment, you could mention that. Obviously there are lots of possibilities of how you managed to increase your understanding of lecture topics by practical experience. If you already had a good understanding, use examples from where you gained that. My understanding of the technologies has dynamically evolved. First and foremost, I wanted to conduct a quick SWOT analysis of the whole situation to understand the top tools that can assist me in this cause. Secondly, I realized that Facebook and Youtube can generate quick amounts of revenue and can be utilized for search optimization content. That itself was crucial because it gave me a decent understanding of reaching out for help. Moreover, there are many websites that offer services in which I can create my own website without programming or html. The more blogging that is conducted in my website, the more I can get the word out about my project. The key thing is to always updating the content in order to attract a solid market base and allow discussions which harness collaboration. Moreover, programs such as Adobe script and Adobe Flex along with SQL can tremendously help any individual who is tech savvy and has the skill to embed those skills. LINKS http://www.facebook.com/SuzanneBolt http://www.nikefitness.com http://www.youtube.com/Suzannechannel http://www.mytracks.com http://www.youtube.com Works Cited "Multimedia, Online, Internet; Internet Marketing Training That Empowers Small Business Owners", 2011, Education Letter,, no. 19381840, pp. 91. Levack, K. 2009, "Tough Times Call for Social Measures: Marketing With Social Computing Tools", EContent, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 10-11. Mulvihill, A. 2011, "Measuring the Value of a Like", EContent, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 8-9,12. Powell, R.S. 2009, "Who Is on the Other End of Facebook?", The Chronicle of Higher Education, , no. 00095982, pp. n/a-n/a. Selke, J.H., P.H.D. 2011, Social Marketing: Where Should You Start?, American Camping Association, United States, Martinsville. Yeager, K. & Toth, D. 2010, "Social Media for Continuing Education and Contract Training Units", The Catalyst, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 3-12. Submission: You are strongly advised to use the Sandpit Turnitin Area in the Assessments Section of the Emerging Technologies Blackboard module, whilst you are preparing your assignment. This will help you to check that you are making appropriate use of web and other sources. Follow the Harvard Referencing style, use quotation marks for direct quotations and citations when you use the sense of someone else’s ideas. However this is NOT where your assignment is actually submitted and assignments submitted via Turnitin will not be marked. You should submit your final report as a Word (.doc) or .pdf document with web-links via Emerging Technologies Assignment Submission in the Assignment section of the Emerging Technologies Blackboard module by midnight, Tuesday 10 January 2010. Be sure you understand the late submission regulations. Where coursework is submitted late the following penalties for late work shall be applied to the mark or grade for that work: (a) if the work is up to 7 calendar days late then 10 marks shall be deducted, but if the work would otherwise pass then the mark for the work shall be reduced to no lower than the pass mark for the module; (b) if the work is between 8 and 14 calendar days late then 20 marks shall be deducted, but if the work would otherwise pass then the mark for the work shall be reduced to no lower than the pass mark for the module; (c) if the work is a fail and is up to 14 calendar days late then no penalty shall be applied; (d) if the work is graded and is up to 14 calendar days late then no penalty shall be applied; (e) if the work is more than 14 calendar days late then it cannot be submitted and shall be recorded as a non-submission (NS). (ARTP 8.2.5) http://policies.salford.ac.uk/display.php?id=346 Housekeeping: During the final two weeks of term we will use tutorial sessions to give general feedback on your assignment drafts and to provide support for this assignment. Assessment Criteria and Weightings Element Word count Indicative criteria   Mark  Part 1     1 Introduction 250 Succinct introduction that briefly explains 5 technologies in a way that Suzanne will understand (with links to sources) 15 2 Example 1 200 Well chosen and rich example with explanation and links to technologies in use by specific sports organizations. A good example here will show how the organisation has used the technologies and services in an integrated and innovatory way. 10 Example 2 200 Well chosen and rich example (that complements first example) with explanation and links to technologies in use by specific Sports charity event site. A good example here will show how the event organizer has used the technologies and services in an integrated and innovatory way. 10 3 Evaluation of web site 300 Web site evaluation based on principles taught in lectures and informed by online web site evaluation exercise. It should understandable by Suzanne Bolt. 20 4 Conclusions 250 Summarise the findings and identify two next steps that Suzanne can take. 15 Part 2 Reflection 300 Your reflections should include links between theory (as covered in lectures and resources) and practice (from your personal use of technologies and what you have experienced through this module), with examples. Marks will also be awarded for the quality of your reflection. You should reflect on how your use of social media (e.g. blogs and Twitter) informed your reflection. Your reflection should include links to your blog posts (marks lost if posted later than dates stated in introduction). 30 Total 1500 You will be marked down for poor scholarship, e.g. links that do not work, any resources that are not referenced. 100 Read More