eeeeee......Learning!

E-Learning is learning that is facilitated by the use of digital tools and content. This week’s lesson placed an emphasis on online interactivity between learners and their teachers or peers, which is an important element of the e-learning process. It is said that learning today is different from traditional learning which takes place in a classroom. It is a process that no longer resides within an instructor, but that involves a variety of methods and avenues for people all over the world to benefit from, at any time and place.

Varieties of eLearning today include virtual classroom, online learning, rapid e-learning, simulation-based, game-based, mobile learning, and learning management system. Because e-learning has the ability to engage learners, provide interactive and creative new ways for learning, it is increasingly appealing to the mass audience today. For instance, students now engage in rapid e-learning when they log on to websites such as Wikipedia or make use of Google to search and source for instant information. This is made possible by digital media and technology whereby students no longer have to wait to consult their teachers during contact hours in the classroom whenever doubts arise if it can be easily answered or solved online.   Notes and learning materials are now easily available with a click of the mouse. Game-based and simulation-based learning provides an alternative for students who have short attention span and require animation and/or sound effects to help them concentrate and learn better. And because learning is highly personal and learning demands are vastly diverse, having various approaches of learning (such as the different varieties of e-learning) caters to more people and keeps everyone relevant. Additionally, mobile learning is widely popular mainly because of its convenience and easy access. People can now search for information, learn foreign languages, and even be updated with the news on the go, saving time and money. For further description, I have uploaded two videos below to portray and explain the virtual classroom and the effectiveness of digital media on learning respectively.

The move from a traditional classroom to a digital classroom is already evident presently. I had the honor of witnessing how kindergarten kids today learn using a virtual board and the countless interactive applications it offers. As compared to the past, blackboards and whiteboards are getting obsolete as people discover and find new ways of teaching. Technology itself doesn’t guarantee success, but it definitely acts as a stepping stone to a more advanced manner of learning altogether.

What a traditional classroom is like as we know it:

 

What classrooms today are heading toward (even in Kindergartens):

Alongside the main teacher, I had the luxury to teach this bunch of kids using the electronic board shown above. It was certainly a stark contrast from how my lessons were conducted when I was younger. The learning experience for the kids as I observed was not only enriching but highly engaging as well. We were able to use interactive games that had a fair bit of animations and catchy music to capture their attention and focus. More importantly, they had the opportunity to personally write on the electronic board using pointers. As such, the students were all very willing and in fact, excited, to participate in class, a trend increasingly seen today. This illustrates the point of how learning requires personal motivation. For example, like the children, most of us enjoy the idea of playing a game. In a game, there are objectives to be met and satisfaction that comes along with meeting them. The consequences of failing do not concern lifelong decisions or changes, thus people have more incentive to try and keep trying. This is essentially what effective learning is about- learning from mistakes and failures after many tries. In this aspect, game-based learning offers us a room to err, hence there is the drive to do well but the lack of fear for failure, and this is something traditional teaching does not always allow.

Just 15 years ago, students were preferred to keep silent in class and simply listen to their teachers. Learning then, seemed greatly limited to what the teachers had to offer. Today however, the learning process goes both ways as students are very much encouraged to share their perspectives with their instructors and both parties can therefore acquire knowledge from each other. Furthermore, in a digital age such as that we are living in, it is important to keep up with times and be equipped with digital literacy skills. Through the above means, I guess it is safe to say that digital media has indeed facilitated and enabled effective learning.  

This probably gives us an idea of what the future digital classroom will look like. Schools are starting to become technology-centered as children nowadays are turning to laptops and notebooks instead of the traditional pen and paper to take down notes. The video below shows a real life example of a public elementary school in East L.A. and its vision to shift to a completely digital environment in the making thanks to the foresight of its principal and her awareness of the significance of digital media to the education of students of the future.

MICROSOFT SURFACE TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft Surface is a software and hardware technology that allows people to interact with digital content as they interact with everyday items. It basically consists of multi-touch user interaction and a tangible user interface. The Microsoft Surface Pro for instance, is a product of the Microsoft surface technology that is nicely designed and acts as a personal computer as well as a tablet. While there have been positive reviews, it seems not everybody stands in awe of this new technology. After all, having seen and used the marvelously created Apple technology such as iPad (which is currently still rapidly “evolving”) and what not, the Microsoft Surface Pro doesn’t seem exceedingly astonishing, at least in my opinion.

With progressively more and more new technology being created every now and then, it is important for companies to revolutionize and gain an edge over others by introducing technologies with newer and highly interesting features never seen before in order to succeed. While the Microsoft Surface technology is a considerably new concept of Microsoft, with seemingly interesting functions, its success in future is dependent on the amount of stability it can provide its users, as well as the need for it to innovate continuously.

 

Week 4- Internet and E-Commerce

This week’s lesson revolved around the topic of doing business on the Internet. I learnt about the many “P”s that are required for businesses to be successful as well as the 7 S that companies should possess. The many “P”s that are crucial to establishing one’s business include the product, place, price, people (suppliers and workers), partners, and pay- all of which are necessary in order for businesses (both large and small scale) to run smoothly.  On top of that, it is important to plan out marketing schemes and have appropriate system in place whereby people assume different roles and responsibilities to increase overall efficiency. The seven “S”s are namely strategy, structure, system, style, staff, skills, and above all shared values. All of these are undoubtedly applicable not just to businesses with a traditional structure, but also (or in fact, more so) to E-Businesses as well.

E-Business refers primarily to the digital enablement of transactions and processes within a firm, and while it is always used interchangeably with the term E-Commerce, there is a need to distinguish between the former from the latter. As mentioned, e-business does not include commercial transactions involving an exchange of value across organizational boundaries, whereas e-commerce does. Essentially, E-Business is the function of deploying technology to maximize customer value (within an organization_ while E-Commerce is the function of creating exchange (i.e. buying and selling) over digital media. And this is what I have discovered only after the two Com 125 lessons as well as many attempts at trying to comprehend the differences between these two.  

Moving on, I have decided to focus the rest of this blog post on E-Commerce after reading up on it a bit. Through this week’s lessons, we were taught that there were various key reasons an increasing number of people are turning to the internet for E-Commerce purposes- to expand market reach, issue of visibility, enhanced responsiveness, new services, strengthening of business relationships, and cost reduction. As expected, the onset of the internet and subsequently the WWW (World Wide Web) made endless online activities possible. Today, the internet business is rampant as many turn to online e-commerce in hope of reaching a wider audience, leveling the playing field between small and larger sized companies to a certain extent, getting instant feedback and responding accordingly, and so on. Knowing all these however, perhaps the more interesting questions are, what contributes to the success of certain e-commerce and why others on another hand, failed?

To begin with, there are numerous reasons why some e-commerce failed while others reaped remarkable success. Firstly, factors which contribute to successful e-commerce are as follow:

1.      Attractiveness of the website- It represents the interface of the company/business, and thus having an attention-grabbing site is the first crucial step in deciding whether people are drawn to the business itself and hence the products/ services it is selling. This complements the generic marketing model in which awareness is chiefly valued.

2.      Accessibility- The e-commerce website has to be accessible in all browsers and operating system so that it will be available for all internet users to visit and make purchasers. Without access to a site, naturally it will not be possible for commercial transactions to take place.

3.      Easy navigation and operation- Simplicity is key. This makes it easy and convenient for consumers to carry out their online shopping at a more comfortable and efficient pace. While design of the site should be appealing, it should also be easy to navigate around to prevent unnecessary frustration for online users. This includes the checkout function of the shopping process in which the process is simplified and reduced to as few steps as possible.

4.      Credibility- Internet users have to be confident in the websites that they intend to buy a product or service from; hence it is important for e-commerce sites to gain the trust of consumers. This can be done by including authentic verification of associations like PayPal, etc. Most importantly, customers have to be assured that their privacy will be respected.

5.      Customization and personalization- Products and services should be designed clearly and specifically to fit the customers’ needs. This also aids in creating brand loyalty.

6.      Good marketing strategy- E-Commerce should have a clear niche area in which customers know what their main area of service is known for e.g. bestselling items, etc. There must be competitive prices and the knowledge and awareness of potential competitors. E-Commerce businesses also need to have a target audience in mind, the diversity and variety of products and/or services, a future goal for the business as a whole, and methods to go about reaching more people to increase the business.  

7.      Latest updates and discounts and promotions- It is necessary for e-commerce sites to provide constant updates as well as incorporate their marketing strategies from time to time to attract more buyers and potential customers e.g. members’ incentives, seasonal promotions, etc.

8.      Publicity and utilization of search engines- Established word-of-mouth and social validation are important factors in building a desirable reputation which will pay off in the long run. This is because an increasing amount of people are relying on customer reviews, recommendation from friends via social media, and the use of search engine (e.g. Google) to narrow down on the product they have in mind, thus e-commerce have a higher chance of succeeding if publicity is well taken care of.

9.      Outstanding customer care and support- Businesses comprise largely of the customers themselves, and more often than not they are the ones who determine whether a business succeeds or fails. Increasing customer satisfaction by providing quality service and efficient responses to their concerns will put the e-commerce site in a better light. This also helps in building and maintaining customer relations and hence loyalty.

10.  Competency- Above all, e-commerce involves digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organization and individuals. Thus, the people running it must have considerable expertise and ability not only to manage the interface of the business (website), but also the internal as well as external processes that take place between the organization and the consumers.

Similarly, many e-commerce fail when online entrepreneurs fail to take certain things into consideration before committing to their online businesses.  The more central causes for these failures include:

1.      Lack of marketing- As mentioned above, it is necessary for online entrepreneurs to have a goal and direction in mind, before coming up with a marketing strategy and plan for the e-commerce to succeed. Otherwise, there will be no advancement to talk about, not to mention attaining success.

2.      Inability to fulfill promises made to customers- One of the things that annoy customers more is failure on the seller’s side to fulfill their demands even though satisfaction was previously guaranteed. Such unpleasant experiences undeniably lead to loss of confidence and desire on the part of consumers to go back to the same e-commerce.

3.      Obsolete- When the site is not regularly maintained and information or products offered are no longer kept up to date, the e-commerce loses its competitive edge and becomes obsolete.

4.      Breach of privacy- As mentioned above, when credibility of the e-commerce is compromised, customers will tend to leave.

5.      Complex or unsatisfying checkout procedures- As a consumer of various e-commerce sites, I personally find it time consuming and mentally frustrating when the purchasing process (especially that of checkout procedure) is long and complicated! This definitely explains why one favors some e-commerce sites over others.

6.      Serious recurring technical issues on the site- Similarly, everyone appreciates user-friendly and problem-free websites that are easy and efficient to operate. Nobody likes it when technical issues constantly arise on a particular e-commerce site.

7.      No clear business strategy or product niche- Many e-commerce fail to stay true to their expertise and this result in the inability for them to do what they do best i.e. when they lose focus, they lose having a distinct objective for their business.

8.      Limited information available about the products- It is important that users have “consumer power” to distinguish one product from another, and the lack of information of the products on an e-commerce side does not permit them from doing so.

9.      Poor e-commerce management- Starting an e-commerce without a full proof plan is highly discouraged because often this spells trouble for the management thereof. There are many aspects of e-commerce that have to be taken care of (e.g. customer relations, orders and supplies, marketing strategies, etc), and thus without expertise and a clear direction, the e-commerce is bound to fail.

10.  Poor customer service- As mentioned above, customers are key to deciding the prospect of the business that one is doing. Inability to satisfy the customer and constant disappointments will definitely take a toll on the e-commerce reputation and cause it to go downhill.

The reasons for success and failure of certain e-commerce listed above are perhaps only the few key points out of abundant ones that are not mentioned here, and it is imperative for people to be aware of it. Precisely because there is a thin line between success and failure, the very same deciding factors of the success of e-commerce can also lead to the failure should one fail to keep up with the times and changing demands in the market.   

E-Marketing or electronic marketing basically refers to the application of marketing principles and techniques via electronic media and more specifically the Internet. eMarketing is the process of marketing a brand using the Internet. It includes both direct response marketing and indirect marketing elements and uses a range of technologies to help connect businesses to their customers. Thus, it comprises of all the activities that takes place in a business via the worldwide web (WWW) with the aim of attracting new business, retaining current ones and at the same time, developing its brand identity.

The success of e-marketing is mostly determined by the marketing strategy it deploys. The Internet mainly enhances collaborative marketing strategies by equipping the companies to fulfill their primary goals. “In collaborative marketing, companies support prospective customers in understanding and evaluating alternatives, in order to facilitate their purchase of optimal products. Their goal is to inform, educate, and develop trust, and eventually a relationship that yields repeat purchases and long term loyalty.” And the existence of the World Wide Web (WWW) complements collaborative marketing very well, allowing for both one-to-one marketing and one-to-many communications to take place between companies and online users.

Of course, it is imperative that the concept of “localization” is incorporated into e-marketing strategies in order for it to be a success. As a result of interconnectedness made possible by the Internet, people all around the world are coming together. However, it is a fact that they come from different cultures and speak diverse languages, and this calls for the need of online translations and specific settings catered to different regions.

Next, just like how e-commerce emphasizes personalization, e-marketing is made more successful through this very trait as well. At the root of marketing lies the skill to build relationships and manage ties in the most natural way possible and e-marketing is no exception. The key is to make clients feel like an honored "guest" at your website. Below is an article I’ve come across while doing some research and it talks about this aspect in detail. I found it to be really apt in how it describes marketing as a personal matter, so maybe it will be able to shed some light on how personalization leads to the success of e-marketing for the rest of you too!

Personalization: The Key To Success In E-Marketing, http://www.channelpartnersonline.com/articles/2002/04/personalization-the-key-to-success-in-e-marketing.aspx

Another fundamental strategy is to invest in search engine optimization, such as Google and Yahoo, so that one’s website will be prominent to internet users when a related keyword is typed in. This increases the traffic of the website, and potentially increases the likelihood of business transactions taking place. Additionally, on the website itself, it pays to refine the navigation function to make the search more advanced and detailed, so that consumers can narrow it down to what they exactly want.  

INTERNET SECURITY, PRIVACY AND LEGAL ISSUES FOR E-BUSINESS

Electronic payment systems are all designed to keep automatic records in order to store, access and trace customers’ data with regards to their purchases and transactions. For this reason, there exists the risk of violations in privacy. Privacy remains to be one of the biggest challenges of doing e-business on the WWW. “The reality is that every time one purchases goods using a credit card, subscribes to a magazine, or accesses a server, that information finds its way into a database somewhere. All payment details of a consumer can be easily aggregated and essentially condensed to a single dossier. This dossier would reflect what items were bought, where, and

Week 3: Social Networking- The World As I See It Coming

Source: http://thehouseofbeck.com/2012/12/31/endorse-shouldt-ask-linkedin/social-networking-bubble/ 

Source: http://www.techinasia.com/20-social-media-comic-strips/ 

As we delve deeper into social media, or specifically social networking, I learnt that there is indeed so much more to the Internet and its uses than it meets the eye. Social networking has become an integral part of modern lifestyle and it is ever evolving, leaving many susceptible to its influence. Social networking are no longer specifically catered to internet users who wish to keep in touch, but more amazingly, a platform for businesses to operate and run more effectively. The door to social media has opened and this resulted in multiple implications on prospects of business professionals.

Interaction between people is made easier as well as more convenient with the coming on of social media, allowing it to take place anywhere and anytime. Social networking online enables the grouping of individuals into specific groups more efficiently, and in such a way that is organized and easy to access. The leading social networking sites are Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Pinterest, the recently up-and-coming with much popularity Google+, and countless more.

Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images to their own collections or 'like' photos. The site was founded by Ben Silbermann (of West Des Moines, Iowa), Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp. Source: Wikipedia

This reminds me of the microblogging website, Tumblr, which I am exceedingly fond of! I have been guilty of spending hours on Tumblr, simply scrolling through hundreds of pretty photos that appear on my feed each day. However, Pinterest goes one step further than Tumblr to reach a target audience suitable for commercialization and business purposes, wherein it is a great platform to expose one’s business to another, promoting viewership and awareness of a product or service! I will be sure to check it out, later on. :-)

 

As mentioned previously, Facebook is the chief social networking site with more than 850 million users, easily becoming the third largest in the world if it was a country. But an introduction to Google+ this week aroused a question in my head: would it continue increasing in its popularity and gain acceptance from receptive internet users, eventually replacing Facebook in no time to come? Would Google+ become the “new Facebook” or the “old Friendster”? To consider this question, it is only right that we examine Google+ on a deeper level and pinpoint its attractiveness in contrast to the Facebook that most of us are familiar with.

Google+ has unique features like Hangout and Circles. Basically, hangouts are video chats which allow up to 10 people to video call together at the same time. Many believe that the advantage of this lies in the fact that Hangout is able to diminish the presence of technology to the bare minimum and enable friends to feel comfortable interacting with each other, as if there are no physical barriers or constraints to it whatsoever. Additionally, companies are also adopting this method of communication for internal business meetings. Who knows what more the future hold for business settlements and transactions worldwide with the startup of Google+ Hangout? Google+ also allows its users to reach out to their followers according to the different circles in which they are categorized in. This way, users can choose who they want to share with their updates with, making things much stress-free and efficient, something that Facebook is still working on. The videos below would probably paint a better picture of Google+ and its features, something that I only come to know about over the past few Com 125 lessons. In spite of the fact that I am feeling overwhelmed with the explosion of different kinds of social networking sites, I might even want to give Google+ a go!

 

Besides maintaining relations and forging new friendships over common interests, another prominent aspect of social networking is perhaps business-to-business marketing (B2B).

Source: http://www.internetviz.com/b2bsmblog/2010/09/30-awesome-b2b-social-media-resources/

Businesses require relationship building and maintaining as well and social networking sites online provides an exact solution for it. While real life networking is probably for the best, when people meet and interact on a face-to-face basis, online networking definitely has its perks as well. Modern living emphasizes much on fast pace and increasing efficiency, and an online solution such as social media may be just what future businesses need. Today, people are rapidly switching from watching TV commercials to get to know new products to searching online for user reviews and customer recommendations. The term “Google” is even used as an informal replacement for “search”! I believe many (like me) often say things like “okay I’m gonna Google this now!!” However, the rise of social platforms undermine Google as the primary search engine as increasing numbers of internet users are turning to social networking sites to gather more information about various products. People tend to trust their friends and families’ recommendations more than the company (of the product) itself because it appears to be more reliable. As such, social networking sites can make or break businesses depending on either positive or negative feedbacks from the “Netizens”. Very importantly, social networking sites allow people to reach out to an incredible amount of people and it has the ability to widen social circles by leaps and bounds compared to the past where face-to-face was the only means of networking. That said, it also opens up avenues for normal people like you and me to start up their businesses, gradually making their way up to accomplish the dreams of becoming entrepreneurs even. Furthermore, this can be done with little or no capital as a shop front is no longer needed since a virtual space online is sufficient for one to reach out to thousands or millions of people.  

Looking forward to learning more in the coming week!