You Create the Content with UCC

Horizon Project review time once again. This time the User Created Content trend (UCC).

According to the Horizon Report UCC is "...all about the audience, and the "audience" is no longer merely listening. User-created content is all around us, from blogs and photostreams to wikibooks and machinima clips....These bits of content represent a new form of contribution and an increasing trend toward authorship that is happening at almost all levels of experience."

The Project Manager of the UCC trend for the project, Sabbab, created a commendable introduction to the main UCC wiki. Here it is:
" " We are no longer consumers but producers as well", said Thomas Freidman the author of the book The World is Flat. This means that now the users of online tools can also contribute information as well and access it which has revolutionized the whole way we thought about the Internet, as previously it was referred to as a source of information and not something where one could contribute as well. As the topic of this wiki suggests users can now create their own content online i.e. contribute information to the web and download as well. These contributers are now finding new ways to contribute, communicate and collaborate using a variety of tools. A few examples of such tools are Web 2.0 technologies example Google docs, social networking sites, blogging and social bookmarking sites such as Flickr and del.icio.us."

Introduction to UCC
Sabbab has created a well constructed video that includes content from three other students, from Vienna International School (Austria), Presbyterian Ladies School (Melbourne) and ISD (Dhaka). It also includes commentary from Sabbab himself (and as his teacher I know how nervous he was doing this!) as well as a clever intertwining of parts of the Michael Wesch video "The machine is Us/ing Us". Listen also for the teacher at VIS, Barbara Stefanics speaking eloquently about the current state and future of social bookmarking!




The Future of User Created Content Video
Sourov looks at the development of computer technology from the mid 90s and relates his own personal story of how he became a computer user and the upgrades he went through to get to today. He then looks at the present and future of UCC. I like his inclusion of a short clip from 'Back to the Future' after which he says, "We might not yet have flying cars but we certainly been able to build the web where we can share, create and communicate."




Future of User Created Content
Salvi worked in the area of impact employment for the UCC trend. In his video he deliberates over how UCC could be used to find a job. As Salvi's teacher can I share with you the breakthrough we had with this video. Despite the fact he has not done a particularly good job editing the video footage (he has left my questions in!) it is fantastic that he developed from 'reading' from paper all of his commentary to actually thinking about what he was saying. I call this a great step forward in understanding his topic and am glad I asked him to do it this way (stressful as it was at the time!). I think he has done a great job!



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