Web 2.0 now in continuing education at Oxford
We get lots of over-the-transom submissions to Radar, most of which we don't cover. (Just like an open source project, we generally take our news from experienced "committers" who've worked their way up from commenter to lead source to guest blogger to full time participant. We generally don't take news from PR agencies or people just looking for coverage.) But sometimes, an unsolicited submission is news not for what is submitted but for who submits it. I was tickled to receive this email from Peter Holland of the Department of Continuing Education at Oxford University:
Please consider the following University of Oxford events for inclusion in your events listing page:
Mobile Social Networking - the Financial Saviour of the Mobile Sector (3 July 2007, University of Oxford, UK)
The smart guys working in 3G now accept that the one-to-many broadcast of mobile content is a broken business model. So what now? The passion of connected people to socialise words, voice, media and digital possessions around their personal networks never went away - it just went mobile. Mobile Social Networking. It's time is right now. MobSocNetUser Generated Content and Web 2.0 - A Strategic Viewpoint for Decision Makers (5 July 2007, University of Oxford, UK)
Designed for decision makers, this intensive one-day course offers an opportunity to learn more about the threats and opportunities arising from user generated content.Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS : User Generated Content (from a telecoms / infrastructure perspective) (6 July 2007, University of Oxford, UK)
This intensive one-day course will have a dual perspective. It will approach Web 2.0 from the user perspective and also from the IMS standpoint. It will cover the basics of IMS and will then discuss how IMS would apply in a user generated content / Web 2.0 world.
The fact that Web 2.0 is now the subject of continuing education courses is a sure sign that the meme has hit the mainstream. That the first of these courses I've heard about are at Oxford is a nice grace note to that mainstream acceptance, because of the university's history, dating back to the middle ages, and its status as one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
According to Wikipedia, the first literary mention of Oxford comes in The Canterbury Tales, which referred to a "Clerk [student] of Oxenford": "For him was levere have at his beddes heed/ Twenty bookes, clad in blak or reed,/ of Aristotle and his philosophie/ Than robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrie". Now we can say: "For him was levere have at his beddes heed/ Twenty bookes and a deli.cio.us feed/ of Web 2.0 philosophie/ Than windows riche or filthie, or gray SOA."
tags: mainstream acceptance, web 2.0
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Hello Tim
Many thanks for covering this. I conduct both the Web 2.0 courses at Oxford. I did the first one last year(in Dec) and it was a big success. This one looks very promising as well.
To clarify, this is an industry collaboration (and not normally for the students at Oxford) i.e. attendees are traditionally from Industry.
Last year, we had BBC, MTV, T-mobile among others. It was well recieved(and you can see the testimonial from the T-mobile VP there)
Traditionally, these courses are telecoms focussed - but last year they tried Web 2.0 for the first time(partly because I proposed it ..) and it went off very well. So, we continue this year and maybe longer.
The 'Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS' is very interesting since it talks of extending Web 2.0 into an IP Telecoms network - my baby - both professionally and for my PhD to a small extent(and its the first time I am conducting this one!)
Since I also chair Oxford university's next generation mobile applications panel, this course definately gets a lot of coverage at Oxford
Next time you are in the UK, pls let me know and I will invite you to our events at Oxford(the last one had Google, Three, Symbian, Vodafone as speakers and Google was a co-sponsor)
kind rgds
Ajit
I think its great that Oxford is getting 'active' with the latest trends.
Not to say they should start doing 'courses' (does one day qualify as a course?) willy-nilly but may start the ball rolling and get other univ's taking a serious look at how far behind they are with their curriculum.
Lal
First of all, thanks to Tim for picking up on our web 2.0 courses.
We have been running short telecoms (and electronics and engineering) courses here at Oxford University since 1989.
These are not aimed at Oxford University students but at those in industry from companies such as O2, Ericsson, Hutchison 3, IBM, Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Toshiba, Vodafone and many more.
We were one of the first training providers anywhere in the world to offer courses on UMTS/3G technology and we are constantly striving to provide education in many cutting-edge technologies.
One of the perceptions I suppose we have to fight against is that of Oxford University as a place that's all about Classical Archaeology and Ancient History (sigh)!
Best regards
Peter Holland, University of Oxford
... and Tim, I'd like to extend Ajit's invitation. if ever you are in the area, come and see us.
i want to study on line corses to be a phrmacescit i have BSC in microbiology and worke in pharmaceutical industries
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Andrea Hill [06.01.07 01:30 PM]
I am not sure how I feel about "web2.0" being the subject of formal education, even if it's only a single-day class. I just have the sense that formal programs that are culled together to comment on the latest IT trends do more to question the legitimacy of the field than add to it. I say that as someone who holds a bachelor's degree in "digital communications", which was a combination of graphic design, programming and marketing, created in 2000 or so to give cash in on the web boom (ok, a bit late...)
Don't get me wrong, I am finally able to appreciate web2.0 as a legitimate shift in user behaviour and expectations, I just don't know if it's something you can sit down in a classroom to learn about. I do love the idea of conferences and sharing insights and observations, but the classroom just doesn't seem the right venue.
Aha... perhaps it is because a conference, with its panels and networking and Q&A sessions, is more interactive, whereas a classroom still has the dichotomy of "instructor vs learners". A conference IS "web.0-ish"... wherein the participants help frame the experience and the message.