Biggest Buzz...Social Networking

At the Saba Global Conference the biggest buzz is around social media and how it can be seamlessly integrated into the LMS. We saw a working version and heard the launch is set for mid-2009 so no panic to rush to the shops just yet. So why now? This stems from the growing online trend for user generated content (thank you YouTube, and 100 million Blogs, etc.) and tapping into the power of the community. So how does this relate to learning? Or Learning 2.0? Saba believe the opportunity lies with supporting users to collaborate more - realizing that learning is now becoming more user driven (peer to peer recommendations, sharing links, ideas and knowledge) and less steered by the organization. So Saba is setting up a richly featured social network space within the LMS.

They phrase this new solution: Saba Social - Connecting People to Expertise.

Saba Social is linked to the LMS and all its functionality...it is embeded into the application and shows up in a new Tab which brings you to the Knowledge Network (saba social). Writing about this is not easy as you should test drive it to understand how it works. The version I saw existed in PowerPoint so I am itching to get my hands on it. Basically it looks like it has all the bells and whistles of a standard social network wiki, forum, blog, profiles, search, etc. all tied up in the brand new Saba look and feel which is attractive and user friendly.

Talking to their Product Manager - RSS is still not available and may not surface even when they launch this next year. This is something I find weird as how can you set up feeds to existing Global Portals - it makes it a very isoloated solution. Okay you can pull in the Portlets to a Portal - but do you always want to go to so much hassle? Some good news about our current version of Communities on our system. After SP3 if you post to the 5.4 forum you will get an email notification. But RSS will not be available. Sad. But true.

So what else does Saba Social have that could make your day.

They have a Your Interest Feeds – perhaps a replacement for Email?...interesting these come in automatically in a feed by either you directly requesting or subscribing to some information or based on what you previously searched or even learning you took part in. It knows where you have been and what you have been up to. This is "learning by accident" just as you would hear some nugget of news at the coffee machine or water cooler. Other interesting features: ratings by users so you pick only what your peers have recommended. Reputation: you get associated with what you contribute to the crowd - if they also rate it highly, well done, promotion is not far away. Its all visible to everyone in your community. So it pays to collaborate.

Thats it. Saba Social in a nutshell. Now for some breakfast and collaborating in real-life...