DSI

Following the feedback from our recent stakeholder research activities (see previous blog entries), the Digital Space Initiative (DSI) is picking up pace as we move in to phase 3 of the programme (November 2008 – January 2009).

We will be launching a clickable test site at the end of January for a select (and globally dispersed) group of educators, students, volunteers, alumni and staff. We intend to use this site as a primary tool for users to help us finalize designs and features of our stakeholder gateway and virtual community.

A screen-based tour of the conceptual sketches for the gateway and virtual community (and a few related survey questions) will be uploaded in the next few weeks for your initial review. Stay tuned!

All feedback we receive will be instrumental as we finalize designs and features. We are committed to delivering a stakeholder gateway and IB virtual community that meets our community’s needs.

Once again, we would like to thank all those who have been involved so far for their continued support.

For more information, please contact Marla Gerein, the IB’s head of Virtual Communities.

We want to thank everyone for their continued support of the IB’s Digital Space Initiative (DSI) and its stakeholder research activities!

The input collected from our focus group activities and the general DSI survey in September has helped to inform our initial/proposed design, content and features for the IB’s new stakeholder gateway and virtual community.

As of today, over 3800 IB community members have participated in the survey effort and 29 IB World Schools have offered their classroom time for focus group sessions. We are excited about the positive response, and have put all your feedback to good use!

We are now ready to progress to “phase 2” of our stakeholder research activities. We would be grateful if you could visit the following link to access the DSI Card Sorting Activity (English only):

For Alumni: http://ibo.optimalsort.com/iba/

For Educators: http://ibo.optimalsort.com/ibe/

For Diploma Programme Students: http://ibo.optimalsort.com/ibdp/

For Middle Years Programme Students: http://ibo.optimalsort.com/ibmyp/

For Volunteers: http://ibo.optimalsort.com/ibv/

For IB Staff: http://ibo.optimalsort.com/ibs/

The activity will take about 10 minutes.

This “card sorting” activity will help us to prioritize and organize content and features on the new stakeholder gateway and in the new IB virtual community. It will also help us to identify the most effective ways to group and present online material for IB stakeholders, based on their unique roles (educators, students, alumni, volunteers, etc.).

Once again, we’d like to emphasize that your input will truly make a difference. The data we collect from this activity will further enhance and refine our stakeholder gateway and virtual community designs.

As of today, over 3,800 members of the IB community have taken the time to participate in the DSI general survey effort. We are extremely pleased with (and grateful for) the strong response!

Below is an overview of some of the current survey results. The data has made a real impact on the design work being done on the new IB stakeholder gateway and the new IB virtual community:

• Responses about the design and tone for the site are influencing our graphic and user interface work

• Responses about features, content and functionality have helped us strategically organize gateway and virtual community offerings

• Strong support for group interaction and an online, community-generated magazine have confirmed our design efforts for these components

The responses to the survey are also shaping our next stakeholder feedback activity: an online “card-sorting” exercise, where we’ll be asking you to help us further refine how we categorize, group and present the various elements of the gateway and virtual community. More information about this next step will be coming in a day or two. Stay tuned!

Selected current survey results (as of September 24, 2008):

Top 5 respondent age ranges:

1. 16-19 (51.3%)
2. 20-29 (34.1%)
3. 30-39 (4.8%)
4. 40-49 (4.2%)
5. 50-59 (3.5%)

Regional Representation:

1. 1. North America (44.1%)
2. 2. Africa, Europe, and the Middle East (23.8%)
3. 3. Asia Pacific (22.9%)
4. 4. Latin America (9.2%)

Top 5 respondent IB roles:

1. Students (58.5%)
2. Alumni (43.2%)
3. DP Teachers (4.7%)
4. PYP Teachers (4.1%)
5. Volunteers (3.9%)

Interest in a new IB online community:

Yes (83%)
No (17%)

Top 5 functions and tasks in social networking sites:

1. Finding New/ old friends (84.2%)
2. Sending emails/ messaging (80.7%)
3. Sharing photos (64.7%)
4. Seeing updates from friends (63.8%)
5. Sharing/ discussing topics with others (62.2%)

Top 5 features for the IB’s new online community:

1. Academic tools and applications (67.7%)
2. A place to collaborate on documents or files (61.9%)
3. News and events listings (59.9%)
4. Personal Profile (58.8%)
5. Private messaging (54.4%)

Top 5 content materials respondents would like to see on the IB’s new online community:

1. IB Resources (E.g., Academic/Programme Information and Guidelines, Lists of Exam Preparation Materials and Resources, Effective Writing or Project Creation Tips) (82.4%)
2. IB-specific advice, suggestions or “lessons learned” from others in the community (78.4%)
3. Latest news/feeds/events (64%)
4. Volunteer and service opportunities (58.4%)
5. Community highlights or featured content (E.g., featured student or educator of the week) (46.3%)

Top 5 academic applications respondents would like to see on the IB’s new online community:

1. Ask questions/Post comments (79%)
2. Example tests or quizzes (74.9%)
3. Knowledge test (57.9%)
4. Homework Helper (57.6%)
5. Mentoring options (55.7%)

Interest in joining academic or issue-related groups:

Yes (84.8%)
No (15.2%)

Interest in joining informal groups:

Yes (68.2%)
No (31.8%)

Interest in an online community-generated magazine:

Yes (73.1%)
No (26.9%)

Most appealing design style:

1. 1. A very “clean,” minimal design (49.8%)
2. 2. A “cutting edge” design (46.4%)
3. 3. An “artistic,” fun or more informal design (37.8%)
4. 4. A professional, more “business-like” or corporate design (31.5%)
5. 5. A design with a lot of photos and/or graphics (15.1%)
6. 6. A design that is mostly information or text focused, with fewer images (5.4%)

Most appropriate style of language or “tone”:

1. 1. Moderate tone – between formal and casual (65.9%)
2. 2. Casual tone (24.6%)
3. Formal tone or approach (8.2%)
4. Irreverent tone with heavy use of slang (1.2%)

The Digital Space Initiative (DSI) aims to better coordinate and align the IB’s current online offerings and to generally improve your experience with the IB online. As the IB works to create new web-based features and functionalities, we’d like to hear about your needs and preferences.

We are inviting members of the IB community – students, parents, educators, alumni, staff, volunteers, and all other community participants - to express their needs and interests through a set of surveys and possibly face-to-face or telephone brainstorming sessions over the course of the next two years.

As a starting point, we’re asking you to take our 5-10 minute survey  - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=xSlfOFEYTe4ddC5yc21T5Q_3d_3d (English only) that will ask you a range of questions regarding your online preferences related to IB resources, sites and potential features.

The data collected from this and other upcoming stakeholder feedback activities will directly impact and help to shape our designs for the IB’s new virtual community and stakeholder “gateway.”

Take our 5-10 minute survey - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=xSlfOFEYTe4ddC5yc21T5Q_3d_3d

New Gateway and Virtual Community on the Horizon

The Digital Space Working Group – made up of IB staff from across the organization – has made significant progress on the DSI’s 10 projects. Developments of interest include:

Work on a stakeholder gateway – linked off of the IB homepage, the new gateway will allow IB stakeholders to access resources and tools related to their role(s) and interests from one location.

Work on a new IB virtual community – a platform that will allow IB stakeholders to interact, collaborate and communicate with one another in a safe, secure environment.

What this all means for you:

• Easier log in to IB resources
• A simple, more effective way to get the IB information you want/need
• The ability to connect with others in the IB community, around the world

Click to enlarge: DSI general user experience

The International Baccalaureate’s Digital Space Initiative (DSI) aims to enhance the experiences and functionality that the IB offers its community in an online, web-based environment.

The organization hopes to integrate digital technology more and more into the IB experience, in line with the increased use around the world of web-based communities to share educational and social experiences.

A result of DSI will be a more cohesive, more effective and more user-friendly web presence by aligning existing websites. For example, an IB teacher will eventually see relevant, highlighted news, resource and e-newsletter links when logging into the IB website, and will have convenient access to sites such as the OCC and the Community Theme site.

Over the course of the next three years, the DSI will:

- Provide new tools and online spaces that can be used by IB schools, teachers and students to enhance teaching and learning.

- Offer tools and IB web-based spaces for individual and course-related publication, collaboration, sharing and community-building (i.e. blogs, wikis, discussion forums, file-sharing, individual profiles, the ability to form groups and other social networking functionality).

- Be available globally, allowing schools, classes and individual students to share, collaborate, and work with each other.

- Foster an academic environment in which students can develop and refine their scholarly web and digital literacy skills.

- Provide opportunities for classes and individual students to have authentic, global interactions.

Academic input and feedback will be critical to the success of the Digital Space Initiative. Stakeholders will be asked to participate throughout every phase of the initiative, and are currently being organized to provide ideas, feedback and to eventually act as “testers” of the new online experiences that the DSI is creating.

For more information, contact Marla Gerein, the IB’s head of virtual communities.