The questionnaires arrived safely and the results have been processed.  Here is an outline of the results.

• Majority of the respondents accessed the web everyday
• The respondents accessed the web mostly at Vega
• The majority of the respondents knew what a weblog is
• The majority of respondents described a weblog as an online journal/diary
• The majority of respondents did not publish any form of CGM, but it was interesting to note that more respondents from Vega Cape Town published CGM when compared to those at Vega Durban.
• Not surprisingly, Myspace and Youtube are the most frequented and popular social networking sites that the respondents utilized.
• The majorities of the respondents were interested in new internet trends and didn’t really know what what blogging was really about but where interested to find out.
• The majority of the respondents were interested to know what is going on ay the other Vega campuses and would like to connect with students and staff around the country.

After processing the questionnaires filled out a Vega Durban, I decided that it was important to gain insights into the perspectives of other students around the country.

The opportunity was seized when I heard Patrick was heading down to Cape Town, and I sent down 40 questionnaires for the students at Vega Cape Town to fill out. Why 40 I hear you saying? ….Well my thinking was that in order to have a representative sample of all the students I would need at least ten stundents from each year to fill out a questionniare.

After speaking to Gail (realtionship navigator) I found out that Vega Cape Town doesnt have any third year students, but this inst a huge problem as my research is primarily focused on the 1st and 2nd year students (as they are hopefully still going to be at Vega in 2007).

As I type this the questionnaires should be somewhere between C-Town and Durbs travelling safely in the hands of a courrier service.

I wait patiently for my precious questionnaires to return home…………………….

A model for institutions looking to warn students about the perils of online social networks.

was just playing around with logos and names and though this looked cool, but I dont know if people will see it as Veg(at)sphere, or will just read it as Vegasphere.

Veg@sphere

Veg@sphere

Ive been asking certain questions as to why students would want to connect with other students from around the country and basically I think it comes down to one thing that is inate in all human beings:

CURIOSITY!

Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly.
Author: Arnold Edinborough

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.
Author: Albert Einstein

I have been conducting my Thesis interviews this week and one of the people I was interviewing actually has a company that develops online platforms- what a luck!

Rafiq Phillips is the founder of Web AddiCTs which is an acronym for Web Application Design , Development & Innovation in Cape Town.  Phillips is in tune with the world of branding( read this article) and  I can see a great future partnership between WebAddicts and Vega. 

Vegasphere proposal!

I aim to put forward a proposal to Vega outlining all relevant information about Vegasphere, from the ‘mission statement’ to the plan of action needed to impliment the idea on a national level.

Proposals can be very effective if they are written in a clear manner that answers questions about WHAT you are proposing, HOW you plan to do it, WHENyou plan to do it, and HOW MUCH it is going to cost.  (proposal writng guideline)

Here are the results after processing the  the Vega Social Networking questionnaires.

• Half the respondents accessed the internet at least once a week

•  The majority of the respondents accessed the web mostly at Vega

• The respondents knew what a weblog was

• Online journal/diary and communications tool were the two statements that best described a weblog to the respondents

•   Message boards/forums and weblogs were the two most popular forms of CGM that the respondents utilized       

•  A very small percentage of the respondents actually published any form of CGM (and those respondents who did publish CGM mainly did so on the social networking site Myspace)

• Myspace and Youtube were the most frequented and popular social networking sites that the respondents used

• The respondents felt that they were confident at adopting new internet technologies and were interested in new internet trends

• All of the respondents answered yes and thus would like to know what is going on at the other Vega campuses around South Africa

• The majority of the respondents would like to connect with other Vega students and staff around the country

Well all the questionnaires have been filled out and now its just up to me to sift through the information. Im very interested to see what people think of my idea and if they are keen to connect with the other Vega campuses.

 Well im off to start processing the info……………….

today I handed out the Social Networking questionnaire to the satff and students and Vega Durban. I obviously tried to get as many poeple to answer the questionnaire as possible casue the more the merrier, and the greater the research results.

I also tried to get most of the 1st and 2nd year students to fill out the questionnaires as ulitmatley they are the ones who will benefit and be actively involved in Vegasphere.

let the collection process begin………………..