News and Tips for Higher Ed Pros

If you couldn’t make it to Rochester last week for HighEdWebDev, I’ve got good news for you: you can watch 3 of the presentations (including the best of the conference by popular vote) given at the conference courtesy of the conference committee, the presenters and Higher Ed Experts (yours truly) for… free!

You’ll need to be a HEE member (free membership is open to you if you work in a higher ed institution at www.higheredexperts.com/register) and to register online.

For more information, visit www.higheredexperts.com/highedwebdev

As you’ve figured it out by reading the title of this post, this free webinar series will help you learn more about WordPress, Facebook applications and Google maps:

• Getting Started with WordPress Blogs (Stephanie Leary, Website Administrator, Texas A&M University Writing Center)

  This is a live demonstration of WordPress installation and setup. The first half will cover the basics of installing the software, adding
  users, and installing themes and plugins. The second half will dig into the various user roles and how themes work. We’ll demonstrate some common tasks like uploading photos or PDF files, managing comments, and adding widgets.

• The Game Changer: The Facebook Platform (Mike Richwalsky and Josh Tysiachney, Allegheny College)

  The new Facebook Platform, allowing developers to build applications and interfaces directly inside the social-networking site, was
  released this summer.This session will explore the Facebook Platform, show sample applications, share code snippets and discuss possible benefits and drawbacks to capitalizing on the site’s popularity, especially in reaching users more likely to gravitate to Facebook than a traditional university-run site.

• Adding Google Maps to Your College Website (Paul Dempsey, Dickinson College) - Winner of the best conference presentation award - The presentation about Google Maps is offered live on October 31st at 1PM ET to the first 90 people who register (it will be available on-demand after the live presentation).
  

  This session will present techniques for using the Google Maps API on college websites. The API, released to the public in July 2005, allows developers to integrate these dynamic maps into their own Web pages. The session will provide an overview of Google maps and then demonstrate how to incorporate a basic one in a college’s “maps and directions” page. Features such as markers, information windows, and polylines will be added to the map. Techniques for creating advanced dynamic maps using server-side databases and programs will also be demonstrated.

• University Business column: Facebook Applications, The Game Changer?
• Higher Ed Experts Update: The registration deadline for the “Facebook Apps 101 and Beyond” webinar series has been postponed to Thursday February 28, 2008 at 8PM ET.
• Want to learn what it takes to build a Facebook application to engage students? Sign up for “Facebook Applications 101 and Beyond”, a 3-webinar series on March 4-6, 2008
• Facebook pages now support Flash, HTML and photo uploads by users
• Higher Ed Experts Update: The registration deadline for the Website Redesign Boot Camp webinar series has been postponed to Thursday February 14, 2008 at 8PM ET.