Archive for January, 2008
My first UB column for 2008 (geez, I'm starting my third year with University Business, time passes by so quickly) is now available in the February issue as well as online: "Facebook Applications: The Game Changer?" I borrowed the catchy title from Allegheny College Mike Richwalsky's and Josh Tischianey's presentation at HighEdWebDev in Rochester, NY. In this piece, I provide several examples of Facebook applications built by higher ed institutions. You can find direct links to these applications in my new Higher Ed Facebook Applications directory, a selection of 26 interesting apps currently available. Last, if you'd like to learn how to...
Read MoreHow can you make your students and faculty members share their work and research with the world? Give them the right tools: their own dedicated video-sharing website. That's what MIT is doing with MIT Tech TV, its own YouTube clone complete with video-sharing capabilities (including email and embedding code) and community-building features such as video producer profiles and comments. So, what are exactly MIT Tech TV's goals? Here's the answer straight from the source: Make it easier for members of the MIT community – and others – to find science, engineering, and MIT-related video on the web Feature multimedia content appealing to and...
Read MoreWebsite redesigns can be very, very scary projects. People don't like change, especially on "their" homepage. That's why you should prepare as much as possible before jumping into a website redesign (whether it's for a university, college, department or even an office). You can find some tips in a column I wrote for University Business in December 2006. However, if you want/need more help, "Website Redesign Boot Camp," an upcoming webinar series I designed for Higher Ed Experts, is for you: Website Redesign Boot Camp: What you need to know before jumping into a redesign project February 19, 20 & 21, 2008 This 3-webinar...
Read MoreI meant to write about this conference earlier this month, but things have really been crazy. The Portal 2008 Conference will take place at Gettysburg College on June 3-6, 2008. And, this year it's all going to be about measurement and assessment as explained in the official announcement about the conference: While very few documented assessments of portals have taken place, we wanted to focus the conference on coming up with ways to measure and assess the effectiveness of the portal. It is becoming more important for resources to be justified, so sharing ways in which portals can be assessed and measured will...
Read MoreThis morning, I had a couple of emails in my Inbox asking if it was still possible to register for the January 29-31 webinar series about online videos (the initial registration deadline was yesterday). As a result, I decided to postpone the registration deadline until this Thursday (Jan 24) at 8PM ET. If you want to learn more on how to start an online video initiative at your institution, this 3-webinar series featuring Andy Mrozkowski (Mars Hill College), James Todd (Duke University) and David Burge (UNL) should help. All 3 have implemented successful programs for their institutions. For more information and to register...
Read MoreHere's a quick reminder for you: the deadline of the design contest for the HighEdWeb Conference is approaching very, very fast. You can submit your competition entry for the logo and the website of this great conference to be held in Springfield, MO in October until this Monday at noon (ET? CT? PT?). Want to learn more about the competition and the prize (fame and cash), just read my previous post about the topic. The winner of the competition will be announced on February 19, 2008.
Shelley Wetzel, Conference Director, made the official announcement today: Mark Greenfield, Director of Web Services at the University of Buffalo and yours truly will be the keynote speakers at EduWeb 2008. Mark will kickoff the conference on July 21st, and I'll wrap it up on July 23rd. So, I actually know I'll have the last word ;-) Anyway, I hope you will consider presenting this year at EduWeb. I'd love to get a chance to meet you in Atlantic City, NJ (well, technically you don't HAVE TO present for that to happen, you can just attend, but I'm sure your presentation will...
Read MoreSince the Virginia Tech Tragedy, higher ed institutions all over the US, Canada and even Australia have been revisiting their emergency preparedness and crisis communication plans. While planning is very important, a plan is as good as its testing. That's why many institutions went through emergency drills and other tests lately. Back in September 2007, I blogged about such a drill conducted at Humboldt State University. Last Wednesday, Winona State University went through its second test of the sort. Rick Rhone, University Webmaster and a regular reader of this blog, was kind enough to share in an email a screenshot and his thoughts...
Read MoreOk, I know, my headlines are horribly long (and as a result so are my post URLS - hint: use tinyurl.com if you want to share a post with coworkers), but I promise there is a reason to this madness ;-) Anyway, I'm a bit late to the party as the survey report I'm writing about this morning was published last Wednesday by the good folks of the Pew Internet and American Life Project: "Increased Use of Video-sharing Sites," a 6-page memo available for free as a PDF file. This survey of 2,054 American adults (age 18 and older) was conducted between...
Read MoreSo, this blog's reader survey has just ended. And, the lucky winner of the $30 Gift certificate is... Jonathan Steffens from University of Missouri-Columbia. Congratulations and thank to the 91 readers who took the time to do the survey between December 12, 2007 and January 10, 2008. With the 86,047 (70% more than last year) unique visitors this blog received in 2007, this survey isn't probably statistically representative. But, it definitely gives a good picture of this blog’s most involved and active readers. Now, let's have a look at the results: 1. What's your position? Are you a... Web professional (Webmaster,...
Read MoreLong time, no post. So, first let me wish you the best for 2008. As I told you in my Holiday video message (nobody got the guts/time/urge to post a video reply until now, but you can still share your hope for 2008 via a YouTube video if you feel like it), my New Year's resolutions include big plans for this blog and Higher Ed Experts. I'm sure you do have big professional plans, too. And, if you've read "Thanks to YouTube, Professors Are Finding New Audiences," an excellent article written by Jeffrey Young and published today in The Chronicle, there's a bigger...
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