Archive for the ‘Big Ideas?’ Category

Join Higher Ed Experts to access free info and resources, network online with your peers in other institutions and get a great deal on professional development webinars

I was supposed to make this announcement last Tuesday. As you can understand, given the tragedy that struck Virginia Tech, I decided to postpone. I’m launching a new website, Higher Ed Experts, to provide professional development and social networking online opportunities to higher ed professionals working in Web, marketing, PR and admissions. Higher Ed Experts […]

Could Bowdoin College have found an efficient and cost-effective solution to the student portal problem?

Many universities and colleges have poured a lot of money into very expensive but not always very efficient web portals. Portals were supposed to be the technical solution to all communication problems on campus by becoming the start page of students’ internet browsers. Problem is most of them are still underused due to their poor […]

Why you should get your press releases on a blogging platform

Some of you already use blogging platforms to publish press releases on the Web: these tools are cheap (wordpress is free), easy to use and the default reverse chronological order is a perfect fit for this type of content. But, that’s not all. Here are a few other reasons I highlighted in a recent email […]

Flickr, a giant real-time viewbook of college life?

I’ve never thought about it before, but it makes sense. Flickr, the popular photo sharing website acquired by Yahoo! Inc. in March 2005, has all it takes to replace your institution viewbook in the heart and mind of some prospective students. If they search for the truth about college life at your institution in unofficial […]

Higher Ed Web Developers, Get Ready to Code: Facebook API released!

As you know, about 110% of our students use Facebook, the social networking website targeted to college students. Students use it all the time and include a lot of information (sometimes too much) about themselves in their profiles. Facebook released its API – its development platform – in beta earlier this week as announced on […]

Almost Live from EduWeb 2006: Why Furman University Gets How the Web is About to Rock the Higher Ed Admission World

Natalie DiPasquale, one of our guest bloggers at EduWeb, attended another very, very interesting presentation: “Marketing Your University with Dynamic Print, Immersive Websites and Streaming Media” by Ryan Fisher, Director of Web Development at Furman University. Her report got me all excited when I read and edited it — especially the last line. Another interesting […]

Should your institution hold virtual open houses in SecondLife (SL)?

You probably don’t have enough time for your first life, so you might have not managed yet to check out SecondLife (SL). The online virtual world/game has generated a lot of buzz lately not only on the blogosphere but in mainstream media. So, at the end of last May, I decided to have a quick […]

Put your current students on IM to answer your prospective students’ questions

Blogs are nice, but sometimes prospective students crave a bit more real-time interaction. When high school students want to ask a quick question about admission, student life or academic programs, chances are they prefer to get an answer right away. They won’t call your admission office (hey, you’ve never been introduced – and they love […]

How your admission office can use Skypecast to hold online open houses

Not sure what Skypecasts are? I see you haven’t done the required reading (2 posts ago: “Call to Higher Ed Pros: Got Skype? Letâ€™s talk!”), but it’s ok. I know you’re busy — or you might have found this post through a search. Skypecast is a new free service offered by the famous VOip company, […]

Call to Higher Ed Pros: Got Skype? Let’s talk!

HigherEdBlogCon got some very interesting conversations started among great higher ed professionals, scattered all over the country (read: the US). Dan Karleen, the co-founder of the online conference held last month, just had another crazy idea: keep the conversation rolling by using the latest free service from Skype, skypecast. So, if you have an interest […]

Live from HigherEdBlogCon: How to use the Facebook to keep in touch with your alumni

Thought Facebook was only for current or prospective students? Wrong. In their 43-minute screencast for HigherEdBlogCon, The Teeming Web, Bob Robertson-Boyd from Capital University and Dimitri Glazkov Estrada explain, among other things, how you should use the Facebook to keep in touch with your alums. As you know, most of your current students are already […]

Live from HigherEdBlogCon: Unchain your work from a single computer with nomadic desktops

One of the aspects of Web 2.0 I find the most interesting is the possibility to transfer my computerized life from a single machine to the Web, so it can be accessed from anywhere – at home, at work or on the road. As most of you probably know, there are lots of good new […]

Calling all higher ed web talents: presenters, speakers, freelancers and moonlighters

I don’t plan to turn this blog into the front door of a talent agency, but I got an idea. A couple of months ago Dick Jones from Dick Jones Communications asked me if I could recommend a higher ed web pro to give a talk about web statistics at the annual professional development conference […]

MySpace 101: how teenagers use the popular social networking website

A lot has been written lately about MySpace in newspapers all over the country (well the US, I mean) but also the world. Most of the time, journalists paint a very dark picture of the social networking website: a place that sexual predators, high school bullies and other dangerous kinds have made theirs. While our […]

Collegewebeditor.com is one-year old

Yep, I’ve been blogging for a full year. Can you believe it? I published my first post, “It’s a baby blog” on February 12, 2005 at 1:53PM. When I started last year by a sunny afternoon (well, it might have been a rainy one ;-), I didn’t imagine this blog would bring me so much: […]