Web Technologies For College And University Presidents V3
- 1. Recommendations on the use of some web technologies
- 2. Why would you want to use Web technologies? What technologies you can use How to get started in each technology Issues among and within the technologies Resources required to support these technologies
- 3. Get your message out See what is being said about you Collaborate with other college/university presidents
- 4. Blogs Podcasts Social Networking Alerts Video Conferencing
- 5. Each one of the technologies discussed here requires some effort and resources to implement and use. They are also only useful when used consistently. Some can be simple and you can manage them yourself. Others will likely require the help of some technically-oriented personnel, either on your personal staff or in a department in your organization.
- 6. There are many, many online technologies and tools. The best approach is to Understand what you want to accomplish Choose tools that you have the resources to support Choose tools that those you work with use Use them consistently Keep it simple.
- 7. Blogs can be used for several purposes. You can create a blog to get your message out and invite conversation on topics of interest. You can also participate in blogs hosted by others to contribute to topics of interest to you.
- 8. Many public offices (education, government) use blogs as a way to keep their constituents informed. Blogs can automatically feed other forms of information sharing, like social networks, email, news feeders, etc. Examples: http://whitehouse.gov http://president.concordia.ca
- 9. Posting to well-chosen blogs can help get your message out. Subscribing to others’ blogs will keep you updated on their thoughts and initiatives. Examples: http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/
- 10. Offerings: Many. A few popular, easy-to-use choices are Wordpress.com, Blogspot.com, Blogger.com Your school likely already has one of these installed on your systems How to get started: Register for an account at the blog website You may be asked if you want to create a blog or just have an account to post to others’ blogs
- 11. Keeping it current Maintaining a blog can be time consuming. Unless a blog is active, it will not be of much use. (Of 133 million blogs, only 5.6% are active within the last four months and only 1.1% are active within the past week.**) It takes a while to gain a following. Good bloggers assure their site is kept fresh by posting a new article on a regular schedule, e.g. weekly. (** from: http://www.bloggingtips.com/2009/05/26/6-tips-to-avoid-blog-abandonment/)
- 12. Privacy In a public blog, anyone can see your posts and reply to them, favorably and unfavorably. Some sites moderate the posts, but unless it is your site or the blog is moderated by a trusted source, an unfavorable comment about you/your post could appear. Your blog can be set up not to allow comments from others about your blog.
- 13. Resources Technical support and Public Relations support will be required to keep it fresh and professional looking Keep it Real Consider having a blog for your office, not for you, as an individual This avoids issues with having others write on your behalf
- 14. RSS: Really Simple Syndication Blogs have RSS feeds Users can subscribe to your RSS feeds to receive your updates without having to visit your blog site RSS feeds can also update other channels like Twitter and FaceBook You can subscribe to others’ RSS to keep up with their updates
- 15. Recorded Video and Audio Your Messages Speeches Special Announcements Personalize podcast to specific audiences Can be watched/listened to at audience’s convenience (on demand) Can be used on computer or mobile devices Audience can choose to subscribe to your podcasts
- 16. Audio Can be recorded on your PC, but requires some steps to edit and publish Video Requires more production support to record, compress and publish quality video podcasts Self-recording possible, but not as professional-looking Both can be uploaded to your blog site Both would likely require technical assistance.
- 17. Technical Support Will likely need others to assist in the production of podcasts Especially for high quality video
- 18. FaceBook, Twitter… Another channel to help get you message out Users decide to subscribe to your information on their terms When integrated with your blog site, can be automatically updated
- 19. FaceBook Create a FaceBook Page (not a profile) Feed it from your blog via RSS (auto updates) Post Events, get RSVPs Twitter Create a Twitter account Feed it from your blog via RSS (auto updates) Others There are others, but these will be the most popular
- 20. Social vs. Business FaceBook is primarily social in nature and its users may not be interested in official business through that channel - They won’t follow your page. Support You will likely rely on others in your organization to set the interfaces up and post events
- 21. Update your blog From your computer… … or mobile device Automatically updates RSS Feed Auto updates to… FaceBook Page Twitter Feed Your Blog Web Site RSS News Readers
- 22. Alerts allow you to see what is being said about you across the various Internet channels Google Alerts Specify keywords to monitor Google Reader Receive updates As they happen Daily digest
- 23. Allows you to meet face-to-face Potential: Saves travel expense Meet more frequently One-to-One You and one other person Use your computer and a web cam Multi-Point Several parties Requires specialized equipment Not just video sharing Presentations, files, images, etc.
- 24. Getting Started Buy a web cam ($50 - $100) Sign up for an account, for example: Skype - install on your PC Google Chat - nothing to install Most Instant Messaging services , like Windows Messenger, provide video chat support Note: The other person needs the same setup Issues: Video/audio quality can degrade depending on Internet traffic
- 25. Requires all parties to have compatible equipment Requires use of a “bridge” to either: Show all participants equally on the screen (think “Brady Bunch”) Show only the person that is talking Your school may already have this technology for classes Requires some training to learn to use it or support from your staff to set it up for each meeting
- 26. Issues Can be costly to procure/lease Although there are standards, not all vendors’ systems work well together. Therefore, all parties may want to consider using same vendor’s offering
- 27. Simple Alternative: Conference call with web presentation slide sharing Live presentation of slides through a number of online services, e.g. slideshare.com SlideLive.com How-to Create account (one-time) Upload presentation Send web link, dial-in info, and meeting time to audience Walk through slides while on conference call Audience sees your presentation as you go through it
- 28. Web-based services Microsoft LiveMeeting WebEx Participants use their computer and web cam Costs Microsoft LiveMeeting <$5.00 per presenter per month Needs a local adminsitrator WebEx $60 -$70 per month, up to 25 participants