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Herald ScotlandOnline learning pioneer offers new student modelHerald ScotlandMark Williamson. Group Business Correspondent.
The Technology of Massive Open Online Courses Jessica LeberTechnology ReviewGiven such technical challenges, it's not an accident that many of the people behind recent efforts to put college courses online come from computer science labs.
Other People's MoneyInside Higher EdThe move puts Iowa at the forefront of this emerging policy debate that higher-education researchers say has been decades in the making: whether it is fair for public colleges and universities to earmark tuition...
Problems with linking Internal Revenue Service data to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid have led to delays in processing financial aid applications and, in some cases, discouraged students from enrolling, according to the Council for Opportunity in Education. The council said many of its TRIO programs, which help low-income students get ready for college, have reported problems with the data retrieval tool. The tool links students', or their families', tax information directly to the FAFSA, but students who don't use it are often asked to provide a tax transcript for verification. Because the IRS and Education Department work on different schedules, getting the transcript has been an issue for some low-income students, and some TRIO programs have reported that students aren't enrolling because of problems processing their application, said Kimberly Jones, associate vice president for public policy at the council.
The National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators said the delays have been frustrating, but they haven't heard from their members that the problems have blocked students' access to aid. Still, the problems are likely to persist, because the IRS processes some tax returns well after April 15 -- after many financial aid awards are made -- and retrieving the data will continue to be difficult. Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/09/24/concerns-about-financial-aid-delays#ixzz27UYITCH0
Inside Higher Ed
Love this infographic. Not going to write all of this excellent advice here, but here is their top 10 Social Media Rules:
1. If all you do is respond to complaints that is all people will send. 2. Stop and Ask would an actual person talk that way? 3. Everyone says they don't want to be marketed to, really they just don't want to be talked down to! (YES)
4. The consumer is out for himself no you. 5. As monetization attempts to up, consumer experience goes down. 6. Don't try to be clever, BE CLEVER. 7. Social is 24/7/365 NOT a one time stunt. (YES!) 8. Always write back. 9. Have and ROI. Haven an ROI. Have an ROI. 10. People would rather talk to "Comcast Melissa" than Comcast. This infographic just keeps giving great advice until they end up wtih the 36 Rules of Social Media Marketing.
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
Content Curation as Source of Content Marketing Don’t have enough time each day to create original content? The visual explores how curation can become an effective tool to incease visibility, boost SEO and establish thought leadership. Yes, you don’t have to constantly create original content to effectively showcase your knowledge about a topic but carefully handpicking the best content sources and amassing or putting them together in a way that clearly explains all strong points will help you produce an organized content. Key Takeaways:
- Creating original content is the biggest obstacle for 73% of content marketers.
- 75% of marketers cannot justify spending the time needed to create original content for their audience.
- There are a variety of tools developed within the past 3 years that can help marketers and content curators gather the most relevant content, re-purpose it, and present it to their audience in unique ways.
- 85% of brands use content curation to establish thought leadership, and 80% say it enables them to increase brand visibility
Via Jonha Revesencio, miracletrain 夢想驛站
A handful of @ScentTrial's (Marty's) posts have goon mega-viral with several posts reaching close to a million viewers thanks to power retweeters. The 64,000 question is WHY does some content go viral?
Marty Note
Owe inspiration for this post to Jan Gordon's consistently great curation on Scoop.it. Thanks Jan you rock. Ever wonder what makes content go viral? I do all the time usually when something I just wrote I was sure WOULD go DOESN'T (LOL).
My biggest life lesson, after having several posts go viral, is you can't set out to GO VIRAL. Viral happens. That doesn't mean we can't improve our chances. I sat down and looked hard at the 5 posts I've had go viral and share the common characteristics such as SHORT beats LONG and SURF BIG Waves (of cultural and business ephemera).
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
The top 10 online Universities for 2012...
Company Analysis of Education Management Corporation - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Word Doc (.doc / .docx), text file (.txt) or read online for free. A full analysis of Education Management Corporation.
Tweet, Tweet. Any time you hear someone mention infographics you’ll usually hear the word viral in the same sentence. But what a lot of people don’t tell you is how to actually get it to go viral?
Marty Note
Yes, this post brings up a good point. Just because you build it doesn't mean they will come especially now that we are swimming in infographics. First, start with a viral idea such as making an infographic about how to make infographics go viral (lol), then follow these tips.
I would add the P word to this list. Pinterest loves infographics and pinned and repinned for a longer time on Pinterest and people come into your account. I've found followers on Pinterest harder to come by than on Twitter, but Pinterest followers are more valuable and they love infographics.
:). M
Via Adrian Kingwell, Mezzo Labs, Martin (Marty) Smith
I've written about my love of the new Scoop.it UI. I believe, with a few tweaks and hacks, Scoop.it can become the hub of all online marketing activities from social media to stores. Read Why Scoop.it Rocks II if you are curious and want to learn more.
Today's Hack is on Marketing Revolution http://www.scoop.it/t/marketing-revolution ; (because it is one of my newest scoops and so it can be hacked without SEO implications explained below it is also a TOUGH term so I'm not harming anything hacking up my MR feed).
I put in HTML into the template to use an image by modifying the instructions and template Scoop.it provides here:
http://feedback.scoop.it/knowledgebase/topics/5269-4-customization-white-labeling I modified the code to accept a larger image after not loving the way the template looked. Then I added a <a href> link from the header to my Martin Marty Smith Scoop.it home page.
Why This Scoop.it Hack Is Cool & Useful
Until Scoop.it created that beautiful UI hub a few weeks ago I didn't drive much traffic into my master page. In fact my scoops weren't organized around a typical website taxonomy (fancy word I love for navigation) at all because each scoop seemed like a different feed.
Not so much anymore thanks to the brilliant graphic designer who created the new UI. That rolling group of blocks is way too cool to waste. I've faced this "one and done" issue on our Atlantic BT Blog (http://www.atlanticbt.com/blog/).
After Google's Panda and Penguin update you don't want people coming in, reading one thing and then leaving. You want engagement. We work so hard to bring people to our sites and their attention is so special we want to serve as much related content as we can.
Relationships come from conversations. The longer we "speak" with a visitor the more our chances to convert them to our cause, advocacy or team. When we are responsive and attentive with how we organize our website's presentation our design helps create a relationship instead of a dreaded bounce.
Imagine you see Marketing Revolution on Google, come into the page and seeing there is a link behind the top image (I'm going to get home icon up there tomorrow). You click and see all the related revolutions and explore more. Scoop.it wins. Their site heuristics improve. I have more of a chance to convert a visitor to my favorite curation and causes so mutually beneficial.
Wouldn't have thought of this without the new magical UI. Here are the next steps:
Put the same heading on every revolution (Curation, Ecommerce, Social Media, etc.). I found an umbrella theme to knit the subgroups together. I have too man now but plan to cut down or find a way to reorganize down to a more manageable number. Make sure there are no negative SEO implications to covering up the spiderable text at the top (there shouldn't be but I am too tired to get under the hood tonight). Figure out how to use tags and filters to create L2 (category) and L3 (Product) level navigation. "Product" here being an article, scoop or cluster of articles and scoops. Stay tuned for more Scoop.it hacking as I am determined to do things equally as cool as this new UI and that is a big challenge. :).M
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
AllFacebookWhy social media marketing remains an ageless pursuit Iowa City Press CitizenWhile it's true that some businesses mistakenly treat social media as just another item on the marketing checklist, there's no correlation between those who...
Marty
I like the idea that social media isn't limited to youth since I passed young some years ago :). The idea that only youth can understand itself isn't new. I have a vague memory of feeling just that way, but then the memory is the first thing to go (lol).
Curation isn't a tool based art. Curation is inside the grey matter and the hammers and nails we use to construct the house are and will change frequently. The act of curation and the love of the act of curation is ageless indeed.
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
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Print and Social Media: Working TogetherWhat They Think"This session was an informative and engaging discussion with Blair about how his company has undergone a transformation that includes using social media to raise awareness of the company as well...
Intel to invest $5 million in Israeli EducationJerusalem PostThe project is the latest addition to Intel's ongoing investment in education worldwide which already includes many high-schools and higher education programs as well as teaching...
Moody's Investors Service said Monday that the weak return on Harvard University's $30.7 billion endowment, which the university announced last week had shrunk 0.05 percent in the 2012 fiscal year, is a bad sign for endowment-dependent universities. The rating agency said the results probably won't affect Harvard's rating, but are likely to lead the institution and others to rethink their dependence on endowments. "Based on highly variable investment returns over the past decade, we expect endowment-dependent institutions to make more conservative spending decisions for future fiscal years and to more fully assess their operational vulnerability to investment volatility," the agency wrote. "Budgetary models are increasingly stress tested, and management teams are adjusting to more conservative assumptions about long-term rates of return on their endowment. Many have lowered their assumed annual endowment returns to 7 percent to 8 percent, compared to the higher 9 percent to 10 percent return assumptions that were common prior to 2009." Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/10/02/moodys-harvards-endowment-returns-bad-sign-others#ixzz28FPm4v1c
Inside Higher Ed
Great piece on THE begging of educational software manufacturers to stop going on about social media.
Via Susan Bainbridge
The university, which pioneered massive open online courses, unveils two new homegrown software platforms to host the courses. L.A. Cicero Fall quarter's free online courses cover a wide range of fields including computer science, mathematics, linguistics, science writing, sociology and education.
Sixteen courses and two new platforms for interactive learning will highlight Stanford's free online offerings this fall, with more to follow during winter and spring quarters.
Via Dennis T OConnor
92 percent of employers and recruiters use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for recruiting. It is therefore important to make a good impression when you’re being looked at on your social profiles. Below are some of the things that recruiters are likely to react negatively to: 47% – Picturees of alcohol consumption
78% – References to doing illegal drugs
66% – Posts/tweets of a sexual nature
61% – Profanity in posts/tweets
54% – Spelling/grammar errors in posts/tweets Source: http://ijustdid.org/2012/09/social-affects-jobs
Via Jonha Revesencio
The market for online higher education aimed at adults may be reaching maturity, according to a new report from Eduventures. And without a better-defined product, the report's author said online learning faces a risk of petering out and being little more than a back-up alternative to on-campus education for students.
“We feel this is the watershed moment,” said Richard Garrett, vice president and principal analyst for Eduventures and the report’s author. “After years of endless growth, we’re definitely coming to more of a plateau situation.”
Eduventures is a technology consulting firm that works with colleges and higher education-related businesses. The study (which is available here, for purchase) was based in part on the newly-released results of a survey of 1,500 U.S. adults on their attitudes about online education. Released today, the company has conducted a version of the survey (of 18- to 70-year-olds) sporadically since 2008.
Citing survey findings and market data, the report found that 38 percent of prospective adult students prefer to study fully or mostly online. That portion remains virtually unchanged since 2006, when 37 percent said they preferred online learning. Similarly, there was only a small bump over the last six years in the percentage of adult students who said online college is equal in quality to campus learning. Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/09/19/adult-students-interest-online-education-flat-study-finds#ixzz26vBcoAGr
Inside Higher Ed
Backing Off on State Authorization
July 31, 2012 - 3:00am
By
Libby A. Nelson
WASHINGTON -- In a reversal of one of the most sweeping and controversial portions of its program integrity rules, the Education Department said Friday that it will no longer enforce a requirement that distance education programs obtain permission to operate in every state in which they enroll at least one student.
The change was announced quietly — on the third page of a five-page attachment to a "Dear Colleague" letter that the Education Department sent to institutions Friday — but will likely be cheered by many in higher education. Colleges have fought the state authorization rule both in Congress and in the courts since it was first put forward in October 2010, arguing that archaic authorization rules create too much red tape and financial burden for online programs.
The decision not to enforce the policy comes in the wake of a court setback in June, when an appeals court upheld a lower court's decision to overturn the rule. Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/07/31/education-department-wont-enforce-state-authorization-distance-education-programs#ixzz22JCn14Kh
Inside Higher Ed
This piece was posted by Mai Bruun Poulsen on Mindjumpers It is always important to draw up guidelines for how to manage your social media channels - both for the everyday community management and if your brand changes... Here is what you'll get in this article and infographic: A quick and easy-to-use guide to stay on track in social media Great tips on what you must keep in mind as a community manager Post valuable content only, focus on providing value for you audience - is your content a reflection of your brand promise? Are you informing, engaging, listening, educating? Selected by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond" See article and Infographic here: [http://bit.ly/SRYQSx]
Marty Note
Cool infographic and I agree with Jan's notes. Picked this up from a new source to me, a new source wiht a cool name Annie Infinite. Like it :). M
Via janlgordon, Martin (Marty) Smith
Marketing is social now so understanding how quickly the distinction between US and Them is eroding by using social media marketing's magical feedback loops is beyond important. ...
Marty
Wrote this piece to explore social media marketing's many dimensions and benefits. This post shares the story of finding synergy between Faith Popcorn, David Edelman's influential HBR article Branding In The Digital Age, Brian Millar's Branding Is An Artifact Of The Past in Fast Company and my early days as a bar soap salesman for P&G :).M
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
Social media seems to be ever-growing in today’s age, and new outlets such as Pinterest are developing at a rapid rate. With 2.7 million users and counting, Pinterest is the third largest social media network behind Facebook and Twitter. But what exactly makes it unique? Pinterest is a social bookmarking tool used to “pin” images into categorized groups or “boards”. It is similar to an interactive, virtual scrapbook. You can bet that over the next year the Pinterest “boards” will include more brand images in an attempt to market products to members- and it’s easy to see why: It’s Simple - Browsing is easy and fun, not to mention the site is very aesthetically pleasing. Consumer Interests are Public - Businesses can easily get into a “board” that relates to their services and see what consumers are posting It’s Relaxing - There are no constantly updating fields, virtually no negative posts- only pictures of people and their hobbies Read more: http://bit.ly/Q6hiav
Marty Note Agee with Jan's assessment. There are a few other contributing attributes I would build into her rich analysis:
* Pinterest has more women than men (http://mashable.com/2012/02/25/pinterest-user-demographics/ ; ) and women are more active on social networks in general (http://www.bitrebels.com/social/men-vs-women-who-uses-social-networking-more-infographic/ ).
* Building on Jan's "relaxing" idea, Pinterest is artistic and very right brain creative, there are few secret handshakes necessary to make it work or to have fun making Pinterest the most visual of the social nets, the least engineered. * Visuals generally are crushing the remnants of the old highly engineered but poorly designed web (Google's simplicity crushes Yahoo's complexity, Pinterest is set to crush Twitter and those that embrace what let's call this the "Apple-ization" of the web will continue to win). Movement Not A Single Thing
I think Pinterest is representative of a movement. The origins of this movement can be found in a great book by Drive author Daniel Pink (http://www.danpink.com/ ;). A Whole New Mind: Why the right brainers will rule the future outlines why Pinterest was inevitable and describes the movement away from times when WE had to adapt to THEM, when users had to give up intuitive beauty and ease of use in order to get a job done. When all things are equal design, joy and beauty win as Pinterest is proving and as Jan notes.
Via janlgordon, Martin (Marty) Smith
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![The 36 Rules of Social Media Marketing [Infographic] | Growing the Online Campus | Scoop.it](http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/files/2012/08/36-rules-social-media.png)
