Group items tagged

I subscribe to Ramsey's Blog Tyrant blog and found this case study interesting. Although this is blog promotion, it seems as if it would be site promotion as well. Good info about Google Ads and Facebook ads and the return from them. Good information about the conversion of emails to subscribers and users, and the use of give aways. Most important - good content or no matter what you do people unsubscribe.

Some good lessons on marketing, content, conversions, launching or relaunching

Mozilla has launched the program it began in 2011 to allow organizations to issue badges and individuals to collect them for their backpacks.

blog by Clay Johnson on Lifehacker, 2.23.12, on starting every day as a producer of information, not as a consumer. Excerpt: "The production of information is critical to a healthy information diet. It's the thing that makes it so that your information consumption has purpose. I cannot think of more important advice to give anyone: start your day with a producer mindset, not a consumer mindset. If you begin your day checking the news, checking your email, and checking your notifications, you've launched yourself into a day of grazing a mindless consumption. Starting your day as a producer means that your information consumption has meaning: the rest of the day means consuming information that is relevant to what it is that you're producing. Waking up as a producer frames the rest of your habits. You're not mindlessly grazing on everyone's facebook's statuses. You're out getting what it is you need to get in order to produce. Waking up as a producer is procrastination insurance. But there's something else that being a producer does: it gives you more clarity about what it is that you think."

This paper written by George Siemens in 2008 on Learning in Networks raises issues very similar to those we are raising in our discussion at CPSquare. This paper also has implications for how the Women's Learning Studio is launched into practice in its discussion of teacher as learning atelier, concierge, etc. Google Scholar, Scopus, and open access journals offer increased access to academic resources; an extension to more informal approaches such as regular internet search and Wikipedia. Social software (blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, instant messaging, Skype, Ning) provide opportunities for learners to create, dialogue about, and disseminate information. But what becomes of the teacher? How do the practices of the educator change in networked environments, where information is readily accessible? How do we design learning when learners may adopt multiple paths and approaches to content and curriculum? How can we achieve centralized learning aims in decentralized environments? This paper will explore the shifting role of educators in networked learning, with particular emphasis on curatorial, atelier, concierge, and networked roles of educators, in order to assist learners in forming diverse personal learning networks for deep understanding of complex fields.

Good history of Mozilla's open badge project, a joint venture between the Mozilla and MacArthur foundations. The open badge system is now called Badgr and is launched by a new entity for this purpose, Concentric Sky in partnership with edX. It is still open source and badge criteria still displays with the badge when awarded and displayed on a web site, profile, etc.

****This post by Derek J. Keenan explains his Social Professional Learning Model that served as his Masters Capstone paper at Alberta University, April 23, 2012. Its core is an action research approach to learning enriched by and anchored in social media. Substitute teacher with "other named professional" and it works for people in all types of work/interests. There is also a short (s cultivating connections with the people who have the same self-directed learning quest as you. The next step is reciprocating by publishing and sharing what you know or believe to be true. Throughout it is your experience that informs your participation and your participation informs your level of understanding--you are constantly learning and eventually building your personal learning network relationships to be there for you.

Interesting article published 1/6/2014 on Second Acts for baby boomers. Quotes Marc Freedman, Elizabeth Isele (who lived in ME for a long time), and mentions Bevan Rogel. The Boomerworks online service for matching BBs with work opportunities is very interesting--wonder how they are doing? And whether we should try to ally with them? "In 1998, living in Maine, Isele created CyberSeniors, a multilingual nonprofit computer training company that eventually trained more than 28,000 seniors in 24 states. She's led numerous nonprofits over the decades and is now pushing public policy changes and forging connections between organizations to create an "entrepreneur ecosystem." That ecosystem is flourishing in Sarasota. Sarasota's Institute for the Ages, established in 2009 to change the conversation about aging as one of deficit and decline to one about enhancing lives, is a lab for companies and services that want to tap into the needs of older adults. In late 2013, the Institute launched Boomerswork.com, a web-based network to connect freelancers with companies seeking seasoned professionals for project-based work. The program started in Canada and the Institute is the first organization to bring it to the U.S. When the Institute convenes a national convention here in February, entrepreneurship and encore careers will be a large part of the agenda. In addition to a keynote address by Freedman, Isele is leading a workshop on entrepreneurship with Bevon Rogel, who runs a Freedman-related Encore Academy in St. Petersburg to help seniors find meaningful work. For Southwest Florida, which has one of the highest concentrations of seniors in the nation, the idea of an "encore" seems natural. As the rest of the country and world grays, branding this life stage as one that brings years, or potentially decades, more productivity and meaning to life has become an imperative."

Blog post by Deborah Shane "According to a CareerBuilder survey "hiring managers are using social media to get a glimpse at the candidate's behavior and personality outside of the interview, and are most interested in professional presentation and how the candidate would fit with the company culture. Here are five strategies anyone can use to 'advance and own their professional development'." First three of five strategies are online: 1) Use Facebook in a hybrid way. Facebook can be one of the most effective and diverse self marketing, branding and networking assets of all of the social platforms. Posting professional questions, article linking, Facebook chats and using the Notes Feature are all great ways to brand yourself on Facebook. 2) Brand your LinkedIn and Twitter pages content and information. Having a content rich, branded landing page on LinkedIn and Twitter can make a strong first impression. Complete your profiles and tell your story in your job history. This makes you more personable and shows people you are serious, professional and you want to be remembered. 3) Launch your own blog or guest blog for other strategic sites. This is one of the best ways to share how you think and show your knowledge and expertise, as well as highlight others in your field that you admire or want to emulate. Some of the free sites you can use are WordPress, Weebly and Wix.

Was just thinking about our LeanIn group and the Studio offering a Book Club and here is this invite from PLP for a connected educators book club

"Content marketing is more than writing blogs. Way more. If you're just getting involved in content marketing, the first thing you need to do is launch your blog and start writing. Then, when your blog is established and purring along, try throwing in a new type of content. I predict that you'll immediately see a difference - fresh traffic, targeted visitors, higher conversion rates, and better SEO."

Blog post by Meenoo Rami, October 22, 2013. "How can you make the most of social networks? The main thing: Explore. Whether you choose to use Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, blogs, or other forms of virtual communities, read a lot and let the good stuff lead you to more good stuff (and good people). The second thing: Look for community-and if you don't find it, build it. When I realized there was no Twitter chat for English teachers, I launched (and have maintained for past three years) #engchat, which has given me many rewards for the time and effort I put into it. Every Monday night at 7 p.m, ET, dozens of teachers of English come together to discuss topics such as social justice education, teaching grammar and vocabulary, and balancing the canon with contemporary fiction in our classrooms. Even outside our Monday night chats, the hashtag #engchat helps teachers to pose questions, share lesson ideas, and exchange relevant resources with others who share similar interests. "

News article on shooting death of Dan Markel, a rising star in the legal world and an FSU professor, 7.26.14. They describe his desire to create dialogue and how his blog PrawfsBlawg gained national attention. (and may have led to his irritating someone who killed him) "In Tallahassee, Markel's star ascended. He launched a legal blog, a forum for law professors called PrawfsBlawg. The site gave scholars an avenue to vet ideas and listed job opportunities. PrawfsBlawg attracted a national following, propelling Markel into a network of high-profile scholars. He was invited to conferences nationwide. Markel's scholarship, which raised philosophical questions about the justice system and argued against the death penalty, also received national attention. His writing was featured in the New York Times and Slate. "He was very eager to engage other academics in dialogue," said Berman, the Ohio State professor. "He believed the more you got resistance to your idea, the more refined and sophisticated the idea would become.""

Lorenzo Grandi is founder of Startupbootcamp Amerstam. He outlines what makes a successful crowdfunding campaign. Ask: what do you or can you offer? Who is your competition? What has worked well for them? Feature a video - more likely to get funded if you have one. Although this is geared toward business, it has a lot of good tips and links to other blogs and sites (including Kickstarter and their help area), and is easy to understand and practical.

interesting look by Karen Sands on boomers' reasons for retiring/launching third and fourth "ages"

like this assessment of value of gap year by Abby Falik

All about Livestream

Also fascinating. I think this can be a very useful tool once we begin having sessions. I am still unsure what those sessions will be, but I think this would great.I am currently listening to Deepak Chopra's book launch. Interesting.

blog on how to attract younger members by redesigning conference to appeal to younger members who have families and by going to the graduation ceremony of Special Forces to engage with them early.

Stephanie Hirsh of Learning Forward describes how teams and districts may transform their professional learning, June 25, 2015.

website by Mac Rivera on ProjectManBeyond

announcement on peer support groups on Facebook for Nonprofit staff members and EDs of nonprofits