On Students and Social Media:

Teaching our students how to manage their digital identities cannot be something we assume we’re comprehensively addressing through a new major in social media that we establish in business and communication colleges. Digital identity development is bigger than that. It’s helping students know how to apply for jobs, form and positively participate in online communities and lead authentic lives that aren’t overwhelmingly and constantly dominated by social sharing and looking down at their iPhones. These are skills that can help students of any discipline do well not just during college, but long after they graduate. -2013: The Year of Digital Identity Development in Higher Education

On the Future of Interactive Design:

An exploration of the future of Interaction Design and User Experience from some of the industry’s thought leaders.

More tinkering with online education:

The state university’s deal with Udacity is the first time that professors at a university have collaborated with a provider of a MOOC—massively open online course—to create courses with students first watching videos on their own, with support from online mentors, and then coming to class to work on assignments with a professor. Eventually, such blended courses could be offered to hundreds of thousands of students in the state. – California to Give Web Courses a Big Trial

Why you need an “Online Editor”

It’s not that you shouldn’t have multiple content contributors or that a content management system is unnecessary. Its just that a site needs somebody who is ultimately responsible for the quality of content being produced. ..An online editor, who has real authority over the site, and whose job is dependant on its success, will transform your online presence. – You’re just one employee away from a successful site

Taking “responsive” design to the next level

“The basic elements of responsive design — fluid grids, flexible media and CSS media queries — are key to building successful websites that work across platforms and devices, but these three components are not the end of the responsive design story. In fact, as developer Brad Frost argues in the talk embedded above, there is, or should be, much more to it than that.”

Two weeks ago I accepted a new “web guy” position, at a different university. So I’ll be leaving the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) and beginning a new job in January as “webmaster” for the Sam Walton College of Business.

I smile at the “webmaster” title, because it harkens to an earlier era. But in many ways it will be fitting to be acknowledged as working in all-things-web, instead of simply being called a “web designer” and assuming those responsibilities under the radar. I’ll welcome the title as a term of endearment. I’ll work to push their website from pretty good, to something spectacularly fantastic. Storytelling, copywriting, design and development, photography – the works.  I’ll swing for the fences.

The quote I used to begin this post referenced a change from “bad to worse” ..which couldn’t be farther from the truth.  I just loved the witty’ness of the quotation, and the reference to “bruising.”  

Let’s face it: Working with web in higher ed can be a bruising experience. Yet some of us love university life to the extent that we will stick around. And thrive, even if our abusive spouse smacks us around every once in awhile.

But “bad to worse?” No.  My current job is awesomely amazing.  Where I’m going, is no doubt the same.  But I felt like I was getting too comfortable.  Six years is a long time to work on a single web presence. And this job opportunity had every mark of a career advancement for me.  I needed to do something new.

And everything will be “new” in this change.  A new house, new schools and a new job for my wife and two children,  new opportunities to learn.  A new campus to explore. New people. New food. New parking nightmares. But most of all, new challenges.  I’m excited about the new’ness.  Can you tell?

Then there’s the part where I’m leaving. Leaving these people. Leaving this place.

The ironic part? “Web” interests are on the upswing at my current job. We are searching for a Director of Digital Strategy – a new position – essentially a czar of web. (Spread the word)

This person will run a new department – a real web shop with a mandate to support the web as a sustained operational asset. Designers, storytellers and developers, working under the same roof. Imagine that. It’s a big move for the university, and I won’t be here to see it happen. Which sucks.

And there are awesome people I’m leaving behind, which I won’t even begin to list. Talented, amazing people. Inspiring people. Friends.

In summary:

I’m leaving, and we’re hiring. It is a time of great personal and professional change.

Dr. Jane Bozarth is an e-learning coordinator, an author, and popular speaker. Quotes below were blatantly stripped from her recent article “Nuts and Bolts: Selling It” from Learning Solutions magazine.

..Do not expect to generate change in a one-shot meeting. Chip away at resistance. Chip away at the bad examples. Chip away at individuals and their objections one at a time. Bring the idea up again on Tuesday, and again on Friday. Look for opportunities to demonstrate a small idea, and people amenable to listening.

..I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard someone – people from L&D, no less – try to “explain” Twitter, or the advantages of storyboarding, or use of a new navigation plan. Stop talking; start showing. Become fluent with examples, mockups, and demos. What the competition is doing. What the competition is not doing. Watch for opportunities to fit a solution to a real problem.

Find small wins.

The lust for “enterprise solutions” can make us slow. Look for opportunities to conduct small pilots. Recognize small wins, then document and share them. Find pockets where there is a greater likelihood of acceptance.

Get clear on the business case

I find people have a hard time articulating business need or desired result. “Because it’s cool” is not a reason, and “because we can” is not a strategy. What problem will it solve? ..It’s no secret that I love new technologies, but I need to be careful not to be just the geek girl wandering around with a tool in search of a problem.

Finally: Stop cajoling and complaining and dragging. Figure out a space in which you can act, and just DO it already.

Jane Bozarth maintains a blog at bozarthzone.blogspot.com, and can be found on Twitter @janebozarth

See Also:

Another great Jane Bozarth article: Nuts and Bolts: The 10-Minute Instructional Design Degree

This revolutionary insight, filed under the “duh” category just beneath “Most mammals have fur,” is obvious to most everyone. But wait, that last word: infographics. They are powerful, yet under-utilized.

Printed as posters or shared online, the infographics I’ve collected below serve to promote degree programs, academic departments, alumni, and giving.

University of Missouri: College of Engineering (via)

Scholarship information from the University of Kansas (via)

Macalester College: Financial Aid by the Numbers (via)

Red McCombs gave a $50 million gift to, wait for it.. The Red McCombs School of Business. This infographic shows how the money was used:

The Campaign for Georgetown: (via)

William and Mary: Alumni Infographic

Oklahoma University: College of Engineering: (via)

See Also:
Visualizing Content: Using Infographics For Clear Communication via MeetContent

The University of Denver is going the #Infographics way to help promote a new #highered degree - via CollegeWebEditor

University Infographic Examples – Via EDUniverse

GOOD: Infographics -via GOOD

Daily Infographic

Infographics – via FlowingData.com

It won’t win any awards for production, but it has people. Real people, under real circumstances can sometimes compensate for shaky camera, awkward cuts, and sub-par audio.

Tools: Canon T3i, iMovie

audio url

..the highlight for me, of a collection of personal stories thoughts, and memories by 5by5 hosts and friends, expressing how their lives have been changed for the better by Steve and Apple.

A nice listen.
http://5by5.tv/specials/2

Larger version.

We all have certain talents. Mine just happens to center on Data Visualization of Complex Topics.

All the more reason to be intrigued with these “did you know” style info graphics about Google in general.

Particularly interesting was this statement about shipping containers at Google’s data centers:

Curious, I found this video tour of a Google container data center:

At first, I was simply curious about the shipping containers themselves, but the electrical and cooling systems of the facility are very impressive. My father is an electrician in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and I’ve spent my fair share of summers bending conduit and running wire. Even for someone familiar with industrial power configurations, the sheer scale and magnitude of those electrical systems is difficult to grasp.

And that’s just one tour, of ONE facility. How many of these data centers does google have?

As of 2008, “If you include data centers that are under construction, Google has 19 locations in the US where they operate data centers, 12 in Europe, one in Russia, one in South America, and three in Asia. ..According to Google’s earnings reports, they spent $1.9 billion on data centers in 2006, and $2.4 billion in 2007″

As to the safety and integrity of google-stored data:

How do you know if your disaster recovery solution is as strong as you need it to be? It’s usually measured in two ways: RPO (Recovery Point Objective) and RTO (Recovery Time Objective). RPO is how much data you’re willing to lose when things go wrong, and RTO is how long you’re willing to go without service after a disaster.

..For Google Apps customers, our RPO design target is zero, and our RTO design target is instant failover. We do this through live or synchronous replication: every action you take in Gmail is simultaneously replicated in two data centers at once, so that if one data center fails, we nearly instantly transfer your data over to the other one that’s also been reflecting your actions.

This post reeks of an advertisement for google apps, but its even less honorable than that. I just wanted to brag.

Related:

A video every university IT manager should watch: Dumping Campus Email for Gmail.

Even after super stardom though, Sagan was actively involved in recruiting students to his academic department at Cornell. Writing letters. Giving lab tours. Driving kids to the bus station.

More discussion on Metafilter.

ONE: I got caught up for an hour or so, captivated by this conversation on reddit surrounding the homeless man with the golden voice, and in particular the outpouring of public support he’s received in the last 24 hours. Someone ponied up $15,000 in salary money for a radio station to employ him with. The Cleveland Cavaliers offered him a job and a home. Tomorrow he’s being flown for an interview on the Today Show.

TWO: The newest Communication Arts Annual landed on my desk, which contained a thought provoking article by DK Holland titled “Being Human”. In it, she reflects on the human trait of generosity, and describes the circumstances most suitable to triggering it.

Believe it or not, people are fairly altruistic – that is, if they can see the person, the individual.  Studies show that, when given a choice, most people will give more to another person than is needed or requested – even if it’s a stranger.  When the plea is to help thousands in dire need, the individual becomes a statistic, and empathy can become apathy.  We need to see a face.  And preferably touch a hand, hear a voice, smell a person.

…Humans cultivate empathy by making meaningful, quality connections with other living things.  When information is presented in a compelling and creative way in any venue, neurons start firing, emotions ignite the imagination.  Any place where people congregate presents such an opportunity.

It is a general reminder for me to focus less on tools and technology. Though these tools enable great stories to spread like wildfire, they mean nothing in the absence of meaningful messaging. A ship carrying useless cargo.
Our job is to make people care. Don’t be boring.

Related:

Tell me a story.