Maximizing the Impact of your Teaching Center Website

Maximizing the Impact of the Teaching Center Website

Prof. Nira Hativa Tel Aviv University◦ Head, Center for the

Advancement of Teaching

Kaleem Clarkson Kennesaw State University◦ Office Manager at CETL◦ Concerts4Charity Founder◦ Saroswebdesign.com

2011 Institute for New Faculty Developers June 22, 2011 * Atlanta, Georgia * "Maximizing the Impact of the Teaching Center Website."

presented by Prof. Nira Hativa and Kaleem Clarkson

2011 Institute for New Faculty Developers June 22, 2011 * Atlanta, Georgia * "Maximizing the Impact of the Teaching Center Website." presented by Prof. Nira Hativa and Kaleem Clarkson

Presentation Outline

1.Identify which topics most interest you

2.Developing your center’s web design brief, content of website

3.Organizing your webpage design to maximize its impact

4.Content Management Systems (CMS).


1. Which topics in our session interest you the most?

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1. How to plan your website?

2. What sections and content could be included in the website?

3. How to organize the structure and content of the website?

4. What features help increase user engagement?

5. How to allow staff to edit webpages without additional software?


2. Developing the center’s web design brief, content of website

Big Dig in Boston


Which of these situations applies to you the most?

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1. Recently joined or about to join an existing Center

2. Recently started or about to start directing an existing Center

3. Trying to get a Center started

4. Doing faculty development work independently on campus


2. Developing the center’s web design brief, content of websiteWhat is a web design brief?It is a roadmap for client and designer as to the goals and objectives and how to achieve them


Components of a web design brief

a) Center’s organizational profile (About Us)b) Main goals of your Center’s websitec) Target audiences, their needs, and how to serve

these needs [content of website]d) Sections to highlight the Center [content of

website]e) Resources for developing and maintaining your

website f) Timeline for the completion of the website


a) Center’s organizational profile (About Us)

MissionVisionHistoryServicesProducts


b) Main goals of your Center’s website

What are they? Provide resources for academic teaching staff and

administrators to improve their teaching, research initiatives and overall job performance

Provide relevant helpful information to other target audiences

Highlight faculty who have shown great examples of teaching

Promote upcoming and past opportunities, activities, news and events

What else?


c) Target audiences and their needs

What are the target audiences? c1) Academic teaching staff: Faculty members, adjuncts and TA’sc2) Administratorsc3) Studentsc4) Campus and worldwide audiences

What are their respective needs? How to serve these needs? [content]


c1: Needs of academic teaching staff

What are they? c11: How to teach well?c12: How to improve teaching using campus resources?c13: How to perform well in the academic role beyond teaching? c14: How to get promoted? c15: Where to find campus resources and support?Others?


c1: Needs of academic teaching staffc11: How to teach well?

To serve these needs present: General pedagogy: Teaching ideas/tips, teaching

guides Case descriptions: Stories of very successful

teachers Video clips of model teachingWhat else?


c1: Needs of academic teaching staffc12: How to improve teaching using campus resources?

To serve these needs present info about: Getting help in interpreting teaching evaluations (formative and

summative) and in acting on them Getting help in mentoring, consultation, using SoTL Getting info about campus orientations, workshops, symposia, and off

campus webinars, conferences, discussion groups, etc. Getting info about media resources: Journals, books, videos, Internet-

based resources Getting help in using technology to support class teaching:

Presentations, clickers, wikis, class management tools, etc.

What else?


c1: Needs of academic teaching staffc13: How to perform well in academic role beyond teaching?

To serve these needs present info about: Observing teaching-related campus rules Understanding campus institutions, administration,

and politics Understanding roles and responsibilities of the

academic teaching staffWhat else?


c1: Needs of academic teaching staffc14: How to get promoted?

To serve these needs provide: Ideas and guidance about promoting success in

faculty careers Info about preparing for P&T: Teaching portfolioWhat else?


c1: Needs of academic teaching staffc15: Where to find campus resources and support?

To serve these needs provide info about: Teaching center’s resources: Programs, services,

events, library, center’s team External resources: POD, other teaching centers Ombuds office Appeals Student AdvisoryWhat else?


c2: Needs of campus administrators?

To serve these needs provide: Chairs development workshops Info about results of Student Evaluation of Teaching

(SETs) for each course and teacher Info about summary of results of the SETs for each

academic unit and for the campus as a whole Info about results of teaching/SETs related studies

done on campusWhat Else?


c3: Needs of students

To serve these needs provide info about: Teaching on campus Results of the SETs that students are permitted to

read Introductory teaching resources for Graduate

Teaching StudentsWhat else?


c4: Needs of campus and worldwide target audiencesTo serve these needs provide: General information for worldwide audiences List of journals List of conferences List of comprehensive resourcesWhat else?


d): Sections to highlight the center [content]d1:About usd2: Activities/programsd3: Servicesd4: Teaching guides/tips/handling problemsd5: Awards and grantsd6: Teaching policiesd7: Results and statistics of SETs, other teaching surveys, other studies on teaching done on campusd8: Upcoming eventsd9: Resourcesd10: HomeWhat else?


d1: About us Mission and Values History Staff Advisory board Campus partners Newsletter, listserv Confidentiality policy Annual report Employment opportunities Location and hours Contact usWhat else?


d2: Activities/programs Orientations, workshops, seminars, discussion groups

on campus [on-line registration] Personal consultation Mentorship Teaching evaluation (formative and summative) by

teaching center’s staff, self, students & peers Support for technology in teaching Program for teaching certificate Programs for new faculty/TAs, for international

faculty/TAs, for adjunct/part-time facultyWhat else?


d3: Services

Analysis of multiple-choice tests/exams Helping faculty prepare technology-based teaching

items Services for departments, programs and schools Recording of classes & Internet broadcasting What else?


d4: Teaching guides/tips/handling problems Teaching guides Teaching tips Ways and means for handling problems Theoretical summaries: Teaching-related research

resultsWhat else?


d5: Awards and grants Faculty Award selection process and application

◦ Minnesota State University Mankato; http://www.mnsu.edu/cetl/grantsawards/

◦ Cornell Universityhttp://www.cte.cornell.edu/faculty/facultygrants.html

List of awards-winning teachers with photos or videos◦ University of Central Florida

http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/FacultySuccess/AwardWinners/◦ Florida State University

http://learningforlife.fsu.edu/ctl/explore/2010teachExcellenceSeries.cfm

Grants for participation in teaching-promotion activitiesWhat else?

http://www.mnsu.edu/cetl/grantsawards/

http://www.cte.cornell.edu/faculty/facultygrants.html

http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/FacultySuccess/AwardWinners/




d6: Teaching policies

Forms for writing syllabus, for other teaching-related procedures

Campus policies for teacher behaviors Ethics in teachingWhat else?


d7: Studies on SETs and on teaching

Results of statistics on SETs Results of other teaching surveys Results of other studies on teaching done on campus


d8: Upcoming events

Orientations, workshops, seminars, discussion groups, guest lecturers, conferences, symposia

What else?


d9: Resources for stakeholders, particularly for teachers Teaching ideas/tips, teaching guides Case descriptions: Stories of very successful

teachers Videotapes of superb teaching List of website of other teaching centers List of teaching-related journals, books, videotapes,

articles and essays Library with sources of the latter listWhat else?


e) Resources for constructing and maintaining your webpage


How many staff members does your center have or will have?

A. B. C. D. E.

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A. 1-3

B. 4-6

C. 7-10

D. 11-15

E. 16 or more


e) Resources for constructing and maintaining your webpage

Human Resources Financial Commitment


f) Timeline for completing your webpage ?

Administration provided date Start of the new semester Special Event


All of your great ideas are on paper: what’s next?

Making Decisions


3. Organizing your Center’s webpage design to maximize its impact

3a. Avoiding bad web design3b. Deciding on site-map and web content3c. Organizing content with wireframes and sketches 3d. Resources for basic design tips and principles


3a. Avoiding bad web design

Don’t laugh at me… I tried really hard!


Webpagesthatsuck.com

Ironically, this site is a great resource for designers to learn what NOT to do.

They have been ranking webpages for 15 years and are the #1 Google-ranked page when searching for examples of bad design.


#3 on the list: www.siphawaii.comShould I say more?


Prioritize navigation, pages and features based on your resources


3b. Deciding on center’s site-map and web content


Deciding on your center’s site-map and web content Prioritize navigation, pages and features based on

your design brief. Try to limit your main menu items to 6. Revisit your menu items and content statistics after

a year has passed.


3c. Organizing your content with wireframes and sketches


KSU’s CETL. Wireframe to Design


KSU’s CETL. Wireframe to Design



What exactly is a wireframe?

In design, wireframes are useful because they help you and your client focus on important structuring issues before considering detail-oriented challenges.


I consider my artistic skills to be ____

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1. Below Average2. Average3. Above Average4. Awesome


I have no artistic ability should I be doing a wireframe? Yes, yes and yes. “I’m here to tell you that the artistic quality of your

sketches is not the point. The real goal of sketching is functional. It’s about generating ideas, solving problems, and communicating ideas more effectively with others”. –Mike Rohde, A List Aparthttp://www.alistapart.com/articles/sketching-the-visual-thinking-power-tool/

Excellent Wireframing resources◦ http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/01/35-excellen

t-wireframing-resources/◦ http://www.wireframeshowcase.com/◦ 960 Grid - http://960.gs/

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/sketching-the-visual-thinking-power-tool/

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/sketching-the-visual-thinking-power-tool/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/01/35-excellent-wireframing-resources/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/01/35-excellent-wireframing-resources/

http://www.wireframeshowcase.com/

http://960.gs/


Topdesignmag.com’s 20 examples of bad web design


3d. Resources for basic design tips and principles www.alistapart.com www.webdesignerdepot.com www.smashingmagazine.com www.webpagesthatsuck.com http://960.gs/

http://www.alistapart.com/

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

http://960.gs/


Helpful tools and practices to engage site users and market your programs Search Engine Optimization

◦ Search Engine Optimization is a process to get your site listed at the top of the Google search list.

Newsletter signup widget ◦ Vertical Response – free to nonprofits and gov’t agencies.◦ iContact.com

Integrating Social Networks◦ Facebook◦ Twitter◦ RSS Feeds

Google Analytics◦ Provides you with website statistics.

Google Translator◦ Helps translate pages into different languates.

Faculty Blog◦ A blog where faculty can post stories about their teaching experiences.◦ http://hetl.org/

http://hetl.org/


How important is it for you or a staff person to be responsible for updating the webpage?

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1. Not important

2. Somewhat important

3. Important

4. Highly important

5. Extremely important


4. Avantages of Content Management Systems (CMS).


What is a content management system (CMS)?

A content management system (CMS) is the collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based.


What is a content management system (CMS)?


Common institutional workflow


Advantages of content management

Updating of content without any knowledge of web design languages such as HTML, CSS, PHP or JavaScript

Allow for a large number of people to contribute to and share stored data

Control access to data, based on user roles (defining which information users or user groups can view, edit, publish, etc.)

Aid in easy storage and retrieval of data Reduce time commitments Improve the ease of report writing Improve communication between users Reduced costs


Most popular used CMS’s

2010 Open Source CMS Awards https://www.packtpub.com/open-source-awards-home

Wordpress – The most popular used CMS for personal blogs. Easiest to use but limited

Drupal – The second highest rated CMS due to the flexibility. Mostly used for enterprise sites and institutions.

Joomla – The second most popular CMS. Similar to Wordpress where it is easy to use but limited in functionality.

https://www.packtpub.com/open-source-awards-home


Presentation Review

1.Identify what topics interest you the most*

2.Developing your center’s web design brief, content of website

3.Organizing your webpage design to maximize its impact

4.Content Management Systems (CMS).

Education

Maximizing the Impact of your Teaching Center Website