How to build effective online courses through social media marketing

By Anthony Carranza, Born2Invest

When it comes to marketing or profiling your next best venture you need to think about who your audience is above everything else. Once you have a niche market you can start to develop your business scheme and build your brand. It is important to note that in order to launch an online course you must have had some previous experience using social media, and have a track record. So, what are the four broad steps to consider launching an online course?

https://born2invest.com/articles/online-courses-social-media-marketing/

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28320

10 Tips for Creating and Selling Online Courses

by Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead, Small Business Trends

Creating courses to sell online is a great way to funnel your expertise into a rewarding and profitable channel. If you’re an expert, specialist or highly knowledgeable in a certain area, why not share your knowledge to a global audience and earn some money as you do so? Of course, successfully creating and selling online courses takes time, knowledge and commitment. To shed some light on how to effectively create and sell courses online, Small Business Trends spoke to David Siteman Garland, the creator of The Rise To The Top and Create Awesome Online Courses. David helps people create and sell online courses, and has assisted more than 3,500 students in over 100 countries to create successful courses, on everything from baby sleep training to clarinet lessons for adults.

https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/05/creating-and-selling-online-courses.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28312

11 ways to make your online course go global | Expert column

By Sarah Cordiner, Inside Business

I have over 40 online courses, have built close to 1,000 courses for other people and have more than 7,000 students enrolled in my online courses in over 130 countries. Here’s some tips I’ve used to grow my global student base. Break it up into its smallest parts. Consumers are now in control of their knowledge because they have the power to jump onto a search engine and ask “How to xxx.” A great way to rapidly go global is to start providing your audience with those answers. If your content appears as the result for every “how to” question your audience has, then it is your courses they are going to buy. Here’s what to do: Write down every question your audience has on your topic, write a simple “tip” answer to each question and record that answer as a video.

http://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/columns/ways-to-make-your-online-course-go-global-expert-column/article_43264387-0816-5ae6-be49-7bff487d0b96.html

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=28300

The Quest for Great Instructional Designers

by Paxton Riter, Inside Higher Ed

Talk about “skills gaps” in higher education typically refers to the asymmetry between workforce demands and college capacity. Articles and speeches abound that explain the increasing demand for degrees — and the failure of higher education to keep pace. But to those of us who spend time with leaders at the most innovative colleges and universities in the country, the term “skills gap” is beginning to develop another significance. Colleges and universities, under unprecedented pressure to improve outcomes, are investing in technology at a breakneck pace. They are applying new modalities for learning (online, blended, flipped) to support faculty members and engage students. And therein lies the rub. Instructional designers are, in many ways, the linchpin of higher education’s digital transformation. But great instructional designers are hard to find.

https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2016/06/07/troublesome-shortage-instructional-designers-essay

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=16013

Professional Online Courses Market in India 2016-2020 – New Market Study Published

by Digital Journal

Professional online courses are gaining popularity among learners in India. The emphasis put on technical education is fostering the market growth. These courses are mainly beneficial for learners who have to discontinue formal education. Traditional methods of classroom teaching, wherein classes are conducted in physical premises, demanded learners to take out time from their busy schedules. This acted as a trade-off to manage their routine work and studies accordingly. With the emergence of online courses and trainings, learners can continue with their profession and studies simultaneously.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2963654

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=16016

4 Tips for Using Support Services as an Online Student

by Bradley Fuster, US News

As students first apply to earn an online degree, they must interact with multiple offices, from admissions and financial aid to academic advising and the registrar office. Their first experience interacting with these offices can foreshadow the type of service experience students could expect throughout their studies. However, as online students and programs continue to multiply, campuses are expanding the range and reach of available student support services. SUNY—Buffalo State, for example, is implementing a virtual concierge that will centrally network student support services through a single point of digital contact. If students need financial aid assistance, a transcript, academic advisement, a writing tutor, help with the learning management system or an appointment at the counseling center, they will contact the virtual concierge for intake, ticketing, routing and appointment scheduling with the appropriate office. SUNY—Buffalo State also recently adopted a policy for professors who teach online or hybrid classes to offer virtual office hours.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-learning-lessons/articles/2016-06-06/4-tips-for-using-support-services-as-an-online-student

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from Educational Technology http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/?p=16011

Course provider giving away 3D printers to schools signing up for Maker class

by eSchool News

Level Up Village, a provider of STEAM-related courses, is offering a 3D printer to schools that sign up for its Global Inventors after-school course, where students in grades 3-8 learn about developing prototype inventions. Specifically, the course pairs students one-on-one with peers at one of Level Up’s Global Partner schools in developing countries to collaboratively design, print, and test solar-powered flashlights that can be 3D printed and used in energy-poor areas. A Cube 3D printer is provided to participating schools through a partnership with 3D Systems. Teacher training is also provided.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/06/02/3d-printer-maker-120/

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To curb cyberbullies, this district will monitor students’ social media

By Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel

Student messages on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are now being monitored by the Orange County (Fla.) school district as part of a new program to curb cyberbullying, crime on campus and suicide. Central Florida’s largest school district announced that it had acquired new software that would allow it to grab and then analyze social media messages posted from its campuses, whether from students or staff. The software also would allow the district to search the thousands of messages posted on various sites for key words that might indicate trouble.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2015/06/02/social-media-monitoring-635/

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Do Learning Management Systems Actually Improve K-12 Outcomes?

by Eric Horowitz, Edsurge

Learning management systems are big business, with a market size estimated to approach $8 billion by 2018. Many popular systems, like Blackboard, Joomla and PowerSchool, offer case studies highlighting the remarkable improvements made by individual institutions. Yet the gusto of these pronouncements can’t cover up the fact that there is a lack of scientifically rigorous investigations into whether these systems are actually effective.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-06-01-do-learning-management-systems-actually-improve-k-12-outcomes

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Report: Most Districts Have Deployed Mobile Tech, Want More

By Joshua Bolkan, THE Journal

Eighty-two percent of districts are “highly interested” in launching or expanding a 1:1 technology initiative within the next two years, according to a new report from Amplify and IESD. The report, the “2014 National Survey on Mobile Technology for K-12 Education,” also found that the number of districts reporting that at least one-quarter of their schools had deployed mobile devices had risen to 71 percent, up from 60 percent in 2013. Forty-four percent of districts surveyed said that approximately 75 percent of their schools had deployed mobile technology. “The most commonly expected and sought after benefits from adopting mobile technology for student instruction,” wrote the report’s author, “included their potential to increase student achievement, be engaging for students, and support personalization of instruction to meet the needs of different students.”

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/05/29/report-most-districts-have-deployed-mobile-tech-want-more.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/TzWjkm_zAVU/

Cool kickstarter projects

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Crowdfunding is a pretty cool concept. It can be a great way for folks to gain the funds they need to bring a project to completion, start a small business, or collect funds for social campaigns or nonprofit groups. There are a ton of different crowdfunding sites out there now, including ones specifically geared towards education (more on that another day), but the most popular and widely known is probably Kickstarter. From funky electronics, software, apps, and games to straight out funding, there are a lot of things on these sites that can be useful in your classroom or for you and your students whether they are designed specifically for education or not. Periodically, I scroll through some of these sites to see what is interesting and new, and I’ve put together a short list of some fun and innovative projects that are interesting and might prove useful in or out of the classroom.

http://www.edudemic.com/cool-kickstarter-projects/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/ETH2jHFLE5I/

‘Virtual’ summer school lets students learn at their own pace

BY MARSHA SILLS, the Advocate

The school system launched the virtual summer school program in 2012 after years without a summer academic option for students because of low enrollment in the past. As part of the program, students take online courses taught via lessons recorded by certified teachers. Students can pause and rewind the lessons as they need and move through the content at their own pace. The program began May 26, and during the first week, the students were required to report to the virtual learning center for their coursework. For the remainder of the program, only middle school students are required to report to the center, while high school students may complete their coursework at home or wherever they want to do their lessons, said Kellie LeBlanc, program supervisor. Students must return to the center to take tests, she said.

http://theadvocate.com/news/9317305-123/virtual-summer-school-lets-students

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