New Catlin Gabel web site launched!

Posted by: Richard
July022009

We launched the new Catlin Gabel web site yesterday morning! The first day went very smoothly. Thank you to those who sent feedback (especially the two with constructive comments). Most first reactions have been about graphic design and navigation. I'm sure that people will have more to say about functionality once they use the site to get things done.

We timed the launch for the very slowest week of summer, so that we could see how the site performs as the load increases up to the start of school. A handful of teachers and staff members are updating new sections of the site, such as Sustainable School and Global Education. Other parts of the site are missing content at present and will need to be populated before the start of school. I created an introductory video to call attention to some aspects of the site.

Far from being done with the site, I have a very long list of items to address, most notably continuing development work on our custom modules. Many remaining to-do items are to customize aspects of the Drupal interface that aren't quite the right match for our needs. Nonetheless, it feels great to have cleared a major hurdle!

Some of the recent posts on this blog describe the site's features and development process in greater detail.

new web site

tags: , , ,

PNAIS TechShare Conference

Posted by: Richard
June302009

I just returned from three days at the PNAIS TechShare conference, located in the foothills of Mt. Hood. It was a great conference. Though very small (maybe 35 attendees), we attracted a critical mass of teachers, kept the conversation focused on teaching and learning, and enjoyed the retreat-like atmosphere of a resort hotel. Gaining face time with Northwest colleagues we usually only "see" through email was most valuable. I picked up a lot of useful sites and tools to support our global education initiatives and made several contacts at other schools who are doing very interesting work. Best of all, I shared the experience with two colleagues from my school, which should really help with implementation of these ideas this year. Go TechShare!

We did devote an hour's time to discussion of open source software. Interestingly, the conversation was not much different from similar talks two years ago. A lot of tech staff are still struggling with how to take the first steps to exploring open source software in their schools, and the categories of desktop, server, and web open-source software are mixed without much discrimination. I don't fully understand why open-source technologies are not treated like other new technologies. You find the time to learn it because it's interesting, your users are curious, and it has the potential to really help your operations. If it's strategically important to your school, then you find the time to study it. I hope that we may one day take this conversation to the next level within our community of northwest schools.

Wow, has the Apple revolution arrived to the state of Washington! A number of schools are now wrestling with Mac client-Windows network integration, as students have begun to show up on campus with MacBooks. A whole bunch of conference attendees sported iPhones (and complained about the spotty signal reception at the resort)!

We maintained our global ed theme throughout most of the conference. The best part for me was learning what interesting global trips other schools have undertaken (Seattle Academy, Overlake, Northwest Academy, Lakeside, among others). However, when I asked the teacher group how many had tried a virtual exchange, no hands went up! Maybe the right people weren't in the room, but I was surprised at the lack of virtual exchanges. Thankfully, the group received my presentation about our Gaza City Skype chat very well, and perhaps one or two will give it a try this year.

After a lovely retreat and conference experience up in the woods, I return to help launch our new web site tomorrow! Hopefully, by the end of day, you will see a whole new look and functionality at www.catlin.edu.

tags: ,

Curriculum map in Drupal

Posted by: Richard
June122009

Two weeks to go until live! This week, I migrated our school curriculum map from a custom system I authored into Drupal. This allows us to ensure the longevity of this web site resource, take advantage of Drupal's strengths in structuring content storage and display, and provide teachers with a very usable editing interface. The curriculum map stores over a thousands nodes and can be added to an existing Drupal site. This article assumes familiarity with Drupal 6 views, content construction kit, blocks, and very basic custom function programming. This isn't a step-by-step tutorial (maybe one day).

Curriculum map course content type holds courses. The description field is not yet populated but available for course descriptions. Taxonomy categories for division, grades, and subjects are applied to this content type. A node reference field is used to connect each curriculum map course node to as many curriculum map units as necessary. The autocomplete node reference widget is used to allow the user to re-order the units as desired. It may be difficult for a user to find the correct unit node using autocomplete if it is not named creatively. It may be a good upgrade to use a view to display more identifying information than the title for the autocomplete search.

Curriculum map unit content type has a textarea field for each curriculum map category. We use the following: essential questions, habits of mind, content, skills and processes, assessment, resources, multicultural dimension, and integrated learning. In retrospect, having so many categories created a lot of work for teachers, who had to populate some of these categories x each unit x each course they teach.

We authored module cgs_curriculum_map.module to migrate content from our old system into Drupal. It creates content and unit nodes, establishes node reference links between them, populates content fields, and attaches taxonomy terms. This is not necessary for schools starting a curriculum map from scratch.

When the system displays a curriculum map course node, the units also load in a table below the course description. This is accomplished by loading a block view that displays the curriculum map category content for each unit node referenced in the course node. The view is loaded into the content_bottom template region, so that it appears just below the course description field. A simple function in cgs_curriculum_map.module returns a + delimited list of node ids of the unit nodes attached to the currently loaded course node. The display setting for the node reference field in the course content type is set to hidden to prevent unit links from appearing above the unit content itself.

If a user wants to display a single unit in a more readable form, one may link the unit title to its node. The conventional node CCK field display presents fairly well.

A page view with exposed filters lists courses, so that a user may view courses in the desired divisions, grades, or subjects. This is a good starting point for a user.

The user interface for adding new units is currently weak. It would be clever to load the curriculum map unit node add form in a lightbox above the curriculum map course page, so that a teacher could create a new unit on the fly and still have it show up in the node reference autocomplete field. Also, some node edit form elements are named in such a way that may confuse teachers. For example, the edit tab on the curriculum map course node page will likely be construed as providing editing access to the unit nodes (you actually have to view the unit before you can edit it).

I am currently having difficulty using both arguments and filters together. The argument limits the initial course list to a single division in the division pages, but the filters attach additional criteria using ? arguments. When both exist, the view returns no nodes. It may be that the view is applying terms from one taxonomy to the other, where they don't exist, causing the empty result set.

Use pathauto on the curriculum map content types and menu block visibility to load the correct secondary navigation menu when the view is displaying curriculum map entries.

curriculum map list view

curriculum map course view

tags: , , ,

Web Site Strategy

Posted by: Richard
June022009

Here is a quick run-down of some key ideas underlining our new web site strategy.

Site goals

The site has two overarching goals:

Provide timely, useful information that school constituents are seeking.

Regularly transmit the key messages that drive our communication strategy.


Guiding Principles

Authenticity: our target audiences are sensitive to the authenticity of our message. We benefit by demonstrating transparency in our communications and providing a "window" into daily life in the school. Ruth Catlin envisioned the school as a "lab" that would share its teaching accomplishments broadly.

Timeliness: web site visitors expect site content to be up-to-date and useful in the present moment. Many visitors come to the site expecting to find information to help them meet a deadline, attend an event, or find out what just happened in the school community.

Engagement: community members once gained entrance to this community. The site should attempt to move individuals up the "engagement pyramid." It should provide tools for users to provide information to the school, communicate with employees, and network with each other. Highly engaged members of the community contribute to the school's success through attendance at school events, volunteerism, financial contributions, and spreading the good word.

Excellence: our school attempts to perform at a high level in all its pursuits. The site should itself demonstrate excellence in design and function and also communicate examples of excellence that take place within the school. Admittedly, this desire for excellence sometimes rubs up against our equally strong desire for authenticity.


Site objectives

Develop a graphic design and user interface that conveys the vibrancy and excellence of this institution and is also easy to navigate and use. Choose colors to pay tribute to the classic Catlin blue but make central use of the new, Crane-provided color palette.

Broadly publish photos of everyday life and special events at the school. Most schools only display carefully staged, professional photos on their home page. We deliberately publish shots of everyday life and special events in order to convey the vibrancy of school life, the authenticity of our communications, the informality of our school culture, and to provide motivation for repeat visits. We will also convert the random-select home page photo into a proper slideshow and retain the current grid view for photo galleries elsewhere in the site.

Limit the cash cost of the new site to less than $10,000.

Make athletics schedules and driving directions easy to access and subscribe to.

Make lunch menu information easy to access and subscribe to.

Make it possible for many people at the school to contribute content to the web site. "Content managers" will receive training and maintain the core pages on the site. Teachers will have the ability to post classroom news, which will be aggregated into division-level news pages. Teachers and students will also have individual blogs, in order to publish examples of their work should they choose to do so.

Launch our social network and media initiatives at the same time as the new school web site. Continue to develop our Facebook presence to share highlight news items, audio and video captured at school, and community-contributed content. Further develop and call attention to our LinkedIn presence, so that it takes over as our primary "career network" tool. invite parents and students to join the network (currently only alumni are involved). Launch new Twitter and YouTube channels in order to reach our constituents where they are, exert more influence over messaging about Catlin Gabel in those spaces, and create the opportunity for a viral media success.

Broaden the publication of News feeds to the entire site. News items will appear on the home page as they do at present, but they will also be archived permanently (unless deleted), allowing users to get a sense of the rhythm of school life over weeks and months. Newsflash items will automatically appear in other relevant sections of the site (e.g., alumni, arts). Each program, department, division, and classroom may have its own dedicated news feed, which will show both Newsflash and staff-contributed items. This will increase the timeliness of these content sections and "unbury" new content items. The web site manager will be able to select and promote smaller news feed items to the home page Newsflash if desired. Allow users to set up customized news subscriptions by RSS or email.

Provide forms to collect important data from constituents, increasing usability, accuracy, and efficiency. Users will be able to complete online forms to start the admission process, make an online gift, apply for a job, or update their contact information. The school benefits by making life easy for its constituents, receiving accurate data, and not having to collect it through more time-consuming processes.

Provide an opt-out alumni directory that alumni, employees, parents, and students may search. Provide employee and student photo directories to other employees and students only. Automatically generate directories and contact lists from our core school databases, eliminating the need for manual data entry of this information by school staff on the site.

Broaden the visibility of Caller articles on the site. Cross-list them in relevant sections through the site (e.g., a Caller article on sports also appears in the Athletics section of the site). Use Issuu.com to embed a Flash-based version of each Caller in the site, increasing readability of the articles, allowing the user to print an issue, and leveraging the school's investment in graphic design and layout services for this publication.

Get All School News and division newsletters out of PDFs and into web page and email format. Retain the distinctive, individual character of division newsletters.

Provide a straightforward process for parents, alumni, admission applicants, and job applicants to create a login on the site that gets them access to relevant content and tools.

Enable the posting of comments by employees, students, and parents. Limit the viewing of comments to these same groups. Do not enable comment moderation queues but rather follow comment posts closely and intervene in exceptional cases.

Provide a clear navigation pathway for people new to Catlin Gabel to learn basic information about the school and receive key messages.

Improve site navigation for parents, who have provided feedback that the items of interest to them are scattered all over the site.

Provide "quick links," so that many programs may have a ubiquitous link for them without cluttering up the primary site navigation.

Create a "schoolwide" or "all school" top-level section to draw attention to the many, growing schoolwide programs that mark the distinctive nature of the school (e.g., sustainable school, global ed, the arts).

Make it easy to post and sign up for volunteer opportunities. Make it possible for a user to see all available opportunities in one place.

Perpetuate the distinctive qualities of our four divisions by providing separate top-level sections and news feed categories.

Reduce the number of email list errors by providing central parentsxxxx@catlin.edu listserv addresses automatically synced to our school databases.

tags: , , ,

Getting close

Posted by: Richard
May162009

I have had my head down working on our new school web site for the past few weeks, hence I have not written much here.

We presented new features to focus groups: three faculty, one parent-faculty association, and one board communications advisory group. We hired a local college intern to migrate content from the old site to the new. Two staff members are working on the photo directory, site copying and backup utilities, and an emergency contacts form. Our graphic designer sent us two graphic concepts, and our web site team met and sent back comments. We received the a second revision and are preparing to send back our comments on Monday.

We are gradually taking on real users as we build up the web site. Our athletics director has started entering competition dates for next year. The arts department recently met to build out their new "schoolwide" arts program section. This week, we plan to invite employees to update their emergency contact information through our new custom form. The week after, we will likely invite all parents to update their contact information and review their directory entries online.

Our publications director has been developing her Twitter "voice" and getting to know the Facebook Pages interface in preparation for that aspect of the site launch.

So far, we have committed about $5,000 of contracted work to the project. We plan to finish the project at less than $10,000 total.

Hopefully, I will find time after site launch in July to post more information about our project!


tags: , , , ,

Social Media Tools and School Admissions

Posted by: Richard
April222009

I attended the FinalSite social media webinar this morning. They now have a web site to help schools get started with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Here are a few notes of the most interesting examples I picked up from this session.

Northfield Mount Hermon
- 2,000 fans of their main Facebook page
- separate Facebook page for "admitted but not yet enrolled" students

Christchurch School
- Admission inquiry Facebook page

Urban School
- Facebook page for "accepted but not enrolled" students

Could LinkedIn replace our web site career network? I'll test the idea tonight with our alumni board.

tags: , , ,

PicoCrickets and Wigwams

Posted by: Richard
April172009

A colleague sent this terrific workshop session description for this year's Storyline Conference, which is happening in Portland.

4th annual storyline conference


PicoCrickets and Wigwams
Mary Boutton, Carole Lechleitner

This session will introduce PicoCrickets (tiny computers used to create inventions programmed to respond to light, sound, and touch) and demonstrate how they can be used to develop students’ programming and engineering skills while constructing Storyline settings. PicoCrickets are recommended for ages 8 and up.

PicoCrickets, based upon research from the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, provide entry points to programming and robotics, engaging students with diverse learning interests and learning styles. Strategies that promote this include: (1) focusing on themes, not just challenges; (2) combining art and engineering; (3) encouraging storytelling; and (4) organizing exhibitions rather than competitions. PicoCrickets support these strategies by enabling students to design and program creations while enhancing creative thinking, problem solving, and co-operative learning skills.

Through Storyline, the elementary social studies curriculum can offer a rich array of themes that can be integrated with PicoCrickets. We will focus on how PicoCrickets were integrated into the fourth grade Ohio history curriculum. The presenters will show how fourth graders used robotic technology and concepts to make their Native American and pioneer villages come alive. Participants will observe Native Americans cooking over a crackling fire in their wigwam, tanning a deer hide, turning a grist mill, and making a river undulate through the forest. Students’ work from the 2007-2008 school year will be highlighted. The presenters will share success stories and pitfalls that should be avoided.

The Presenters will also address how using social studies themes can heighten student motivation by giving students the freedom to work on projects they care about in a multi-sensory, artistic, and creative manner. Cooperation and team effort, rather than competition, are stressed, leading to participation in robotics by a broader range of students, particularly girls.

What is the Storyline Method?

Storyline is a structured approach to learning and teaching that was developed in Scotland It builds on the key principle that learning, to be meaningful, has to be memorable, and that by using learner's enthusiasm for story-making, the classroom, the teacher's role and learning can be transformed. Storyline is a strategy for developing the curriculum as an integrated whole. It provides an opportunity for active learning and reflection as essential parts of effective learning and teaching. At the same time it develops in learners a powerful sense of ownership of their learning.

-The Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum



tags: , , ,

Laptop Program Report: Effectiveness and Impacts

Posted by: Richard
April162009

In the spring of 2008, IT staff conducted a survey of students, teachers, and parents to better understand opinion about the effectiveness and impacts of the 1:1 student laptop program. The survey format followed a similar study of 2003, so that the school could compare the results over this five-year span. The school has published a 20-page report detailing findings of the study.

Major Findings

Laptop use in English and computer science classes is nearly ubiquitous. Among other subjects, students use laptop computers more often in history and modern languages classes and less often in math and art classes.

Laptop computing has increased student access to computers at home. Parents felt more strongly about this effect in 2008 than in 2003.

The survey found a small impact of the laptop program on teaching methods and curriculum. Respondents felt that the laptop program had significantly improved writing skills, improved collaboration, and increased communication overall.

Teachers feel that girls are more willing to use computers and demonstrate stronger computers skills as a result of the laptop program.

The survey suggests that the laptop program support the ability of students to learn in a way that matches their learning style.

Students and parents feel that laptop computers help students keep their academic lives more organized. Teachers feel the same way about their use of laptop computers.

Respondents expressed concern about a decrease in face-to-face communication as a result of the laptop program.

Students found great value in the ability of social network sites to overcome separation from their friends by distance or time.

tags: , ,

Becoming a Drupal.org contributor

Posted by: Richard
April072009

If I can contribute to an open-source project, then so can you! After years of using open-source web site software, I have finally begun to contribute back to the open-source community, in this case Drupal. The Drupal community of (mostly) volunteer programmers contribute hundreds of modules that expand and improve the Drupal project as a whole. At first, I gave back by registering an account on Drupal.org and posting comments on other people's module issues pages. Then, I began to create new issues when I needed support for a module or found a problem with a module. Finally, I am now contributing small module code of my own to one project, LDAP Integration.

LDAP Integration allows your LDAP users (MS Active Directory, in our case) to log into our Drupal site. A user attempts to log in, Drupal checks their credentials against Active Directory, and then Drupal creates an account for the user if one does not already exist. Two additional components automatically generate group memberships and populate profile fields with LDAP data.

I wanted an additional feature -- to create Drupal accounts for all of the Active Directory accounts we have ahead of time, so that they could have content assigned to them before they had even created an account. Why would I want to do this? At our school, we are building a new web site and migrating content from the old site. As we build the site, we want to attribute authorship of each article to the correct person, even if he or she has not yet logged into the site for the first time. We also have a Contacts block on some pages, which should show the user information for the contact person even if they have not yet logged into the new site. Finally, we have additional group memberships beyond Active Directory (e.g., content manager) that we want to assign and test whether the user has logged in before or not. You may have other similar needs for your site.

I learned how to create the .info file to define a new module, the .install file to create any database tables or store any Drupal variables when the module is activated. I learned to write a .module file that defines hook functions that fire when certain functions are called elsewhere in the site and also contains the rest of the programming logic for my module. At times, I borrowed code or called functions from ldapauth.module. Elsewhere, I wrote my own code. Learning the Drupal API has been tremendous. The functions of the core code and modules are well-documented, so that one may use them in one's own modules. This makes writing a custom module both fast, Drupal standards-compliant, and adaptable to future changes in code.

Contributing code to the community has caused additional benefits. Other, more experienced, eyes have reviewed my code and suggested important changes. Others have weighed in on the strategy and design of the module. Unfortunately, "other" has been largely one enthusiastic Drupal user. Although his feedback has been excellent, I do wish that more individuals tried the module. Right now, we are stuck because the module is not running correctly for this one tester, who has an OpenLDAP directory. I only have Active Directory, so I cannot test or confirm his issue.

I now have a module that is working for our new site, that others have reviewed and improved. If we can gain another tester to solve the OpenLDAP issue, then I may also have made a useful contribution to other people's sites. This contribution is permanently archived for others to find when they discover a similar need to ours. The conversation continues on the LDAPsync component page.

This success encourages me to write more custom modules for our site, as needed. For example, I have written my own mini-version of node_autotitle to create custom titles for athletics event nodes. I have written a custom Contacts block to automatically display the users associated with particular types of content, based on specific criteria. I have ported existing PHP code from custom work of years past to embed faculty/staff, student, and alumni directories into the site and make them available only to certain users based on the Drupal permissions system.

Though operating within the Drupal framework creates more work sometimes, it is extremely powerful and beats coding from scratch by a long way.

LDAP integration component page


tags: , , , , ,

Posting links to Facebook fan pages

Posted by: Richard
April052009

I figured out how to reinstate the "post link" tool on our Facebook page. From what I can tell, this application is supposed to be active by default, but it was not on our two new fan pages. Facebook support told me to read the documentation, which only suggests to set the corresponding wall preference -- not helpful.

The solution appeared in the Facebook forums. Re-install the application from its page..

We're going to have to get used to dancing to Facebook's tune.

Before

before

After

after

tags: , ,

Print publications on the web

Posted by: Richard
April032009

Would you like to publish your high-quality print publications on your web site? Web pages cannot easily reproduce the layers and resolution of glossy print magazines. In recent years, design companies have offered conversion to Flash-based flip books at a steep price. Now, Issuu.com is the first service of which I am aware that converts print publications to Flash-based books for free. They have managed to completely automate the conversion process. During Issuu's trial period, there is no cost to use their services. When they begin to charge, their prices will be comparable to Flash video hosting services.

We also post individual article pages, but the Flash format is a great way to leverage our investment in the graphic design, not just the content.

Here is our recent school magazine online. Be sure to enter full-screen mode and flip through the pages.



tags: , , ,

CTL 2go with Edubuntu 8.10

Posted by: Richard
March132009

I set up a CTL 2go netbook with Edubuntu 8.10 linux, in order to get to know these platforms better.

CTL 2go

Edubuntu used to be a separate linux distribution. Now it's a package of applications installed on top of Ubuntu. The Ubuntu 8.10 install went smoothly. I download and burned Ubuntu 8.10 to a CD, used the CD to boot up a PC I have, and then ran the system utility that creates a bootable USB flash drive (isn't that a handy tool!). I used the flash drive to install Ubuntu 8.10 on the 2go laptop and then ran software updates. All good so far.

The bootable flash drive tool is nifty. You can use it to create an installer, a fully-featured demonstration version of the software, or even a portable computing environment to which you can even save files! It's brilliant.

I had less luck with Edubuntu at first. I downloaded the ISO and used UNetbootin to copy it to the flash drive and make it bootable. The drive wouldn't boot the machine (missing kernel file). I tried just mounting the ISO and running the software from the 2go hard drive. No luck. Finally, I took the machine to work, burned Edubuntu to a CD, and ran the software from an external CD drive.

I'm still not sure what a typical home user would use to perform this installation. Then again, the typical home user wouldn't buy a 2go without an operating system! I wonder whether I could have just run the Ubtuntu software installer and downloaded the entire package online. The computer didn't actually boot off the Edubuntu CD, but it did recognize the CD as containing installation packages once it had loaded.

The keyboard on the 2go feels about 80% of full size, fine for my seven year-old son but uncomfortably small for me. Edubuntu seems to be mostly about kid-friendly software. GCompris is quite a collection of games and skills training for kids of different ages. The rest of the applications look useful as well.

I had expected greater transformation of the desktop environment. Aside from some attractive, cosmetic changes, it's just Ubuntu -- not any easier for kids to navigate. I haven't yet found the simplified desktop interface I was expecting. It's not a Theme. It would be great to make it easier for young kids to navigate the desktop.

Aside from a nice collection of applications, I haven't seen enough to persuade me to buy and configure a set of these for each of our elementary classrooms. We'll stick with used Apple laptops from our other facilities for now.

tags: , , , ,

Focus on your school!

Posted by: Richard
March082009

As I caught up on two weeks' worth of blog reading tonight, a few thoughts struck me (yes, that's all ;^). First, I've seen an increase in the number of school-based educators writing online, but it's still not enough. The ed-blogosphere is dominated by people who don't work in schools, and I want to hear about what teachers and students are actually doing in schools. So if you blog and work in a school, please keep writing about what is actually happening in your school!

Second, if you blog and work in a school, please remember that you have the most impact in your school! Fortunately, most school-based bloggers I follow seem well-rooted in their schools, but a few seem to have forgotten their local context when writing. It's okay if you only post a blog entry once a week (or fewer). We know that you are spending your work hours meeting with teachers, keeping up a computing infrastructure, helping students, or building a new tool.

This past week at Catlin Gabel, our new Global Connect site gained its third, fourth, and fifth groups. We created Global Connect in order to have a Catlin-hosted, but not Catlin-branded, place to group blog for global ed. The site was originally for exchanges, but now pre-trip planning groups have also joined. I figured out how to use taxonomy access control lite to give groups the choice of whether they wanted their discussions to be public or private. Interestingly, the two groups actually talking with students in other countries opted to go private, whereas the three groups using the site for pre-trip planning went public. We'll see whether that distinction holds up going forward. Next, I need to put a public commenting system into place, so just hold your horses (or use the contact form) if you were hoping to post a comment.

global connect

One man's struggle to restore real-world issues to the core of the school program took another step forward this month with the launch of the Economic Crisis Reading Group moodle site. This one is private (sorry, legions of interested members of the public). 34 students have signed up for the Moodle course, which includes news and discussion about the most compelling post-inauguration teachable moment of the year. I hope this takes off, to prove that students are indeed interested in chatting online about serious issues in a school context.

moodle screen shot

This week will be dominated by (yet another) presentation, this time to our board of directors. Seriously, it's been a great year for our IT team to discuss social networks and other compelling issues with teachers, students, and parents in the school community.

tags: , , ,

Social Media In Education

Posted by: Richard
March072009

Thank you to Alex Ragone and Vinnie Vrotny for hosting me on EdTechTalk. Here is the audio recording. As a follow-up to the CASE webinar on social networks and school advancement, we talked Facebook, Twitter, and school communication strategies.










Length: 30:07 minutes (13.82 MB)


tags: , , , , ,

Facebook changes fan pages

Posted by: Richard
March052009

We just learned about Facebook fan pages, and now they've changed them! As we are only just starting to set up our pages, the change probably works to our advantage.

fb notice

As Mashable explains, the new fan pages operate more like a profile than a "shrine." The organization's wall dominates the page, and company information is minimized. Most importantly to us, page status updates will now appear in fan's news feeds. This is critical to us as we adopt Facebook to reach our school community where they are. The new model appears to suit our communication strategy better than the old, where a user would have to remember to go visit our fan page.

page

We plan to launch the Facebook pages with our new web site this summer. Stay tuned.

tags: , , ,

buy viagra